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
Rail traffic for the week ending October 24 totaled 538503 carloads and intermodal units combined, up 7.8% year-over-year. Intermodal volume of 303677 units climbed 11.3% YoY, while carloads reached 234826, up 3.6% YoY.
Network Health
BNSF is green with speed of 25.0 mph and dwell of 22.7 hours. UP is green at 24.5 mph and 19.8 hours dwell. CSX runs green with 24.6 mph speed and 20.23 hours dwell. NS is red, posting 20.0 mph speed and 26.1 hours dwell. CN is green on dwell at 17.6 hours, though speed data is unavailable. CPKC is yellow at 22.5 mph speed and 19.24 hours dwell.
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
Heating oil futures for the week ending October 26 priced at 6.352 per gallon, up 1.21% week-over-week. The 12-week trend shows a climb from 5.257 in mid-August to 6.352 currently. BNSF's fuel surcharge holds at 61 cents per mile for November, while UP stays at 84 cents per mile; NS ticks down to 94 cents from 95; CSXT eases to 63 from 64; CN drops to 95 from 104; and CPKC remains at 92 cents per mile.
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
Petroleum and Petroleum Products led the week ending October 24 with a 15.4% year-over-year gain to 11700 carloads. Motor Vehicles and Parts followed at 15.3% YoY growth to 16788 carloads. Forest Products and Metallic Ores each posted double-digit gains of 11.7% and 11.6% respectively.
Lane Watch
Cheyenne, WY to Houston, TX coal shipment via 100-ton open-hopper: tariff total 6000.85 over 1145.7 miles on single-carrier BNSF routing. Fuel surcharge of 698.86 is included. 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.