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Rail, Intermodal Traffic Fall for Week
Rail and intermodal traffic fell for the week ended Saturday from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Intermodal traffic fell 15%, with containers down 10.9% to 157,396 units. Trailers plunged 29.7% to 34,115 units.
Carload rail traffic fell 16.1% to 265,143, 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.