Double-digit intermodal growth for U.S. railroads

Double-digit intermodal growth for U.S. railroads    U.S. railroads moved 12 percent more intermodal traffic, or 221,999 trailers and containers in the week ended Feb. 12, when compared to the same week in 2004.
   Container traffic went up 15 percent to 167,176 units in the week, while trailer volume increased 2 percent to 54,823 units, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday.
   The latest intermodal figures brought cumulative volume for the first six weeks of this year to 1.3 million trailers or containers, up 9 percent from last year. The number of containers rose 10 percent to 957,261 units over the six-week period, while trailer traffic rose 4 percent to 323,024 units.
   AAR also reported that the Mexican railroad Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana increased its intermodal traffic 14 percent to 4,088 originated trailers or containers in the week ended Feb. 12, reaching a year-to-date total to 22,731 trailers or containers for the first six weeks, up 23 percent from last year.
   During the week ended Feb. 12, carload freight moved by U.S. railroads totaled 341,577 units, 6 percent more than a year earlier, with loadings up 8 percent in the West and 4 percent in the East.