U.S. intermodal traffic was up 5.2% last week over a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Container traffic for the week ended Saturday rose 7.4% to 218,557 units, while trailers fell 8.2% to 29,807 units.
Railroad carloads excluding intermodal slipped 0.8% to 297,042 units, AAR said in its weekly report.
Railroad volume is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be higher-valued merchandise than bulk commodities, uses trains for the long haul and trucks for the shorter distance at either end of the trip.