Stackable Containers Grab Market Share From Trailers

img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Cost-conscious shippers are taking advantage of improved rail service to split their long-haul loads between trucks and trains, and they are increasingly using intermodal containers rather than truck trailers to do it.

Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show that intermodal traffic in the United States and Canada has grown by more than 5% annually from 1990, when 6.2 million containers and trailers moved on freight trains, through 2001, when the level rose to 10.8 million.

All that growth has come from the container segment, which grew by 10% a year over the same time, rising to 8 million units moved in 2001 from 2.8 million in 1990 — an increase of 189%.