News / North American intermodal traffic hits the buffers, but some signals are brighter

© Wangkun Jia

That sinking feeling continues: the Association of American Railroads (AAR) is looking back on a bleak year for intermodal traffic, and for the week that ended October 19, the organisation reported a 9.3% downturn in intermodal volumes.

The previous week produced a 6.6% drop, and AAR members have now rolled through 42 consecutive weeks of continuing decline in their intermodal business. The tally for the year to date shows a drop of 4.3% in volume.

With 1.06 million containers and trailers moved, ...