Rail, Intermodal Fall for Week
Rail carload and intermodal freight traffic fell from a year ago for the week ended Saturday, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Rail intermodal volume declined 5.1% to 237,298 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report Thursday.
Container volume fell 3% to 187,454 units, while trailer volume dropped 12.1% to 49,844.
Rail carload traffic totaled 328,821 cars, down 2.2% from a year ago.
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.
