No holiday for booming rail freight
Freight on U.S. railroads continued to enjoy a banner year as intermodal and commodity shipments powered into the July 4 weekend. The post No holiday for booming rail freight appeared first on FreightWaves.
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Rail traffic on U. S. carriers totaled 482,121 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending July 4, a gain of 8. 7% from the same week a year ago. Commodity shipments came to 212,691 carloads, up 3. 7%, while intermodal volume was 269,430 containers and trailers, up 12. 9% compared to 2025.
Grain and farm products excluding grain and food led nine out of 10 gainers, up 13% and 12. 7%, while metallic ores and metals increased 10. 6% from 2025, to lead industrial categories. (Chart: AAR) Coal, the lone decliner, saw carloads fall 7. 9%. For the first 26 weeks of 2026, U. S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 5,894,302 carloads, better by 3.
2%, and 7,254,412 intermodal units, ahead 3. 6% y/y. Total combined traffic reached 13,148,714 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3. 4%. North American rail volume for the week on nine reporting U. S. , Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 316,737 carloads, up 6. 3%, and 354,603 intermodal units, up 10. 3%.
Total combined volume was 671,340 carloads and intermodal units, up 8. 4%. Volume for the first 26 weeks of this year was 18,099,612 carloads and intermodal units, better by 2. 9% 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.
Read more: Broad-based gains for rail freight Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern submit more merger data Freight car builder Greenbrier sees weaker Q2 earnings Rising intermodal volume slows big four U. S. rail system No June swoon for surging rail traffic The post No holiday for booming rail freight appeared first on FreightWaves.
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This briefing is based on reporting from Freightwaves. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
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