AAR: Downward Carloads, Intermodal Trend Continues in Week 5
Total carloads for the week came in at 208,408, down 4.8% compared with the same week in 2025, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 278,446 containers and trailers, down 2.0% compared to 2025, according to the AAR.
For the week ending Feb. 7, 2026, three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2025. They were petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,016 carloads, to 10,950; grain, up 709 carloads, to 22,577; and motor vehicles and parts, up 409 carloads, to 16,011. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2025 included coal, down 3,540 carloads, to 53,445; nonmetallic minerals, down 3,265 carloads, to 24,637; and miscellaneous carloads, down 1,702 carloads, to 7,320.
For the first five weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,071,966 carloads, up 2.5% from the same point last year; and 1,346,799 intermodal units, down 3.2% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first five weeks of 2026 was 2,418,765 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 0.7% compared to last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Feb. 7, 2026, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 309,723 carloads, up 0.1% compared with the same week last year, and 361,789 intermodal units, up 0.1% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 671,512 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.1%. North American rail volume for the first five weeks of 2026 was 3,338,702 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.1% compared with 2025.
Canadian railroads reported 87,967 carloads for the week ending Feb. 7, 2026, up 6.4%, and 69,979 intermodal units, up 2.1% from the prior-year period. For the first five weeks of this year, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 780,380 carloads, containers, and trailers, down 2.1%.
For the week ending Feb. 7, 2026, Mexican railroads reported 13,348 carloads, up 69.1% compared with the same week last year, and 13,364 intermodal units, up 51.3%. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first five weeks of 2026 was 139,557 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 38.0% from the same point last year.
