Freight on U.S. railroads totaled 507,712 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Feb. 21, up 10.7% percent from the same week a year ago.
Commodities came to 227,124 carloads, up 17.6% y/y, the Association of American Railroads said, while intermodal volume was 280,588 containers and trailers, an increase of 5.8%.
Nine of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by AAR were higher y/y, led by grain, 49.7%; nonmetallic minerals such as stone and sand, 23.5%; coal, 22.9%, and petroleum and petroleum products, 21.5%.
Forest products including lumber were down by 1.6% y/y. A cool residential real estate market continues to damp renovations and housing starts.
For the first seven weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads saw cumulative volume of 1,524,373 carloads, up 5.3% y/y, and 1,912,503 intermodal units, off 0.8%. Total combined traffic year-to-date was 3,436,876 carloads and intermodal units, ahead by 1.8%.
North American rail volume for the week on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 330,836 carloads, better by 15.6% from a year ago, and 364,182 intermodal units, up 9.3%. Total combined traffic was 695,018 carloads and intermodal units, up 12.2%. Volume through the first seven weeks of 2026 was 4,730,362 carloads and intermodal units, a gain of 2.6%.
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Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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