Tacoma sees record intermodal yard traffic

Tacoma sees record intermodal yard traffic    The port of Tacoma’s north intermodal yard handled 7,587 intermodal lifts the week of April 23-May 1, a record volume at the facility.
   The intermodal yard’s previous one-week record for intermodal lifts or transfers of containers between ship and rail was 7,501 lifts, a figure reached in April 2003.
   The facility, located between the port’s Husky Terminal and Tacoma International Gateway Terminal, serves “K” Line and the Evergreen shipping company and affiliates Lloyd Triestino and Hatsu Marine. During the year to date, these shipping lines have increased their combined volume at the north intermodal yard by 19.5 percent over last year.
   About 70 percent of the port of Tacoma’s international containerized imports are sent by rail to the U.S. Midwest and East Coast.
   Industry sources have also expressed growing concerns over landbridge delays from Pacific Southwest ports for intermodal shipments.