Category Archives: Macroeconomics

It appears that carload rail transport is down slightly, but intermodal (container) traffic is up quite a bit.  It’s more evidence that the economy is getting better.  Carload transport is mostly commodities such as coal, iron ore, cement, and agricultural products.  These segments lag the consumer economy, so it’s natural they have not started up yet.  Also they are affected by world commodity prices and exchange rates more than intermodal is.

AAR reports February 2013 carload and intermodal volumes are mixed – Article from Logistics Management.