Intermodal Traffic Increases for Week
Intermodal rail traffic grew 20.1% last week compared with a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Traffic totaled 227,661 trailers and containers for the week ended Saturday, though that level was 2.5% lower than the same week two years ago, AAR said in its weekly report Thursday.
Containers gained 22.1% to 194,227 units, while trailers rose 10% to 33,434 units, AAR said in its weekly report.
Freight rail traffic, which excludes intermodal traffic, rose 5.5% to 282,199 carloads.
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.
