CSX fourth quarter financials under coal, auto pressure

CSX fourth quarter financials are being squeezed by an October coal train derailment and a slump in auto volumes, even as overall traffic and intermodal business continue to grow.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

CSX fourth quarter financials and coal disruption

According to Chief Financial Officer Kevin Boone, the railroad expects a $40 million hit in the fourth quarter due to lower than expected CSX coal and automotive shipments, as reported by Trains.com. One major driver of this CSX fourth quarter financial impact was the October coal train derailment on Oct. 25 in Providence Forge, Va., which shut the route to the Newport News, Va., export terminal for 12 days during cleanup work.

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The CSX October coal train derailment in Providence Forge, Va., was detailed in a report from Railway Supply and by Trains.com on Oct. 25, 2025, under the headline “CSX coal train derails in Virginia.”

Boone told an investor conference on Tuesday that the company ultimately expects to make up the lost coal revenue, but not until early next year. For the current quarter, he estimates the derailment’s effect on earnings before interest and taxes at $30 million. Despite the disruption from the October coal train derailment, CSX’s coal volume for the quarter to date is still running nearly 1% higher.

Auto volume slump from Novelis aluminum plant fires

Automotive traffic has become a second drag on performance. CSX auto shipments are down 7.8% so far in the quarter, with Boone linking this auto volume slump in part to a pair of fires in October and November at the Novelis aluminum processing plant near Oswego, N.Y. The Novelis aluminum plant fires near Oswego, N.Y., halted production at a facility that supplies aluminum for Ford F-150 pickups as well as vehicles built by other manufacturers.

Ford has said the aluminum shortage will cost it $2 billion. At the same time, shortages of some computer chips used in new vehicles have further constrained production of certain models. Taken together, these pressures have produced a $10 million toll on CSX’s earnings before interest and taxes in the quarter, with the railroad’s auto volumes disproportionately affected.

Intermodal growth offsets weakness in merchandise traffic

Alongside these headwinds, Boone pointed to areas of strength in the CSX network. CSX intermodal volume growth remains robust, helped by new partnerships with BNSF Railway, Canadian National, and CPKC. A Trains.com article on Nov. 17, 2025, described how BNSF and CSX expanded their intermodal partnership, and Boone said all of these initiatives add up to significant opportunities to grow that business and support momentum into next year.

Domestic intermodal traffic is particularly strong amid the holiday peak season, while international intermodal volumes are slowing. Overall, CSX’s intermodal volume is up 6.1% for the quarter to date.

Merchandise traffic, by contrast, is weaker. Soft chemical and forest products volume, together with weak agricultural and food exports on CSX, has produced a 1.3% quarter-to-date decline in overall merchandise volume. Even so, when coal, intermodal, and other traffic are combined, total CSX volume for the fourth quarter so far is up 2.2%.

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