Dan De Los Monterors for TTIntermodal traffic reached its highest weekly level this year for a third straight week, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Traffic for the week ended Saturday rose 17.1% to 237,194 trailers and containers, up 790 units from the previous week, the group said.
Containers rose 18.1% to 202,442 units, while trailers rose 11.4% to 34,752 units. The total level was 1.2% below the same week two years ago.
U.S. railroads originated 302,358 carloads, up 5.8% from the same week last year, but 11.3% off the comparable week of 2008, AAR said in its weekly report.
Railroad volume is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be higher-valued merchandise than bulk commodities, uses trains for the long haul and trucks for the shorter distance at either end of the trip.