Rail, Intermodal Fall for Week
Rail carload and intermodal freight fell for the week ended Saturday compared with a year ago, continuing a trend this year, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Rail intermodal volume fell 0.7% to 205,527 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report.
Container volume rose 2.2%, but trailer volume fell 10.5%. Rail carloads fell 1.2%.
The declines were the 12th straight for intermodal and the 11th carload downturn in the past 12 weeks, according to AAR figures.
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.
