Rail, Intermodal Traffic Decline

Rail and intermodal traffic fell for the week ended Saturday compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.

Intermodal traffic fell 1.1%, AAR said in its weekly report. Container traffic fell 1.8% to 185,658 units, while trailers rose 1.5% to 50,726 units.

Overall rail traffic fell 2.1% for the week, to 323,985 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.