Freight on U.S. railroads totaled 508,303 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.5% for the week ending April 18, and pushing year-to-date traffic narrowly ahead of 2025 levels.
Total carloads came 230,749, up 3%, while intermodal volume was 277,554 containers and trailers, up 2.2% percent compared to the same week in 2025.
Eight of 10 carload commodity groups gained, posted an increase compared with the same week in 2025. Grain led gainers, up 22.9%, while petroleum and petroleum products were ahead 15.5% as the Iran war whipsawed global prices.
Miscellaneous carloads dropped 10.1%, and coal fell 4.7%.
For the first 15 weeks of 2026, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,372,766 carloads, better by 3.9%, and 4,132,416 intermodal units, a decline of 0.1% y/y. Total combined traffic was 7,505,182 carloads and intermodal units, ahead by 1.6%.
Weekly North American volume on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 339,795 carloads, up 4.7% from a year ago, and 364,495 intermodal units, an improvement of 2.9%. Total combined traffic was 704,290 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.8 percent. Year-to-date volume was 10,336,147 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 1.9% from 2025.
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Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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