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A roundup of the week’s most-read rail — intermodal, Class I service, ports, and the bottlenecks in between.
| ● Clear |
FreightWaves Rail · Nov 12, 2026 |
Sub: Class I & Regulatory |
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| Bulletin Orders |
FWRX · No. 11·12 |
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From the desk of Stuart Chirls · Railroads · FreightWaves & Trains.com
Israel’s Rail Vision Ltd. said it completed successful testing of its TrackScout AI-integrated sensing system under AAR’s Technology Roadmap Program … TRP supports next-gen rail safety and automation technologies … the program is managed by AAR’s MvX Rail subsidiary, and addresses what RVL said is the North American freight rail industry’s efforts to advance Restricted Speed Enforcement capabilities, “an important building block in the transition toward increased rail automation” …
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| Featured · Intermodal · Volumes |
◆ Intermodal · Volumes
FreightWaves Rail · Nov 11, 2026
AAR said October intermodal volume rose 9.6% to a record weekly average of more than 298,000 containers and trailers, while total carloads rose 3.4%, their strongest gain in eight months, with 15 of 20 carload categories higher and motor vehicles up nearly 10%.
| Signal |
The past three months were the three strongest intermodal months on record and 2026 is on course for an annual record, though AAR cautioned that post-midterm policy changes could add uncertainty. |
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Read the full bulletin → |
◆ Regulatory · Preemption
FreightWaves Rail · Nov 6, 2026
The Surface Transportation Board issued a policy statement, final Nov. 9, signaling that state and local restrictions on rail customers’ facilities may face closer scrutiny under federal preemption law, while stressing it makes no binding determinations and that incidental rail components of manufacturing sites generally remain subject to local zoning.
| Signal |
The statement follows a request from AAR, short-line, chemical and grain groups and could strengthen rail-served developers’ hand against local restrictions, but it leaves case-by-case questions open. |
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Read the full bulletin → |
◆ Trade · Costs
FreightWaves Rail · Nov 10, 2026
Executives at Ford, Union Pacific, XPO and Valero described how higher fuel and freight costs hit companies unevenly: Ford expects about a $2 billion year-over-year cost headwind, UP called fuel increases an advantage for rail, and Valero said Gulf Coast-to-Asia crude freight now runs $30 to $35 a barrel versus about $5 a year earlier.
| Signal |
Higher fuel prices and a tight trucking market are pushing freight toward intermodal rail, reshaping where companies buy and which markets they serve. |
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Read the full bulletin → |
◆ Class I · Earnings
FreightWaves Rail · Nov 9, 2026
BNSF’s third-quarter net earnings rose 19.3% to $1.73 billion on operating revenue up 14.7% to $6.87 billion and volumes up 3.9%, offsetting higher fuel costs; coal shipments fell 8.4% and nine-month earnings are up 13%.
| Signal |
BNSF’s results provided a larger contribution to parent Berkshire Hathaway in a quarter when Berkshire’s overall operating earnings declined. |
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Read the full bulletin → |
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Reading the Rails
Powered by  · Intermodal Dashboard
The week’s total U.S. rail carload volumes, pulled straight from SONAR’s Intermodal Dashboard.
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Total Carloads
227,914
▼ -2.52% w/w
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12-Mo. Average
226,474
▲ +0.6% above avg
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vs. 2025
188,673
▲ +20.8% above 2025
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vs. 2024
183,990
▲ +23.9% above 2024
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● SONAR · Total U.S. Carloads, 12-Month Trend — RTOTC.USA
Weekly total carloads fell to 227,914 this week, down 5,902 cars (-2.52%) from last week’s 233,816, leaving volumes only about 0.6% above the 12-month average of 226,474.
● SONAR · Total U.S. Carloads, Year-over-Year Comparison — RTOTC.USA (2023–2026)
Layered against the past three years, 2026’s carload volumes remain well ahead of the comparable year-end points in 2025 (188,673) and 2024 (183,990) — up roughly 21% and 24% respectively; the 2023 comparison line was again too overlapped with the others to read confidently.
| Caution |
A second straight weekly decline, and a sharper one, pulls carloads close to the 12-month average, so next week’s reading will show whether this is a pause or the start of a seasonal slowdown. |
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Powered by · Intermodal Dashboard
See the whole rail picture in SONAR
Every figure above is live in SONAR’s Intermodal Dashboard — carloads, container volumes and year-over-year moves, refreshed daily across every mode.
Explore the Intermodal Dashboard → |
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