Weekly U.S. rail traffic bounces back

Weekly U.S. rail traffic bounces back

By Trains Staff | November 16, 2023

| Last updated on February 2, 2024


Volume increases after two straight down weeks

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume
Association of American Railroads

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. rail traffic rebounded for the week ending Nov. 11, with overall volume up 3.4%, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads.

That bounce came after two straight weeks in which traffic had declined compared to the same week a year earlier.

The latest week’s traffic included 497,348 carloads and intermodal units. The 233,745 carloads represented a 2.3% gain from the corresponding week in 2022, while the 263,603 containers and trailers were a 4.4% increase.

Year-to-date traffic, though 45 weeks of 2023, shows carload volume up 0.1% and intermodal traffic down 6.8%, for an overall decrease of 3.6% compared to the same period in 2022.

North American figures for the week, from 12 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, were also up. The 347,446 carloads were a 4.5% increase, while the 345,647 intermodal units marked a gain of 3.2%. The overall volume of 693,093 carloads and intermodal units was up 3.8% from the same week in 2022. Year-to-date traffic for North America is down 3.2% compared to the first 45 weeks of 2022.

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