Intermodal leads weekly gains as US rail traffic rises 3.5%, says AAR

U.S. rail traffic increased 3.5% in the week ending Oct. 31 compared with the same week in 2025, the Association of American Railroads said Wednesday. Carload traffic rose 3.0%, while intermodal volume increased 3.9%.

Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups recorded year-over-year gains. Metallic ores and metals led with an 18.3% increase, followed by forest products at 9.3% and motor vehicles and parts at 9.1%. Chemicals rose 7.9%, farm products excluding grain and food increased 6.9%, petroleum and petroleum products gained 2.5%, and nonmetallic minerals edged up 1.1%.

Miscellaneous carloads posted the largest weekly decline, falling 12.2%. Grain traffic dropped 8.3%, while coal slipped 0.4%.

For the first 43 weeks of 2026, total U.S. rail traffic increased 3.8% from the same period last year. Intermodal volume rose 4.7%, outpacing a 2.7% gain in carloads. Grain remained the strongest year-to-date carload category, up 10.1%, despite its weekly decline. Metallic ores and metals increased 8.9%, and petroleum and petroleum products rose 7.9%. Coal was the only carload category below its year-earlier level, down 1.6%.

Across the nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, combined weekly traffic increased 4.3% from the same week last year, according to the AAR. North American carloads rose 3.9%, while intermodal traffic gained 4.7%. Through the first 43 weeks of 2026, combined North American traffic was up 3.3%.

Why it matters: The weekly increase extended a positive year-to-date trend, with total traffic up 3.8% through the first 43 weeks of 2026.

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Source: FreightWaves