WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic continued its recent upward trend, with traffic for the week ending Oct. 7 showing a 3% increase over the same week in 2022, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. It was the fourth straight week traffic has been ahead of weekly figures of a year ago.
Weekly volume was 499,217 carloads and intermodal units. That included 233,768 carloads, up 3.6%, with seven of 10 commodity groups showing increases. Intermodal traffic included 265,449 containers and trailers, up 2.5%.
Year-to-date totals, through 40 weeks of 2023, show carload traffic up 0.4% and intermodal traffic down 7.9%, for an overall decrease of 4.1%.
North American totals for the week, for 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, include 246,637 carloads, up 2.6%, and 349,627 intermodal units, down 1.5% compared to the corresponding week in 2022. The overall total of 696,264 carloads and intermodal units represents a 0.5% increase over the same week a year ago. For the year to date, North American volume is down 3.65 compared to the first 40 weeks of 2022.
