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Rail, Intermodal Traffic Fall for Week
Rail and intermodal traffic fell sharply last week from the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Intermodal traffic for the week ended Saturday fell 7.9%, led by an 11.7% drop in trailer traffic to 48,362 units, AAR said. Containers fell 6.9% to 177,013 units.
Overall rail traffic plunged 9.1% to 309,099 carloads, and AAR estimated total volume at 32.8 billion ton-miles, down 7.9% from a year ago.
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.