Summer wanes but railfreight stays hot
Freight on U.S. railroads staged a late summer surge led by grain and metallic ores. The post Summer wanes but railfreight stays hot appeared first on FreightWaves.
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U. S. railroads heralded the coming change of seasons with a memorably strong week for freight across the board. The Association of American Railroads rail traffic for the week of Sept. 5 was 533,545 carloads and intermodal units, up 13. 8% from the same week in 2025. Carload freight gained 8.
9% to 234,397 carloads, while intermodal volume of 299,148 containers and trailers was 18% better y/y. Nine of 10 carload commodity groups were better from a year ago. They were led by metallic ores and metals, 26. 6%; grain, 24. 1%, and farm products excluding grain and food, 15. 3%. Coal staged the lone retreat, down 5. 8%.
For the first 35 weeks of 2026, U. S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,986,328 carloads, an increase of 2. 8%, and 9,904,325 intermodal units, a rise of 4. 2% y/y. Total combined U. S. traffic was 17,890,653 carloads and intermodal units, up 3. 6%. North American rail volume for the week on nine reporting U. S.
, Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 341,432 carloads, up 8. 7% y/y, and 386,079 intermodal units, ahead 15. 9%. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America improved 12. 4% to 727,511 carloads and intermodal units. Volume year-to-date was 24,540,451 carloads and intermodal units, up 3. 3% on 2025.
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