FREIGHT RAIL CUSTOMER KEY FACTS

• Freight rail excels at moving huge quantities long distances.
• Nearly every industry relies on freight railroads.
• Freight railroads move everything from apples to automobiles.

Freight rail is the backbone of the U.S. economy, providing safe, cost-effective transportation for industries like agriculture, automotive, energy, chemicals, construction, and retail. Businesses rely on rail to haul massive shipments long distances efficiently, keeping supply chains reliable and competitive.

With freight demand set to rise 30% by 2040, railroads invest $23 billion annually to maintain a high-capacity network that drives economic growth. In 2023 alone, freight rail generated $233.4 billion in economic output, with every railroad job supporting 3.9 additional jobs nationwide.

By working with trucks and barges, trains help move 59 tons of freight for each of us in a single year—connecting goods across the country and the world. Here is a sampling of the things freight railroads ship every day. You can download this list as an infographic.

Intermodal

Rail intermodal is the movement of shipping containers and truck trailers by rail. It’s been the fastest-growing major rail traffic segment over the past 25 years. Many of the products you find on a retailer’s shelves may have traveled on an intermodal train.

Chemicals

Thanks to the chemicals railroads ship each year, Americans get their bottled water, thriving garden, hand sanitizer and toilet bowl cleaner safely and efficiently. Over the years, railroads have implemented special safety practices so that 99.99% of these sensitive materials reach their destinations without incident.

Food & Agriculture

Railroads are crucial to nearly every aspect of agriculture, including the movement of products essential to farming, such as finished farming equipment and agricultural chemicals, as well as the food found on grocery shelves and dinner tables across the country and around the world.

Automotives

Railroads are involved in all stages of auto manufacturing–from moving the iron ore and coke needed to make steel to delivering semi-finished goods to manufacturing plants where they are used to produce auto parts to moving finished parts and final vehicles. Each year, freight rail moves nearly 75% of the new cars and light trucks purchased in the U.S.

Construction, Pulp & Paper

Freight rail is the foundation for the nation’s construction industry, and its paper and pulp industry, moving steel, cement, lumber, and more. Railroads’ lumber transport has become a bellwether for the American dream as rail carloads strongly correlate to housing starts.

Energy Products

From ethanol to crude oil, railroads move nearly every U.S. energy product and many of the raw materials needed to produce them. As energy sources and consumption patterns have changed, the freight rail industry has adjusted to customer needs to continue safely and efficiently moving energy products.