U.S. freight rail traffic in Week 3 (ending Jan. 21, 2023) dipped 2.1% from the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Jan. 25. Traffic trailed the same period in 2019 by 14%, according to Susquehanna Financial Group (SFG) Analyst Bascome Majors.
Norfolk Southern’s (NS) growth strategy was laid out at its Dec. 6 Investor Day, the first under new President and CEO Alan Shaw. Not a “grow-at-all-cost strategy,” Shaw said the Class I will balance three key elements: “Reliable and resilient service; continuous productivity improvement; and smart and sustainable growth.” Cowen and Company and Susquehanna Financial Group (SFG) weigh in.
For the week ending Nov. 26, 2022 (Week 47), total U.S. rail traffic was down 4.1% compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) reported on Nov. 30. Traffic was down 21% compared with the same week in pre-pandemic 2019, according to Susquehanna Financial Group (SFG) Analyst Bascome Majors.
U.S. rail traffic for the week ending July 23, 2022 (Week 29) was 498,901 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.8% from the same week last year. Total carloads were 232,565, up 1.1%, while U.S. intermodal volume of 266,336 containers and trailers dipped 2.5% compared with the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads reported on July 27.
U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 11, 2021 continued to suffer, as a near-11% fall-off in intermodal volume erased a small increase in carloads, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 15.
The Association of American Railroads now has 44 weeks of rail traffic data for 2021 (ending Nov. 6). Total carload and intermodal traffic grew 6.5% in North America—rising 7.5% in the U.S., 3.7% in Canada, and 4.0% in Mexico from the same point last year.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) now has 40 weeks of traffic data for 2021. Total traffic (carload and intermodal) rose 7.6% in North America—climbing 8.7% in the U.S., 4.7% in Canada, and 4.1% in Mexico from the same point last year.
While U.S. carloads were up 4.1% in August 2021, the 3.3% fall-off in intermodal volume kept combined traffic virtually flat with the prior-year period, as railroads navigated “chassis and container shortages at ports; shortages of drayage truck drivers; port congestion; insufficient warehouse capacity at many locations; and now, weather problems in the Gulf,” AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported on Sept. 1.
Total U.S. weekly rail traffic for the week ending Aug. 7, 2021 was 509,607 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4% from the same point last year, as intermodal losses offset carload gains, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Aug. 11.
For the week ending July 24, 2021, total U.S. rail traffic came in at 503,219 carloads and intermodal units, growing 4.6% from the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on July 28.
