Bay leaves farmers, producers, growers, firms Business

Rail traffic fell in July from a year ago as an increase in container volumes couldn’t offset a steep decline in oil and coal shipments, the Association of American Railroads said in its monthly report Friday. The number of carloads carrying oil and petroleum products dropped 13.6% from a year ago to 67,909 last month, while coal volumes sank 12.5%. Container shipments rose 3.8% to 1.2 million. Traffic overall fell 1.8% to 2.7 million, the association said. Oil-train shipments have tumbled this year, hurt by plunging prices for crude and concerns about the safety of transporting petroleum by rail. That, plus declining demand for coal from power plants and overseas buyers, has hit railroad operators’ earnings.
The intermodal transport of containers and trailers was a bright spot for the railroads in July, reflecting an expanding economy. Still, the AAR report cautioned that growth is slow and the recovery could be threatened by an interest-rate increase by