In this episode of FTR’s Rail Market Update, host Joseph Towers covers: Richard Kloster sworn in to the STB Weekly rail traffic As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow along and look at the graphs and indicators yourself by downloading the PDF of the presentation. Download the PDF: https://www.ftrintel.com/rail-podcast Support the show

Rail Market Update - Week ending June 12, 2026

FTR | State of Freight

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** FTR | State of Freight

## Transcript

Welcome to this week's episode of FTR's Weekly Rail Market Update Podcast, hosted by Joseph Towers. Join Joseph as he dissects everything from market trends to economic indicators to explore how these factors are shaping the rail market landscape. Download the graphics package at ftrintel.com slash rail dash podcast.

And feel free to use those slides as you defend your transportation thought leadership within your own company. So buckle up as we embark on a journey through the dynamic and ever-changing world of rail. And now, here's your host, Joseph Towers. Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of FTR's Rail and Intermodal Update.

I'm your host, Joseph Towers. First and foremost, before we dive into the content on this week's episode, I want to go ahead and plug this year's upcoming FTR conference. It's a plug that I'm going to repeat several times between now and the first week of September when it takes place.

This four-day event in Indianapolis will happen from August 31st to September 3rd, with two days dedicated to the truck industry and two days dedicated to the rail industry. With topics spanning across both the freight and equipment sides of the transportation industry. Early bird pricing is currently in place, and if you use my personalized code, you can receive an additional 10% off of the early bird pricing.

Use code 26FTRJoseph10 for 10% off. That's 26FTRJoseph10. As far as content goes for this week's episode, it's going to be a little bit lighter than in previous episodes. With the UP-NS merger process currently in limbo until the required supplemental data sources are provided to the STB, there's not a whole lot to report on that front.

The one non-rail traffic specific topic that we are going to cover on this week's episode is the final confirmation of our friend Dick Kloster to the Service Transportation Board. This was a very long, drawn-out process for Dick, but on Friday, June 5th, he was officially sworn in, beginning his term, which is set to expire on December 31st, 2028.

Mr. Kloster is now the fourth board member on the STB and the third Republican. And when the merger proceedings finally kick off, he will play a full role in the process. We're now going to switch gears and talk through the latest changes in North American rail traffic levels, spending a bit more time than we usually do talking through recent trends and what that could mean for the balance of 2026 and what that could mean for the future.

For the week ending June 6th, 2026, total rail traffic across North America was up 6.4% year-over-year, driven by intermodal growth of 11.0% and lesser carload growth of 1.7%. On the carload side, most of the underlying commodities have continued to post year-over-year gains,

though there were two primary drivers that weighed down overall carload volume. Cold traffic fell by 5.7% this week, and the all-other category, a much smalle...

Rail Market Update - Week ending June 12, 2026

Transcript

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Rail Market Update - Week ending June 12, 2026

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.