Weekly Transportation Update: Vehicle purchases spur consumer spending; personal saving rate sinks.

Retail inventories-to-sales ratios remained steady at 1.32 overall and 1.13 excluding automotive, reflecting historically lean levels. New durable goods orders surged 9.9% in July, driven by a significant rebound in aircraft orders, although core capital goods orders showed only a modest decline.

Unemployment benefits and mortgage rates remained stable, while diesel prices fell to their lowest since January 2022, and the trucking industry saw a net increase in carriers despite historically low spot rates.

For the week ending August 24, North American rail traffic increased 1.3% year-over-year, driven by a 7.1% rise in intermodal traffic despite a 4.5% drop in carloads, largely due to a short Canadian rail work stoppage, while YTD totals show a 2.3% increase with intermodal up 8.1% and carloads down 3.2%.