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Rail, Intermodal Traffic Decline for Week
Rail and intermodal traffic fell for the week ended Jan. 10 from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Intermodal traffic fell 14.3%, led by 31.4% drop in trailers to 34,532 from 50,374. Container traffic fell 9.8% to 204,103 units from 238,277.
Overall rail traffic fell 17.7% to 271,471 carloads from 329,997, 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.