September intermodal volumes see solid annual gains, reports IANA

September intermodal volumes saw annual gains, while year-to-date volumes, through the first nine months of 2020, were more mixed, according to data provided to LM by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). 

Total September shipments—at 1,617,044—were up 8.6% annually. Domestic containers—at 715,240—were up 14.4%, while trailers—at 109,623—were up 16.2%. All domestic equipment—at 824,863—was up 14.6%. ISO, or international, containers—at 792,181—saw a 2.9% increase.

On a year-to-date basis through September, IANA reported the following:

• domestic containers rose 1.7%, to 5,708,828;
• trailers were down 9.8%, to 843,359;
• all domestic equipment was up 0.1% to 6,552,187;
• ISO containers declined 11.0%, to 6,362,163; and
• total units were down 5.7%, to 12,914,350

When asked what a sustained modest increase demand would mean for intermodal, from a volume perspective, and if it could result in increased share from the trucking side, IANA President and CEO Joni Casey pointed out in a previous interview that consistent increased demand in both international and domestic freight moves will afford the potential for higher intermodal volumes. 

“And if highway capacity starts to tighten, this could also push freight to intermodal,” she said. “However, lower fuel prices, which currently exist, create some advantages for OTR moves.”

Larry Gross, president of Gross Transportation Consulting, told LM that the stars are certainly aligned for intermodal at the moment.

“Strong import volumes continue to be funneled through L.A./Long Beach as the fastest path to the market,” he said. “A substantial portion of this import volume is being transloaded into domestic containers, which provides additional routing flexibility and enables importers to delay the decision of where to send the goods by weeks versus IPI (interior point intermodal). This gives them additional valuable flexibility to react to a fast-changing situation. In addition, demand for domestic intermodal volume is being boosted by tightening long-haul truck capacity as improving demand is colliding with reduced capacity. IPI is not seeing nearly the same scope of gains.”