US weekly railroad traffic drops 2.8% after coal volumes edge lower
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The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported US rail traffic down 2.8% Y/Y to 498,899 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending July 16, 2022.
Total carloads for the week were 229,809, down 2.4% while intermodal volume was 269,090 containers and trailers, down 3.2% Y/Y.

Overall, North America weekly rail traffic fell 0.9% Y/Y to 681,366 carloads and intermodal units, reflecting the combined volumes of U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads.
3 of the 20 US carload commodity categories saw gains during the week, which included farm products excl. grain, and food, up 7% to 16,695; motor vehicles and parts up 7.2% to 12,916 ; and non metallic minerals up 7.2% Y/Y to 33,017.
On the other side, coal down 5.1% to 65,634; grains fell 10.8% to 18,752 carloads; metallic ores and minerals down 4.2% to 22,046; and chemicals dropped 0.9% to 32,504.
Canadian railroads reported 73,518 carloads for the week, up 4.6%, and 70,728 intermodal units, up 11.1%; Mexican railroads reported 22,323 carloads, down 1.4%, and intermodal units 15,898, down 11.1% Y/Y.
Rail stocks have been on a ride lower in 2022, but Stifel analyst Benjamin Nolan indicated the names may have fallen farther than they deserve in a note on Friday.


Related tickers: Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE:CP), CSX Corp. (CSX), and Union Pacific (UNP), Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BRK.B), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP,BIPC), and Canadian National Railway (CNI).
Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) is scheduled to announce Q2 earnings results on Thursday, July 21st, before market open. See its earnings preview: Risk, Returns and Rails