Rail traffic for U.S. carriers was up by a small margin for the week ending Feb. 28, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Volume was 516,729 carloads and intermodal units, a gain of 1.6% over the same week a year ago. That included 238,131 carloads, up 6.9%, and 278,598 containers and trailers, down 2.5%.
Grain again boosted traffic, up 20% from the same week in 2025. Petroleum and related products were better by 14.7%, while chemicals, 8.6%, and metallic ores and minerals, 8.4%, rounded out top gainers.
Intermodal volumes have been hit by moderating demand on the trans-Pacific, and a surging trucking market that has taken volumes from domestic intermodal rail.
Through eight weeks of 2026, total U.S. volume was 3,953,605 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8% from the same period a year ago. That included 1,762,504 carloads, up 5.5%, and 2,191,101 intermodal units, down 1%.
The rail data for metals compares favorably with this year’s improving flatbed truckload market, where surging rates indicate improving manufacturing and industrial activity. One executive with a railcar builder said that to this point, he had yet to see increased activity in the gondola segment, a car type used to haul steel, scrap metal and other freight carried by flatbed trucks.
North American traffic for the week, as reported by nine U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, included 345,406 carloads, up 4.1%, and 366,411 intermodal units, down 0.1%. The combined figure of 711,817 carloads and intermodal units represents a 1.9% gain of the same week in 2025. Year to date, North American volume of 5,442,179 carloads and intermodal units is a 2.5% gain over the first eight weeks of 2025.
In Canada, railroads handled 93,668 carloads, up 2.5%, and 74,256 intermodal units, up 11.3% from a year ago. Through eight weeks of 2026, the Canadian total of 1,274,116 carloads and intermodal units is a 2.5% gain over the same period in 2025.
Mexican figures for the week include 13,607 carloads, down 22.5%, and 13,557 intermodal units, down 4.5%. For the year to date, Mexican railroads have handled 214,458 carloads and intermodal units, up 17% from the first eight weeks of 2025.
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