US rail freight posted a mixed but generally positive performance in the latest weekly figures, with commodity traffic continuing to outperform intermodal.
According to the Association of American Railroads, total weekly traffic for the week ending 11 April reached 500,040 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.7% compared with the same week a year earlier.
That total included 228,666 carloads, representing a 5.1% increase year on year, while weekly intermodal volume came to 271,374 containers and trailers, down 1.1%.
Seven of the 10 commodity categories recorded gains. Coal led the way with growth of 13%, followed by petroleum and related products at 10.3% and forest products at 8.4%.
Looking at the year-to-date picture after 14 weeks of 2026, cumulative carload volume stood at 3,142,017, up 4% from the same point last year. Intermodal, by contrast, reached 3,854,862 units, down 0.3%. Combined traffic so far this year totals 6,996,879 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.6% increase year on year.
Over the same year-to-date period, seven of the 10 commodity groups have posted gains, with grain up 15.4%, petroleum and petroleum products rising 7.9%, and chemicals up 4.1%. Forest products, down 3.5%, and motor vehicles and parts, down 0.4%, have been among the weaker categories.
Across North America, data from nine reporting railroads in the US, Canada and Mexico showed total volume of 338,866 carloads, up 5.3%, and 358,578 intermodal units, down 0.7%, for a combined weekly total of 697,444 units, an increase of 2.1%. For the first 14 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic reached 9,631,857 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8% compared with the same period in 2025.
