October intermodal volumes hit an all-time high and carloads see annual gains, says AAR

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week that rail carload and intermodal volumes each saw annual gains in October, with intermodal representing the best volume month ever recorded for U.S. rail intermodal.

October intermodal containers and trailers hit 1,381,749 for a 4.9 percent, or a gain of 64,701 units, compared to October 2013. October’s weekly intermodal average of 276,350 containers now stands as the best weekly average for any month, while October marked the 59th consecutive month of annual intermodal gains. And on a year-to-date basis through October, the AAR said U.S. intermodal volume is up 5.5 percent at 11,459,079 units.

These gains are impressive in that intermodal service in various parts of the country has dealt with myriad service issues going back to last winter, related issues around the Chicago bottleneck, and a 2014 bumper crop for grain. But even with these challenges, intermodal in many cases has been a viable option for some shippers, due to the issues facing the truckload sector in the form of still-tighter than usual capacity, the driver shortage, and regulatory drag.

October carloads—at 1,507,917—were down 4.4 percent—or 63,881 carloads— annually. And the weekly carload average—at 301,853—stands as only the third time going back to 2008 that has seen a month with weekly carload averages topping the 300,000 mark.

15 of the 20 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR were up in October, with coal up 3.9 percent and petroleum and petroleum products up 20.7 percent.

For the week ending November 1, U.S carloads were up 4.3 percent at 305,389, and intermodal was up 5.9 percent at 279,819.