U.S. INTERMODAL TRAFFIC CONTINUES DECLINE

U.S. INTERMODAL TRAFFIC CONTINUES DECLINE    U.S. intermodal traffic was down 1.4 percent in November, to more than 687,000 units, according to the Association of America Railroads.
   U.S. freight carload traffic, however, rose 1.7 percent in November, due to improvements in carloads of coal (up 5.0 percent), grain (up10.8 percent) and crushed stone and gravel (up 5.0 percent). Those improvements offset declines in metallic ores, primary metal products and coke.
   The National Bureau of Economic Research recently made official what rail traffic figures have portended for months: the U.S. economy is in a recession, and has been since March,' said Craig F. Rockey, AAR vice president. 'The big questions now are how quickly the recovery will come and how strong it will be. The jury is still out on these points, but the fact that total U.S. rail carloadings have now risen for two months in a row has to be viewed as a positive sign.'
   For the first 11 months of 2001 U.S. intermodal traffic totaled 8.30 million containers and trailers, down 2.7 percent, AAR said. U.S. rail carloadings fell 1.0 percent to 16.01 million carloads.