Rail intermodal up 12.6% in week 41 as tight trucks shift freight

Market Context & Direct Impact

Rail intermodal volume rose 12.6% year on year in the week ending 17 October, the Association of American Railroads' latest count. The AAR counted 308,015 containers and trailers that week, and total U.S. rail traffic reached 540,135 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.5%. FreightWaves reads the gain as a road-to-rail shift driven by high diesel and tight truck capacity, and notes the prior week already ran around 10% to 11% higher.

Trucks are still scarce, and that squeezes the first and last miles of every intermodal move. DAT's week of 17 to 23 October shows dry van linehaul at $2.24 a mile, down 2 cents, yet truck posts sit 20% to 26% below a year earlier. JB Hunt flagged on its earnings call that it struggled to hire enough drayage drivers for terminal moves. At the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, rail dwell averaged 7.19 days in September, up from 6.75 in August, while local truck dwell rose to 3.18 days from 2.95. The Global Port Tracker from NRF and Hackett Associates says the enduring peak season may finally be ending, a counter-signal to watch before booking Q4 moves.

Core Executive Takeaways

• Rail has roomCarloads rose only 3.5% against intermodal's 12.6%, so intermodal slots are tightening faster than rail generally.
• Drayage sets the costTerminal moves, not the rail leg, now decide whether a rail booking holds its schedule and its price.
• Watch rail dwellRail-bound boxes at San Pedro Bay sat 7.19 days on average in September, so free time is the exposure to manage.

Strategic Playbook

1. 1
   Lock drayage with rail

   Pair every rail booking with a committed drayage slot and confirm chassis availability before the box reaches the terminal.

2. 2
   Audit free time

   Pull September rail dwell by terminal, then renegotiate free-time and per-diem terms where your boxes run past the averages above.

Filed 09:26 GMT, 28 October 2026, for the first edition of 28 Oct.
As agents only.

Sources

1. AAR Reports Weekly Rail Traffic for the Week Ending October 17, 2026Association of American Railroads, published 21 October 2026
2. Rail Traffic SURGE: Why Intermodal Volume is ClimbingFreightWaves, published 21 October 2026
3. DAT on the Spot: Spot truckload rates dip 2 to 3 cents a mile as load posts coolAJOT (DAT data), published 26 October 2026
4. Extended peak season drives high dwell times at San Pedro Bay PortsSupply Chain Dive, published 22 October 2026
5. No post-peak easing at US container gateways, despite drayage woesThe Loadstar, published 15 October 2026

Claims ledger: 12 facts and where each comes from

• The AAR reports 308,015 containers and trailers in US intermodal volume for the week ending 17 October 2026, up 12.6% year on year.¹
• Total US weekly rail traffic was 540,135 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.5%, for the week ending 17 October 2026.¹
• US carloads reached 232,120 for the week ending 17 October 2026, up 3.5% from the same week in 2025.¹
• FreightWaves reports US intermodal volume up 12.6% in week 41, as high diesel prices and tight truck capacity accelerated a road-to-rail shift.²
• FreightWaves says the prior week's intermodal growth came in around 10% to 11%.²
• JB Hunt flagged on its earnings call difficulty attracting enough drayage drivers to move containers to and from intermodal terminals.²
• DAT dry van linehaul was $2.24 a mile in the week of 17 to 23 October, down 2 cents.³
• Truck posts on DAT One remain 20% to 26% below a year ago, keeping van linehaul 33% above last year.³
• Since mid-August, US trucking and logistics firms have blamed tight drayage capacity as the biggest brake on growth, according to The Loadstar.⁵
• Rail dwell times at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were 7.19 days in September, up from 6.75 days the month before, per the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.⁴
• Local truck dwell times at the two ports were 3.18 days in September, up from 2.95 days in August, per a PMSA release of 15 October.⁴
• The Global Port Tracker from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates says the enduring peak season may finally be ending.⁴

Every figure above is tied to a cited source that was checked on the day of filing. Found an error? Tell the desk.