Rail, Intermodal Freight Decline
Rail carload and intermodal freight both fell last week compared with a year ago, continuing a trend this year, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Rail intermodal volume fell 3.9% to 232,435 trailers and containers, the group said in its weekly report. Container volume dipped 1.1%, while trailers plunged 13.6% compared with the same week a year ago.
Rail carloads fell 7% year-to-year, AAR said.
The declines were the ninth straight for intermodal and the eighth carload drop in the past nine weeks, according to AAR figures.
Total volume was estimated at 32.7 billion ton-miles, down 5.8% from last year.
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.
