WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic showed its biggest gain in seven weeks over the period ending Nov. 2, boosted by a double-digit increase in intermodal traffic.
According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, weekly volume was 516,743 carloads and intermodal units, a 6.6% gain over the same week in 2023. That was the largest single-week improvement since a 6.8% gain in the week ending Sept. 14 [see “Intermodal continues hot streak …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 19, 2024]. The week’s total included 228,635 carloads, up 1.9%, and 288,108 containers and trailers, up 10.7%.
Through 44 weeks of 2024, U.S. carload volume is down 3% compared to the same period in 2023, while intermodal traffic is up 9%. Combined, that makes for a 3.2% increase in volume compared to the first 44 weeks of 2023.
North American volume for the week, as reported by nine U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, includes 340,572 carloads, a 1.8% increase from the corresponding week in 2023, and 371,537 intermodal units, a gain of 9.9%. The overall volume of 712,109 carloads and intermodal units represents a 5.9% gain.
Year-to-date volume for North America is up 2.4%. That includes flat volume in Canada and a 3% gain in Mexico.
I’m curious as to why there was such a strong increase in intermodal traffic?
This reporting period (up to 11/2?) was well after the brief east-coast port longshore strike, but seems quite late in the season (end-of October) to be part of the holiday season “surge” traffic …(?)
Without the coal metric the figures are even a bit better.