A report submitted to Congress by the Federal Railroad Administration earlier this month stated that there are still many obstacles to implementing Positive Train Control systems for U.S. railroads.

Carload volume—at 228,229—was up 0.4 percent annually, and intermodal volumes—at 243,261 trailers and containers—were up 3.3 percent.

Second quarter intermodal loadings—at 3,716,321—were up 5.2 percent annually and IANA officials said it marks the best quarterly result in a year, with the annual growth rate topping the first quarter’s 2.9 percent gain.

July carloads—at 1,103,733—were down 7,787 carloads or 0.7 percent annually, and intermodal—at 946,071 trailers and containers—was up 50,431 units or 5.6 percent compared to July 2011.

Not even the great recession could slow down progress on the nation’s rails. In fact, over the past four years, rail and intermodal service provider Quest for Quality scores have steadily improved as more shippers put this time-tested mode to work to cut costs and mitigate capacity issues on the road.

Carload volume—at 286,254—was down 1.9 percent annually, and intermodal volumes—at 246,475 trailers and containers—were up 6.2 percent compared to the same week last year.

In an effort to “further protect shippers from unreasonable rail rates,” the United States Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board (STB) said this week it is rolling out two initiatives to help them on this front.

The two largest short line and regional rail operators in North America will become one, with this week’s announcement that Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) will acquire RailAmerica for an all-cash purpose price of $27.50 per share—or roughly $1.39 billion.

Rail carload and intermodal volumes were both up for the week ending July 14, according to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

A report by the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG), entitled “Strategic Advantages of Moving Mail by Rail,” highlights the fact that moving USPS services and products on rail could be highly advantageous and beneficial for the USPS, with multiple benefits.