WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic continued its recent surge in the week ending Aug. 31, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads.
The week saw volume of 516,632 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.4% from the same week in 2023. It was the third straight week of increases of 8% or more, following gains of 8% for the week ending Aug. 17 [see “U.S. weekly rail traffic jumps,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 22, 2024] and 9.5% for the week ending Aug. 24 [see “U.S. weekly rail traffic climbs again,” News Wire, Aug. 29, 2024].
The latest week’s traffic included 233,278 carloads, up 1% compared to the corresponding week a year ago, and 283,354 containers and trailers, up 15.3%.
Year-to-date totals, through 35 weeks of 2024, show carload traffic down 3.6% and intermodal volume up 9.3% for an overall gain of 3.1%.
Canadian traffic, which had been hurt by the labor stoppage that shut down both Canadian National and CPKC, continued to show the impact of moves by shippers to reroute container traffic to U.S. ports. Canadian railroads reported moving 91,106 carloads for the week, up 4.7%, along with 58,491 intermodal units, down 18.8% compared to the same week in 2023. Canadian year-to-date traffic is up 0.4% compared to 2023.
North American figures for the week, from nine reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, include 343,419 carloads, up 2.3% from the same week a year ago, and 354,117 intermodal units, up 8.1%. The combined volume of 697,536 carloads and intermodal units is a 5.2% increase from the same week in 2023. Year-to-date totals through 35 weeks are up 2.4% from the same period a year ago. In Mexico, year-to-date traffic is up 4.1%.
