Railroads Still Not Competitive With Trucks

Intermodal service is an important business for the nation’s railroads, but it continues to fall short of the industry’s oft-stated goal of diverting truck traffic to trains.

“Intermodal has still not managed to become competitive in the 500-mile range,” says Ted Prince, a consultant to the industry and vice chairman of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver. Rail transport is “fine if a shipper can wait seven or eight days for over 1,100 mile runs. But that is not truck-competitive.”

Intermodal service has set records in 14 of the past 15 years, with volume rising to more than 9 million trailers and containers in 1999, up 3% from the previous high in 1998. In the past two decades, volume has almost tripled, increasing to 8.8 million trailers and containers in 1998, up from 3.1 million in 1980.

The intermodal business now accounts for 17% of rail revenue, making it second only to coal, which generates 23% of revenue.

For the full story, see the Nov. 13 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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