Week 47: U.S. Carloads, Intermodal Register Double-Digit Gains

For the week ending Nov. 23, 2024, nine of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2023. They included nonmetallic minerals, up 8,383 carloads, to 29,904; chemicals, up 6,228 carloads, to 33,785; and grain, up 5,705 carloads, to 23,647. One commodity group posted a decline: coal, down 2,934 carloads, to 58,189.

For the first 47 weeks of 2024, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 10,278,482 carloads, a decrease of 2.7% from the same point last year; and 12,500,070 intermodal units, an increase of 9.5% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 47 weeks of this year was 22,778,552 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.6% gain over 2023.

North American rail volume for the week ending Nov. 23, 2024, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 338,963 carloads, increasing 13.2% from the same week last year, and 372,927 intermodal units, increasing 25.1% from last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America came in at 711,890 carloads and intermodal units, up 19.1%. North American rail volume for the first 47 weeks of this year was 31,571,661 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.5% compared with 2023.

Canadian railroads reported 94,750 carloads for the week ending Nov. 23, 2024, up 3.7%, and 69,364 intermodal units, up 0.2% compared with the same week last year. For the first 47 weeks of 2024, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 7,448,620 carloads, containers and trailers, down 0.7%.

Mexican railroads reported 14,177 carloads for the week ending Nov. 23, 2024, rising 13.5% from the same week last year, and 12,801 intermodal units, rising 28.8%. Their cumulative volume for the first 47 weeks of this year was 1,344,489 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 2.9% from the same point in 2023.