According to AAR, U.S. Class I railroads hauled 193,252 carloads, a 13.6% dip from the same week last year, and 265,261 containers and trailers, up 2.3% from 2024.
One of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2024. It was chemicals, up 70 carloads, to 33,527. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2024 included coal, down 13,190 carloads, to 47,852; grain, down 5,347 carloads, to 16,374; and nonmetallic minerals, down 4,770 carloads, to 22,827.
For the first eight weeks of 2025, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,646,525 carloads, down 2.4% from the same period in 2024; and 2,150,556 intermodal units, up 8.4% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first eight weeks of 2025 was 3,797,081 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.4% from last year.
North American rail volume for the week ending Feb. 22, 2025, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 288,166 carloads, down 14.4% compared with the same week last year, and 334,375 intermodal units, down 2.1% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 622,541 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.2%. North American rail volume for the first eight weeks of 2025 was 5,207,293 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.0% compared with 2024.
Canadian railroads reported 78,789 carloads for the week, down 16.6%, and 56,127 intermodal units, down 19.1% from the same point in 2024. For the first eight weeks of 2025, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 1,226,576 carloads, containers and trailers, a 0.6% decline.
Mexican railroads reported 16,125 carloads for the week, down 13.2%, and 12,987 intermodal units, up 1.6% compared with the same week in 2024. Their cumulative volume for the first eight weeks of 2025 was 183,636 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, down 8.3% from 2024.
