Rail Pulse is Steel Wheel Logistics' weekly read on what actually moved on the U.S. rail network last week. Every figure is sourced from public AAR, STB, EIA, and USDA filings and linked at the bottom. Every word of analysis is anchored to those numbers — no estimates, no extrapolation.
The Number
Total rail traffic for the week ending October 10, 2026 reached 534256 units, up 7.2 percent year-over-year, driven by intermodal growth of 10.4 percent to 302252 units.
Network Health
BNSF is green with speed 25.3 mph and dwell 22.9 hours. UP is green at 24.6 mph and 19.9 hours. CSX is yellow at 24.452776455976785 mph and 20.03 hours. NS is red at 20.2 mph and dwell 24.8 hours. CN dwell is green at 17.69 hours (speed data unavailable). CPKC is yellow at 22.9 mph and 21.41 hours.
Color codes: green = speed ≥24 mph or dwell <22 hrs; yellow = speed 21–24 mph or dwell 22–26 hrs; red = speed <21 mph or dwell >26 hrs. Source: STB EP724 weekly Class I performance filings.
Fuel Watch
Diesel-fuel-for-on-highway-use settled at 6.179 dollars per gallon for the week ending October 12, down 0.32 percent week-over-week and 1.62 percent month-over-month from 6.2908. BNSF's fuel surcharge rises to 61 cents per mile effective November 1, and UP climbs to 84 cents per mile on the same date.
Want to see how a fuel-surcharge change hits a specific lane? Run a free rail rate quote — FSC is broken out per leg.
Commodity Spotlight
Metallic Ores and Metals led commodities with a 19.7 percent year-over-year jump to 22048 carloads for the week ending October 10. Forest Products posted a 9.6 percent gain to 8452 units, while Motor Vehicles and Parts advanced 9.4 percent to 16320 carloads.
Lane Watch
Tacoma, WA to Chicago, IL: 100-ton paper boxcar routed single-line via BNSF over 2205.3 miles. Tariff total 14273.48 dollars. Run an indicative estimate at steelwheellogistics.com/tools/rail-rate-quote.
Pricing a specific carload move? Run an indicative estimate through the live rail rate calculator. Already have cars on the ground? The demurrage calculator uses current Class I rate structures, and the transload directory lists rail-served terminals nationwide.
Sources
- AAR Weekly Rail Traffic Report
- STB Class I Weekly Performance Data (49 CFR 1250)
- EIA U.S. Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Average
- USDA AMS Grain Transportation Report
Rail Pulse is published every Tuesday morning, after the AAR Weekly Rail Traffic Report releases. We pull, validate, and compose — no figures are introduced beyond what these sources publish.