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U.S. railroads continue to raise the bar for intermodal volume. For the second-straight week, the roads set a weekly traffic record by moving 231,829 trailers and containers, according to the Association of American Railroads. The total for the week ending Oct. 23 broke the previous week's record by 574 units.

The roads' weekly carload total of 49,541 units wasn't record-breaking, but it wasn't too shabby, either, increasing 2.2 percent compared with a similar 2003 period.

During the year's first 42 weeks, U.S. roads moved 14,137,425 carloads, up 2.9 percent, and 8,838,261 trailers and containers, up 9.6 percent compared with the same 2003 period. Total estimated volume rose 3.9 percent to 1.28 trillion ton-miles.

Meanwhile, Canadian railroads boosted weekly carloads 1.7 percent to 71,087 units, but intermodal loads dropped 0.3 percent to 46,334 units compared with the same 2003 week. However, their year-to-date figures remain positive: Through 42 weeks, the roads moved 2,816,322 carloads and 1,760,504 intermodal loads, a 7.8 percent and 0.2 percent increase, respectively, compared with the same 2003 period.

On a combined cumulative-volume basis through 42 weeks, 15 reporting U.S. and Canadian roads moved 16,953,747 carloads, up 3.7 percent, and 10,598,765 trailers and containers, up 7.9 percent compared with similar 2003 data.

In Mexico, TFM S.A. de C.V. remained on a traffic winning streak. During the week ending Oct. 23, the road increased carloads 4.7 percent to 8,831 units and intermodal loads, 44.5 percent to 4,700 units compared with the same 2003 week. Through 42 weeks, TFM moved 364,751 carloads, a 2.9 percent increase, and 156,885 trailers and containers, a 6.5 percent rise compared with the same period last year.