Intermodal rail traffic increased 1.1% in February compared to the same time a year ago, according to new figures released by the Association of American Railroads.

993,807 containers and trailers were moved during the month, the 51 consecutive year-over-year monthly increase, while U.S. carload originations fell 1.1% from February 2013.

Nine of the 20 commodity categories tracked by the AAR each month saw year-over-year carload increases in February over the same month last year.

“It would be nice to be able to separate out the effects of the harsh winter on rail traffic, but we can’t do that. We can probably expect improvements in the rail numbers in the months ahead, assuming that the weather and the economy cooperate,” said AAR senior vice president John T. Gray.

For the first nine weeks of 2014, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,446,042 carloads, down 0.3% from the same point last year, and 2,177,092 intermodal units, up 1.2% from last year.