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Intermodal Traffic Declines for Week
Rail and intermodal traffic declined last week compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Intermodal traffic for the week ended Saturday fell 4.9%, led by a 9.4% drop in trailer traffic to 48,948 units, AAR said. Containers fell 3.7% to 182,439 units.
Overall rail traffic fell 5.4% to 319,994 carloads, the group said in its weekly report. AAR estimated total volume at 34 billion ton-miles, down 4.5% from the same week last year.
For the month of October, intermodal traffic fell 2.9% compared to a year ago, while total rail traffic fell 2.8%, AAR said.
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.