Intermodal Traffic Declines for Week

Rail intermodal traffic fell 3.2% for the week ended Saturday compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.

Containers fell 3.4% to 175,775 units, while trailers fell 2.4% to 48,337 units, AAR said in its weekly rail traffic report, released Thursday

Overall rail carload traffic rose 2.3% to 336,847 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.