Rail freight slides in rare off-week
Freight on U.S. railroads saw a rare down week but still maintained a healthy lead ahead of 2025 volumes. The post Rail freight slides in rare off-week appeared first on FreightWaves.
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Weekly rail traffic on U. S. railroads totaled 494,865 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Sept. 12, down 3. 7% from the same week a year ago. Commodity freight came to 223,560 carloads, the Association of American Railroads reported, off 3. 3%, while intermodal volume of 271,305 containers and trailers was weaker by 4. 1%, y/y.
Just three of 10 carload commodity groups improved: Grain, 17. 3%; petroleum and petroleum products, 6. 5%; and forest products, 2. 1%. Motor vehicles and parts led decliners, down 18. 8%, followed by chemicals, 9. 2%, and nonmetallic minerals, 6%. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {var gptSlot = googletag.
defineSlot('/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1', [[300, 100], [320, 50], [728, 90], [468, 60]], 'div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag. pubads()); googletag. pubads(). enableSingleRequest(); googletag. pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (!
document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'); }); For the first 36 weeks of 2026, U. S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,209,888 carloads, better by 2. 7%, and 10,175,630 intermodal units were up by 4% y/y.
Total traffic of 18,385,518 carloads and intermodal units improved by 3. 4% from a year ago. (Chart: AAR) North American volume for the week on nine reporting U. S. , Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 326,500 carloads, down 3. 3%, and 353,081 intermodal units, off 3. 8%, from 2025.
Total combined traffic reached 679,581 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3. 6%. North American volume for the first 36 weeks of this year was 25,216,803 carloads and intermodal units, a gain of 3% y/y. Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {var gptSlot = googletag. defineSlot('/21776187881/fw-responsive-main_content-slot3', [[728, 90], [468, 60], [320, 50], [300, 100]], 'div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag.
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display('div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'); }); Read more: Norfolk Southern: New intermodal era about removing rail friction Container delays by rail increase at busiest U. S. ports U. S. container imports climb 3. 8% to 2. 6 million TEUs, 3rd highest monthly level Houthi gains deepen risk as carriers restore Red Sea services window. googletag = window.
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collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (! document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668086344-0'); }); Almost 1 million TEUs in new record for this U. S.
container gateway The post Rail freight slides in rare off-week appeared first on FreightWaves.
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