U.S. Rail Traffic Climbs 7.8% as Intermodal Shipments Outpace Carloads

U.S. rail traffic rose 7.8% in the week ended Oct. 24 compared with the same week a year earlier, led by an 11.3% jump in intermodal volume, according to Association of American Railroads data. Carload traffic increased 3.6%, with both measures outpacing their year-to-date growth rates. Eight of 10 carload commodity groups posted year-over-year gains. Petroleum and petroleum products led with a 15.4% increase, followed by motor vehicles and parts at 15.3%, forest products at 11.7% and metallic ores and metals at 11.6%. Farm products excluding grain and food fell 3.7%, while grain declined 1.4%. For the first 42 weeks of 2026, combined U.S. rail traffic was up 3.8% from the same period in 2025, with carloads up 2.7% and intermodal up 4.7%. Grain remains the strongest-growing carload group year to date at 10.6%, while coal fell 1.6%. Combined traffic on the nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads rose 8% for the week. Canadian carloads grew 7.6% and intermodal 5.5%; Mexican carloads rose 12.7% and intermodal 33.4%.