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U.S. railroads reported a traffic decline for the second-straight week in October. During the period ending Oct. 11, the roads originated 336,565 carloads, down 1 percent, and 242,681 containers and trailers, down 3.2 percent compared with traffic from the same week in 2006, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Through 2007's first 41 weeks, U.S. railroads' originated carloads decreased 3.1 percent to 13.3 million units and intermodal volume declined 2 percent to 9.5 million units year over year. Volume totaled an estimated 1.38 trillion ton-miles, representing a 1.6 percent decrease compared with volume through 2006's first 41 weeks.

Market indicators don't appear to be signaling a rise in intermodal traffic anytime soon, said Bank of America Securities analyst Scott Flower in the firm's weekly rail traffic report.

"Softer guidance recently issued by Target and Lowes suggests intermodal demand will not accelerate in the near term," he said. "September retail sales were unimpressive and retailers are emphasizing inventory control."

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads continued to post carload gains. During the week ending Oct. 11, their originated carloads rose 1.7 percent to 78,047 units compared with 2006's 41st week. However, intermodal volume totaling 45,084 containers and trailers fell 1.2 percent.

Through 41 weeks, Canadian railroads originated 3.2 million carloads, down 0.8 percent, and 1.9 million containers and trailers, up 2.8 percent year over year.

On a combined cumulative-volume basis through 41 weeks, reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads originated 16.6 million carloads, down 2.7 percent, and 11.4 million containers and trailers, down 1.2 percent compared with traffic during the same 2006 period.