Intermodal Declines for 4Q, Year
Intermodal freight volume fell 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the previous fourth quarter, the Intermodal Association of North America said late Thursday.
Container traffic fell 4.7%, while trailers fell 6.9% from a year earlier, IANA said in its quarterly trends report.
Domestic container traffic gained 9.5%, though that overall figure of about 940,000 was about half the total of imported containers.
For the full year, intermodal traffic declined 1.1%, with trailers plunging 11.8% and container traffic falling by 2%, the group said. Domestic containers rose by 9.3%.
“The growth in domestic intermodal was very encouraging at a time when other freight traffic volume has been struggling,” said Tom Malloy, vice president of member services and business development for IANA.
“That growth affirms the continuing value of intermodal service and sets the stage for a return to international volume increases when import traffic rebounds,” he said in a statement.
