Total U.S. rail traffic for Week 5 (ending Feb. 7, 2026) and Week 4 (ending Jan. 31, 2026) was down 3.2% and 15.5%, respectively.
U.S. Class I railroads hauled 510,399 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Feb. 14, 2026, according to the AAR. Total carloads came in at 225,283, up 7.7%, and intermodal volume was 285,116 containers and trailers, up 5.0% from the same week last year.
For the week ending Feb. 14, 2026, seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week last year. They included grain, up 8,175 carloads, to 27,822; coal, up 3,918 carloads, to 58,413; and chemicals, up 1,690 carloads, to 33,957. Commodity groups that posted declines were motor vehicles and parts, down 173 carloads, to 14,608; forest products, down 172 carloads, to 8,074; and miscellaneous carloads, down 49 carloads, to 8,374.
For the first six weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,297,249 carloads, a 3.4% gain over the same point last year; and 1,631,915 intermodal units, a 1.8% fall-off from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first six weeks of this year was 2,929,164 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.4% from 2025.
North American rail volume for the week ending Feb. 14, 2026, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads totaled 333,151 carloads, increasing 7.8% from the same week last year, and 372,091 intermodal units, rising 6.7% from last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 705,242 carloads and intermodal units, up 7.2%. North American rail volume for the first six weeks of 2026 came in at 4,035,344 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.1% from 2025.
For the week ending Feb. 14, 2026, Canadian railroads reported 94,385 carloads, an increase of 8.5%, and 72,528 intermodal units, an increase of 10.6% from with the same week in 2025. For the first six weeks of this year, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 947,293 carloads, containers, and trailers, down 0.2%.
Mexican railroads reported 13,483 carloads for the week ending Feb. 14, 2026, a 5.1% gain over the prior-year period, and 14,447 intermodal units, a 22.8% gain. Their cumulative volume for the first six weeks of 2026 was 158,887 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 26.4% from the same point last year.
