Weekly Intermodal Traffic Dips 0.5%

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Bruce Harmon/Trans Pixs

Intermodal traffic dipped 0.5% for the week ended Saturday, the Association of American Railroads reported.

Container traffic rose 0.1% to 203,166 units from a year ago, while trailer traffic dropped 4% to 32,885 units.

Railroad carloads excluding intermodal fell 0.8%, to 299,943 units, AAR said in its weekly report.

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.