Rail, Intermodal Traffic Drop for Week

Rail carload and intermodal freight traffic declined from a year ago for the Labor Day holiday week ended Saturday, the Association of American Railroads said.

Intermodal volume fell 3.6% to 207,911 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report Thursday.

Container volume fell 2% to 164, 910 units, while trailer volume dropped 9.1% to 43,001.

Rail carload traffic totaled 317,313 cars, down 1.6% from a year ago, 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.