Intermodal 1st quarter volumes decline

Intermodal 1st quarter volumes decline    Intermodal traffic declined in the first quarter of the year, mostly because of sharp drops in the numbers of international containers and trailers on railroads, said the Intermodal Association of North America.
   There were 2.79 million intermodal moves in the three months ending March 31, a 16.3 percent decline from the same 2008 period. Most of that drop was due to a 22.7 percent drop in movement of ISO international containers to 1.49 million in the quarter.
   Domestic container movements at 893,506 were basically flat, up 0.1 percent, largely because of a 4.6 percent increase in movements of 53-foot trailers. IANA said that might reflect of growth in transloading international cargo into the larger boxes.
   Intermodal trailer movements were 407,206, down 20.6 percent.
   IANA said “lackluster intermodal performance was widespread across all regions and lanes during the first quarter and lanes that did experience gains generally carried low volumes; the total volume carried on these lanes represented less than 1 percent of the quarter's total volume.”