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US rail traffic grows 5.1 per cent as containers outpace carloads

US railroads carried 529,712 freight units in the week ending October 3, an annual increase of 5.1 per cent. Containers and trailers grew faster than conventional carloads. The newly released weekly figures also show growth across reporting railroads in Canada and Mexico, while the US cumulative increase over the first 39 weeks was slower than the latest weekly gain.

Economics & Markets··Midday
A container wagon’s steel wheels and suspension rest on rails beside a switch, with ballast and autumn trees receding behind.

Containers lift the latest weekly total

US freight railroads handled 529,712 traffic units during the week ending October 3, 5.1 per cent above the corresponding week of 2025. The October 7 release from the Association of American Railroads, the industry’s policy and research organisation, separates conventional carloads from containers and trailers transported by rail. Container and trailer movements, known as intermodal traffic, reached 299,001 units and increased 7.4 per cent annually. Conventional carloads numbered 230,711, a 2.4 per cent rise over the same comparison.[1], [2]

The weekly statistics count freight units, with the container and trailer category forming the larger part of the US total. Each growth rate compares equivalent weeks in two different years. The figures do not supply cargo weight or rail revenue, and the increase is not a seasonally adjusted estimate of economic output. Seven of the ten conventional carload categories increased in the latest week. The comparisons retain the distinction between the reported types of freight traffic.[1]

Year-to-date traffic rises 3.5 per cent

Over the first 39 weeks of 2026, US railroads recorded 19,988,290 units in the two categories combined, up 3.5 per cent from the matching period of 2025. Conventional carloads contributed 8,910,593 units, an annual increase of 2.7 per cent. Containers and trailers accounted for 11,077,697 units, up 4.2 per cent. The cumulative series adds traffic across the year’s first 39 weeks, whereas the newly published weekly series isolates the seven-day period ending October 3.[1]

Nine North American railroads report higher volumes

The broader North American series includes nine reporting railroads across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Together they moved 721,440 units in the latest week, 4.4 per cent more than a year earlier. Within that total, conventional carloads rose 1.6 per cent to 335,068 and intermodal traffic increased 6.9 per cent to 386,372. Across the first 39 weeks, combined North American volumes reached 27,399,651 units and increased 3.1 per cent annually. This regional total covers the reporting operators in three countries, rather than US railroads alone.[1]

References

  1. News sourceAssociation of American RailroadsUS rail traffic grows 5.1 percent as intermodal shipments rise faster↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceFreightWavesIntermodal traffic outpaces US rail carload growth↩
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