rail traffic

The Thanksgiving holiday once again made for a big change in U.S. weekly rail traffic. This time, that change was negative.

Propelled by a big jump in intermodal traffic, weekly U.S. rail traffic had its biggest gain in seven weeks over the period ending Nov. 2.

U.S. weekly rail traffic showed a modest gain for the week ending Oct. 19, 2024.

Weekly U.S. rail traffic rebounded into positive territory compared to 2023 for the week ending Oct. 12, after falling below previous-year levels a week earlier.

For the first time in more than nine months, U.S. weekly rail traffic has dropped below 2023 levels.

U.S. rail traffic has seen its third consecutive week of increases of 8% or more.

Intermodal outpaced most U.S. rail carload shipments as shippers raced to get end-of-year retail merchandise through import gateways ahead of disruptions in the global supply chain.

Weekly U.S. rail volume showed a solid increase for the seven days ending July 27, with overall traffic up 5.3% over the same period a year earlier.

U.S. rail traffic was again ahead of 2023 levels for the week ending July 20, 2024, with overall volume up 1.4% compared to the same week last year, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads.

For the week ending July 13, total U.S. volume was 483,806 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 1.3% over the same week in a year ago.

February freight data from Cass shows a deceleration in the growth rates of shipments and expenditures. Recent weather events have only “coiled the spring” for a continuation of high demand and rising rates.

The abnormal year of 2020 cannot be ignored. It simply is less relevant for strategic purposes when tracking rail’s progress.

Overall, there will be lower rail volume levels continuing into the first quarter of 2021.