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Yearly gains for US rail freight despite intermodal weakness

Overall volume was up 5.5% from 2024

Stuart Chirls
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(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Key Takeaways:

  • U.S. rail traffic increased 5.4% year-over-year for the week ending March 8th, driven by growth in both carload and intermodal volumes, despite intermodal slowing overall this year.
  • While overall U.S. rail traffic showed growth, specific commodities saw varied performance: coal, grain, and miscellaneous carloads increased, while metallic ores, chemicals, and forest products decreased.
  • Cumulative U.S. rail traffic for the first 10 weeks of 2025 shows mixed results with carloads down 1.5% and intermodal units up 8.4% year-over-year.
  • North American rail traffic (including US, Canada, and Mexico) also saw growth for both the week ending March 8th and cumulatively for the first 10 weeks of 2025.
Key takeaways sponsored by SONAR

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 8 showed a notable increase in overall activity compared to the same week in 2024, even as intermodal volumes continued to slow so far this year.

Total U.S. traffic reached 497,412 carloads and intermodal units, according to the Association of American Railroads, marking a 5.4% increase from the same period in 2024. Growth was driven by increases in both carload and intermodal volumes.

Carload traffic for the week totaled 219,457, up 2.6% from the previous year. Intermodal volume saw an even more significant jump, with 277,955 containers and trailers moved, representing a 7.7% increase over 2024. Intermodal totals contrasted with weaker volumes that were off 0.5% from the prior week.

Among the commodity gainers: 

  • Coal led the way with an increase of 2,815 carloads, reaching 57,977.
  • Grain shipments rose by 2,414 carloads, totaling 21,710.
  • Miscellaneous carloads grew by 1,114, to 8,897.

Among decliners:

  • Metallic ores and metals decreased by 868 carloads to 17,939.
  • Chemicals fell by 675 carloads to 33,079.
  • Forest products dropped by 171 carloads to 8,188.

The cumulative volume for the first 10 weeks of 2025 shows mixed results. U.S. railroads reported a total of 2,088,739 carloads, down 1.5% from the same point last year. However, intermodal units reached 2,714,285, an 8.4% increase year over year. The combined total of 4,803,024 carloads and intermodal units represents a 3.8% increase compared to 2024.

The report also provided insights into North American rail volume, which includes data from nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads. For the week ending March 8:

  • Total carloads were up 2% to 326,395 y/y.
  • Intermodal units increased 5.5% to 359,817.
  • The combined weekly total of 686,212 carloads and intermodal units was up 3.8%.

The cumulative North American rail volume for the first 10 weeks of 2025 reached 6,574,589 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.3% increase compared to 2024.

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Stuart Chirls

Stuart Chirls is a journalist who has covered the full breadth of railroads, intermodal, container shipping, ports, supply chain and logistics for Railway Age, the Journal of Commerce and IANA. He has also staffed at S&P, McGraw-Hill, United Business Media, Advance Media, Tribune Co., The New York Times Co., and worked in supply chain with BASF, the world's largest chemical producer. Reach him at stuartchirls@firecrown.com.