IANA: Intermodal volumes grow 5.4% in 2017

The annual growth in total North American intermodal shipments was helped by a strong fourth quarter in which volumes grew 5.8 percent year-over-year, according to recent statistics from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).    North American intermodal volumes grew 5.4 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year following a 2016 year in which shipment volumes fell for the first time since 2009, according to the latest Intermodal Market Trends and Statistics report from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).
   International shipments increased 7.7 percent, while domestic containers grew 2.5 percent and trailer loads jumped 12.2 percent.
   “Intermodal delivered in 2017, thanks in large part to growth on the international side,” said Joni Casey, president and CEO of IANA. “The imbalance between imports and international volumes during 2016 has reversed resulting in a strong 4.7 percent volume gain for the year.”
   The annual growth in volumes was helped by a strong fourth quarter in which shipments grew 5.8 percent year-over-year, IANA said in its report.
   During the fourth quarter, shipments in the seven highest-density trade corridors tracked by IANA, which accounted for 62 percent of total volumes, were up a combined 3.7 percent.
   The Eastern-Western Canada corridor exhibited the largest increase by far at 12.7 percent, followed by the Northeast-Midwest and the South Central-Southwest, both of which saw year-over-year growth rates of 5 percent for the quarter. The Midwest-Southwest, intra-Southeast and Southeast-Southwest lanes grew 2.4 percent, 2.2 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, during Q4 2017, while volumes in the Midwest-Northwest corridor slipped 5.2 percent.
   Traffic for Intermodal Marketing Companies (IMCs) shot up 16.8 percent year-over-year during the fourth quarter, with the vast majority of gains taking place in the highway segment, according to IANA, marking the second consecutive quarter when both intermodal and highway loadings increased.
   For the full year, IMC volumes grew 5.4 percent, with highway moves growing at about twice the pace of intermodal loadings, IANA said.