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Rail, Intermodal Fall for Week
Rail carload and intermodal freight traffic fell compared with a year ago for the week ended Saturday, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Rail intermodal volume fell 3.1% to 336,072 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report. Container volume was flat at 193,719, while trailer volume dropped 13.8% to 49,444.
Rail carload traffic totaled 321,232 cars, down 0.9% 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.