Weekly Intermodal Traffic Soars 16.8%
U.S. intermodal traffic jumped 16.8% for the week ended Saturday from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Container traffic leaped 20.4% to 201,325 units, while trailer traffic slipped 1.7% to 31,265 units.
Railroad carloads excluding intermodal climbed 6.2% to 284,546 units, the rail trade group said in its weekly report.
AAR noted that the comparison week in 2011 was affected by significant winter weather events.
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.
