Intermodal volume remains strong in Q3, reports IANA

Data issued today by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) showed that third quarter intermodal volumes turned in its best over all performance, for any quarter, in more than three years.

The third quarter marked the fourth consecutive quarter in volume gains, with these increase preceded by annual declines during the second and third quarters of 2016 and 25 consecutive quarters of growth prior to that.

Total third quarter volume movements––at 4,624,165––were up 6.3% annually, topping the second quarter’s 4,462,604 (for a 4.5% annual increase), which, prior to the third quarter, was the strongest annual growth rate in close to three years and far outpaced the first quarter’s 1% annual growth rate. 

International, or ISO, containers led the individual intermodal categories tracked by IANA again paced intermodal growth, with an 8.2% annual increase to 2,364,110. Domestic containers, long a growth engine for intermodal volume, was up 3.8% at 1,939,125, and trailers saw an 8.4% increase to 320,930.

"This quarter's results show a continued recovery for all three intermodal segments, marking three consecutive quarters of growth, a first in six years," said Joni Casey, IANA president and CEO, in a statement.

Casey also told LM that the third quarter gains were mostly expected based on trends from previous quarters, as well as economic indicators likeGDP, industrial production and consumer spending. 

"Weak comparisons from 2016 were definitely a factor," she said. "However, increases in fuel costs and over-the-road trucking capacity also played a role as well as service improvements following disruptions caused by floods/hurricanes and continued e-commerce increases (probable driver in intermodal trailer numbers)."

Other third quarter highlights cited by IANA included:

• the seven highest-density trade corridors accounted for 62.9 percent of total volume and were up collectively 5.2 percent for the third quarter;
• the Eastern-Western Canada corridor, up 12.0 percent, showed the largest gain
• three other lanes exceeded 5.0 percent growth after incurring losses in the third quarter of 2016: the South Central-Southwest, at 9.2 percent; Southeast-Southwest, up 7.7 percent; and the Northeast-Midwest, at 5.9 percent;
• two lanes registered a drop in traffic: the Intra-Southeast corridor fell 0.2 percent, while the Midwest-Northwest corridor dropped 6.1 percent;
• traffic for Intermodal Marketing Companies grew 4.1 percent, compared to a 0.6 percent increase in the second quarter; and
• for the first time in 2017, IMCs recorded gains in both highway and intermodal loadings; and -total IMC revenue soared 11.2 percent over last year, almost twice the 6.6 percent gain in the second quarter

As for the remainder of 2017, Casey noted that things should continue at current growth rates, with domestic up 3 - 4% and international up 6 - 7%.  Overall growth for 2017 projected at 6 - 6.5%.