Rail/Intermodal
North American rail carload and intermodal saw both sequential and y/y gains in the latest week, although comparisons with the same 2023 week in many cases were bolstered by weak performance last year.
Intermodal added to the volume surge that occurred following the weather impact in the third week of the year. Intermodal loadings were up more than 15% compared to the same week last year and were significantly above the five-year average.
Total rail carload and economically sensitive carloadings moved higher week-over-week, and both were nearly 5% higher than the same 2023 week.
Through the first five weeks of 2024, North American intermodal traffic is up 4.1% y/y while rail carload volume is down 6.4%. The only two carload commodity groups posting positive y/y volume through five weeks are chemicals and petroleum/petroleum products.
Gulf Coast Service
The Surface Transportation Board published a formal notice of a previously announced February 14 hearing to address Amtrak’s plans to increase service between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, using rail lines owned by CSX and Norfolk Southern.
The hearing will be held at STB’s headquarters in Washington and will be streamed live on YouTube. For details, see the Federal Register notice at https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-02750.
