Intermodal pulls away from carload rail freight
U.S. railroads notched up freight traffic in the latest week, as total volumes more than doubled growth year-to-date. The post Intermodal pulls away from carload rail freight 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 traffic on U. S. railroads enjoyed a banner week at the mid-year mark, as intermodal and carload shipments nearly tripled the rate of growth in the first half. For the week ending June 13, total U. S. weekly rail traffic was 520,406 carloads and intermodal units, up 7. 2% from the same week a year ago. Commodities and related goods increased 2.
8% to 230,959 carloads, while intermodal volume of 289,447 containers and trailers was better by 10. 9% compared to 2025. Six of 10 commodity categories improved, led by months-long frontrunner grain, ahead by 21. 7%. Metallic ores and metals turned in growth of 19. 2%, which some analysts have linked to the breakout growth in construction of data centers.
Chemical shipments, which had shown steady improvement on surging industrial activity, gave up some of those gains as volume fell by 1. 1% on-year. Forest products continued its up-and-down performance, off 1. 6% this week. (Chart: AAR) At the year’s halfway point, U. S. railroads handled cumulative volume of 5,215,944 carloads, ahead 3.
2%, and 6,403,177 intermodal units, an increase of 2. 7% from a year ago. Total combined traffic was 11,619,121 carloads and intermodal units, up 2. 9% y/y. Rising truckload rates have seen railroads pick up substantial volume in domestic intermodal.
International volumes are growing, too, as global fuel costs from the effects of the Iran war coupled with expectations of price hikes by Asian manufacturers spur frontloading by importers on the trans-Pacific. North American rail volume for the week on nine reporting U. S. , Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 337,700 carloads, up 1.
7%, and 379,536 intermodal units, up 9. 3% from this past year. Total combined traffic rose 5. 6% to 717,236 carloads and intermodal units. Volume for the first 23 weeks of 2026 was 15,993,851 carloads and intermodal units, 2. 5% ahead of 2025. 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.
Original Source
This briefing is based on reporting from Freightwaves. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
Style
Audience