RAIL FREIGHT TRAFFIC PLUMMETS 18% (Re-post)

"Start spraying those “green shoots” with some Weed-B-Gone. They are in fact weeds. The most recent rail data confirms the continuing trend that the real economy is seeing no real recovery. Intermodal traffic for the week ending June
24th was down a staggering 17.8% from the same period a year ago.

That’s an astounding decline for an economy that is supposedly in recovery mode. You would think that a huge rebound in commodity prices and economic activity would spur large gains in rail traffic, but it’s not translating into real strength in the data. Buy into the “green shoots” theories at your own risk. It’s just not being seen in the real economy. We are seeing the same results in other economically sensitive industries like trucking and air transports. We are also hearing similar stories from readers in the trenches."