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Intermodal Traffic Drops 2.7% for Week
Rail intermodal traffic fell 2.7% for the week ended Saturday compared with a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Container traffic fell 1.3% to 174,715 units, while trailer traffic dropped 7.6% to 48,012 units, AAR said in its weekly report.
Overall rail carload traffic rose 3.3% to 332,933 carloads, the group said.
For the month of March, intermodal traffic fell 5.7%, while rail carloads were down 0.1% fromÌý a year ago, 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.