Intermodal Rail Traffic Rises for First Time in Seven Weeks

Weekly U.S. intermodal rail traffic rose 0.8% from the same period last year, the first increase in seven weeks, the Association of American Railroads reported.

Intermodal traffic for the week ended Dec. 5 climbed to 270,276 units compared with the same week last year, AAR said Dec. 9 in its weekly report.

The rise is the first since the week ending Oct. 17, when intermodal volume increased 1% to 275,149.

Rail carload volume for the week, which excludes intermodal units, dropped 12.9% year-over-year to 271,774 carloads.

Two of the 10 commodity groups tracked by AAR posted an increase: miscellaneous carloads at 12.3% and motor vehicles and parts at 1.8%.

Total North American intermodal volume increased 1.1% to 338,922 units for the week.

Canadian railroads moved 58,508 intermodal units, a 4.6% rise. Railroads in Mexico moved 10,138 intermodal containers, a 9.4% decline, according to AAR.

For the first 48 weeks of the year, U.S. intermodal traffic increased 1.8% to 12.8 million units from the same period in 2014.

Association of American Railroads