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March 11, 2005 8:00 AM, EST

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he Association of American Railroads reported that rail intermodal volume grew 7.6% for the week ended March 5 over the same week last year.

Rail intermodal volume totaled 215,066 trailers or containers for the week, AAR said. Trailer volume grew 3.3% while containers were up 9.2%.

otal rail carload freight shipments for the week grew 4.1% to 343,546 loads, the rail trade group said. Petroleum products had the greatest jump, rising 12.5%.

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.