Intermodal Rail Volume Grows 4.7% in Third Quarter
Total intermodal rail traffic grew 4.7% to 4 million containers in the third quarter, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.
Domestic container volume increased 9.4%, according to IANA, and international volume climbed 2% year over year.
“For the 10th quarter in a row, domestic container volume flexed its muscles and has outpaced international shipments driving the gains in total intermodal traffic,” Joni Casey, CEO of IANA, said in a statement.
“It is also worth noting that the trailer segment grew in all three months of Q3, reversing three years of decline and contributed to domestic growth,” Casey said.
Intermodal rail volume for the week ended Oct. 26 rose 3.2% from the same period last year, the 17th consecutive rise, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Traffic increased to 261,231 trailers and containers, AAR said in its weekly report.
Rail carload traffic rose 0.2% to 297,455 year-over-year, the rail trade group said.
Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked by AAR posted increases, led by grain, which increased 29.6%. Commodities showing a decrease included farm and food products excluding grain, which fell 3.9%.
For the first 43 weeks of the year, U.S. railroads moved 10.6 million intermodal containers and trailers, up 3.7% from last year. Carload traffic dipped 0.8% to 12 million units.
Total North American rail volume year-to-date for the 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 16.1 million carloads, a 0.1% increase from the same point last year.
