Intermodal Traffic Rises 3.1% for Week

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U.S. intermodal traffic rose 3% for the week ended Saturday from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.

Container traffic rose 5.2% to 209,494 units and trailers fell 10.2% to 29,486, the rail trade group said in its weekly report.

Railroad carloads excluding intermodal declined 5.2% to 279,063 units, AAR 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.