Climbing intermodal rail volumes more than treble commodities traffic gains
Metals, petroleum, and forest products helped U.S. railroads to more weekly freight gains, alongside notable intermodal improvement. The post Climbing intermodal rail volumes more than treble commodities traffic gains appeared first on FreightWaves.
Source Lens
Industry Context
Useful background context, but lower-priority than direct platform, community, or operator intelligence.
Impact Level
medium
Use this briefing to decide whether your team needs an immediate workflow, policy, or reporting change.
Key Stat / Trigger
No single quantitative trigger surfaced in this report.
Focus on the operational implication, not just the headline.
Full Coverage
Freight of all kinds paced a 5% weekly gain among U. S. railroads from a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending October 3, total U. S. weekly rail traffic was 529,712 carloads and intermodal units, ahead 5. 1% compared with the same week in 2025. A total of 230,711 carloads was better by 2.
4% while intermodal volume was 299,001 containers and trailers, up 7. 4% on 2025. Seven of 10 carload commodity groups tracked by AAR posted increases. They were topped by metallic ores and metals, 12. 8%, closely followed by petroleum and related products, 12. 2%. Forest products, which has mostly struggled in a stagnant housing market, took third, up 7.
5%. Gran slipped 5. 2%, while farm products excluding grain and food, 4. 1%, and coal, 0. 1%, were weaker y/y. Through the first 39 weeks of 2026, U. S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,910,593 carloads, a 2. 7% gain, and 11,077,697 intermodal units, ahead 4. 2% from the previous year. Total combined U. S.
traffic for the first 39 weeks of 2026 was 19,988,290 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3. 5% y/y. North American rail volume for the week on nine reporting U. S. , Canadian and Mexican railroads improved by 1. 6% to 335,068 carloads, and 386,372 intermodal units, up 6. 9%.
Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 721,440 carloads and intermodal units, 4. 4% better than 2025. North American rail volume for the first 39 weeks of 2026 was 27,399,651 carloads and intermodal units, up 3. 1%. 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. Read more: Union Pacific CEO ‘99.
99%’ confident rail merger will win approval Major chemical producer backs UP-NS merger Another strong week for industrial rail freight ‘Higher rates, less reliable service’: Family farmers oppose rail merger STB tabs former BNSF exec as economics director, adds senior adviser The post Climbing intermodal rail volumes more than treble commodities traffic gains appeared first on FreightWaves.
Original Source
This briefing is based on reporting from Freightwaves. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
Style
Audience