Intermodal traffic 12 million units

Intermodal traffic 12 million units    U.S. and Canadian railroads set records for intermodal traffic during 2003, as intermodal volume in the two nation’s topped 12 million trailers or containers for the first time, according to statistics compiled by the Association of American Railroads.
   Railroads moved a combined volume of 12.1 million boxes last year, a rise of 6.5 percent from the previous record of 11.4 million set in 2002.
   Intermodal volume on U.S. railroads totaled 9.94 million trailers and containers for the year ended Dec. 27, up 6.8 percent from 2002, when the previous record of 9.31 million was set. Canadian railroads moved 2.16 million trailers and containers in 2003, breaking last year’s record by 5.3 percent.
   Railroads also reported modest increases in carload freight for the year, with volume up 0.1 percent to 16.9 million on U.S. railroads and Canadian carload volume up 1.5 percent to 3.3 million. Total combined carload volume for 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads was 20.2 million cars, up 0.3 percent from 2002.