Business Safety Intermodal Traffic Rises 5.2% for Week Tom Biery/Trans Pixs June 22, 2012 9:30 AM, EDT U.S. intermodal traffic rose 5.2% for the week ended Saturday from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said. Container traffic rose 7.6% to 219,882 units, while trailers fell 10% to 30,093, the rail trade group said in its weekly report. Railroad carloads excluding intermodal declined 2.5% to 287,036 units, AAR said. 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. Ìý