Rail, Intermodal Traffic Decline for Week

Rail and intermodal traffic declined for the week ended Saturday from the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads said.

Rail intermodal volume dropped 2.1% year-over-year to 191,459 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report.

Container volume dipped 1.4% to 149,347 units, while trailer volume fell 4.4% to 42,112 units.

Overall rail carload traffic dipped 0.1% from a year ago to 290,424 carloads, the group said.

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.