Industrial products drive U.S. rail traffic gains
Key Takeaways
- •U.S. rail traffic for the week ending July 25 totaled 527,162 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.5% from a year earlier.
- •Intermodal volume rose 3.5% year over year to 293,062 units, while carloads increased 1.4% to 234,100.
- •Petroleum and related products posted the largest commodity gain, increasing 11.8%, and metallic ores and metals rose 9.3%.
- •Coal shipments fell 1.6% and chemicals declined 0.6% compared with the same week a year earlier.
- •Year to date through 29 weeks of 2026, U.S. rail traffic was up 3.3%, and North American rail volume was up 2.9%.
Rail traffic totaled 527,162 carloads and intermodal units on U.S. lines for the week ending July 25, up 2.5% from a year earlier, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Commodities totaled 234,100 carloads, up 1.4%, while intermodal volume reached 293,062 containers and trailers, up 3.5% from 2025. The mix underscores the industry’s role in moving both bulk industrial inputs and domestic and international container traffic through a still-sensitive freight environment.
Five of 10 carload commodity groups posted year-over-year gains. The largest increases came from petroleum and related products, which rose 11.8%, and metallic ores and metals typically used in steelmaking, which climbed 9.3%.
Coal declined 1.6%, while chemicals were 0.6% lower.
For the first 29 weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 6,578,325 carloads, up 2.8%, and 8,124,976 intermodal units, up 3.7% from a year ago. Total combined U.S. traffic year to date reached 14,703,301 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.3%.
North American rail volume for the week, across nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, totaled 339,845 carloads, up 3.8%, and 374,646 intermodal units, up 2.6%. Combined traffic rose 3.1% to 714,491 carloads and intermodal units.
North American rail volume year to date stood at 20,218,112 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.9%.
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Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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