U.S. weekly railroad traffic rises 3.7% as August wraps-on positive note
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The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Wednesday a 0.3% upside in U.S. railroads traffic to 2,525,510 carloads and intermodal units year-over-year for Aug. 2022.

Carloads rose 2.3% during the month to 1,189,892 while intermodal units declined to 1,335,618 containers and trailers, down 1.2% from the same month last year. 
11 of 20 carload commodity categories saw carload gains, which included coal, up 17,468 carloads or 5.2%; grain, up 12,594 carloads or 14.1%; and crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 7,327 carloads or 7.1%.
On the other side, primary metal products declined 14.1%, all other carloads, down 15.9%; and petroleum & petroleum products fell 6.6%. 
âThings can change quickly, but there are reasons to believe the economy is on track to stimulate continued improvements in rail volumes,â said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. âTo be sure, some traffic categories are doing better than others, just like some sectors of the economy are doing better than others. Through additional hiring and continued investments, railroads are preparing themselves for growth.â
Excluding coal, carloads were up 9,572 carloads, or 1.2 percent, in Aug. 2022 from Aug. 2021.
Overall, North America weekly rail traffic increased 5.3% Y/Y to 704,503 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Sept. 3, 2022. 
It includes: U.S. railroads weekly traffic up 3.7%; Canada recorded 2.4% surge in carloads and 8.5% growth in intermodal units; Mexican railroads reported over 32% growth in carloads and intermodal units for the week. 
Related Tickers: Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE:CP), Canadian National Railway (CNI), CSX Corp. (NASDAQ:CSX), and Union Pacific (UNP), Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, BRK.B), Norfolk Southern (NSC), and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP,BIPC).
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