News / US retail surge signals a minor seasonal windfall for rail carriers

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Stronger than anticipated holiday sales have boosted North American imports, but for the surface transport sector, this windfall has only been moderate – partly thanks to overcapacity on the roads.

US retailers experienced an unexpected boost as consumers dug deeper into their wallets, delivering a 4.1% year-on-year rise in November sales.

For the September-November period the National Retail Federation (NRF) calculated an increase of 3.4% over last year, and estimates the tally for the holiday season (1 November-31 December) should be 3-4% ...