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Rail, Intermodal Traffic Decline for Week
Rail and intermodal traffic both plunged for the week ended Saturday compared with a year ago, in part due to Midwest flooding, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Intermodal traffic dropped 5.6%, led by a drop in container traffic, which fell 6.6% to 178,878 units. Trailers declined 1.8% to 49,669 units.
Overall rail traffic fell 5.7% for the week, to 318,275 carloads, the group 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.