Rail, Intermodal Traffic Rise for Week, Month

.S. rail freight and intermodal traffic rose for the week ended Oct. 1 compared with a year earlier, and traffic for the month of September also increased over last year despite two big hurricanes, the Association of American Railroads said.

Overall rail freight traffic rose 0.2% for the week, to 337,253 carloads, while intermodal traffic jumped 8.1% over the same week last year, AAR said in its weekly report.

Intermodal trailer volume rose 6.2% to 64,635 units, while containers jumped 8.7% to 246,530 units, the group said.

For the third quarter, rail carloadings rose 1% to 4.3 million units, while intermodal traffic rose 6.5% to 2.99 million units.

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.