Rail freight slides in rare off-week
Freight on U.S. railroads saw a rare down week but still maintained a healthy lead ahead of 2025 volumes. The post Rail freight slides in rare off-week appeared first on FreightWaves .
In a surprisingly weak week for U.S. rail freight, traffic saw a 3.7% decline compared to the same period last year. The total number of carloads and intermodal units dropped to 494,865, a 3.7% decrease, according to the Association of American Railroads. Commodity freight, which includes grain, petroleum and petroleum products, and forest products, decreased by 3.3%.
Intermodal volume, encompassing 271,305 containers and trailers, saw a steeper drop of 4.1% year-over-year. However, not all freight groups suffered; grain saw a 17.3% increase, petroleum and petroleum products rose 6.5%, and forest products increased by 2.1%. On the other hand, motor vehicles and parts faced an 18.8% decline, followed by chemicals at 9.2% and nonmetallic minerals at 6%.
As of the first 36 weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported a cumulative volume of 8,209,888 carloads and 10,175,630 intermodal units, both up by 2.7% and 4% year-over-year, respectively. The total traffic of 18,385,518 carloads and intermodal units also increased by 3.4% compared to the same period in 2025. North American volume for the week, encompassing nine reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, totaled 326,500 carloads and 353,081 intermodal units, both down by 3.3% and 3.8% year-over-year, respectively.
This brought the combined total to 679,581 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.6% decrease. In the first 36 weeks of 2026, North American volume stood at 25,216,803 carloads and intermodal units, a 3% increase year-over-year.
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