Intermodal Traffic Grows 16.9% for Week
Intermodal traffic rose 16.9% last week from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Traffic increased to 233,993 units for the week ended Saturday, led by an 17.5% gain in containers from the same week last year, to 199,237 units. Trailers rose 13.4% to 34,756 units.
Railroad carloads rose 8.2% to 296,980 carloads, AAR said Thursday 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.
