U.S. railroads logged a 2% increase in combined carload and intermodal traffic during October compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.
Although carload volume declined 6.6% to 912,722 units during the month compared with October 2019, intermodal volume climbed 10% to 1,169,874 containers and trailers. Traffic for the month totaled 2,082,646 carloads, containers and trailers.
“Thanks largely to rising imports and inventory restocking in preparation for the holidays, October was the best month ever for U.S. rail intermodal, with volumes up by a third from April of this year. That’s a stunning increase in six months,” said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a press release.