Rail/Intermodal
Rail traffic for week 18 came in strong across several commodity types. According to the Association of American Railroads, total rail traffic was up 2.2% y/y for the week ending May 4, 2024.
Carloads were down 0.9% y/y. Unsurprisingly, the biggest drag this week was coal, down 22.1%. Coke was down 27.4%, and grain mill products declined 7.2%. However, several commodities saw growth with some above 10% y/y. Those with the highest y/y growth include “other commodities” (35.6%), primary forest products (19.2%), metallic ores (15.5%), and grain (14.3%).
Intermodal was also up this week, consistent with its trend for almost all of 2024. For week 18, total intermodal traffic was up 5.3% y/y. This growth was driven by container shipments, which were up 6.3%, and limited by trailer shipments, down 17.0%.
Year to date, total rail traffic is up 2.1%, with carloads down 3.8% and intermodal up 8.4%. Of the 10 carload commodity groups reported by AAR, four show positive YTD y/y growth. This is up from three last week, with the introduction of the “other” commodity group, which includes sub-commodities such as waste and non-metallic scrap, which are commodities largely tied to the industrial sector.
Norfolk Southern
In other developments, this week saw the end of the proxy battle between Norfolk Southern and Ancora Holdings. After months of sparring, Thursday’s shareholder vote granted Ancora three of Norfolk Southern’s 13 board seats. The result gives Ancora more influence at NS but not the power to oust CEO Alan Shaw and COO John Orr as originally planned. Ancora’s newly installed board members include a former Surface Transportation Board commissioner and two former rail executives.
