Intermodal Traffic Dips for Week

Rail carload traffic rose but intermodal levels fell for the week ended Saturday compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.

Intermodal traffic dipped 0.7% to 239,742 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report. Container volume fell 0.7% to 181,664 units, while trailer volume fell 0.9% to 58,078 units.

Overall rail carload traffic rose 1.5% from a year ago to 328,432 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.