IANA Says Preliminary Totals Show 4.8% Intermodal Volume Increase
The Intermodal Association of North America said preliminary 2014 totals showed a record 16.3 million truck-rail shipments handled, a 4.8% increase over the previous mark set in 2013.
The trade association’s CEO, Joni Casey, told Transport Topics the annual results for the United States and Canada included a 7.7% rise in intermodal shipments during December. Last month’s preliminary totals were 679,868 domestic moves and 662,668 international moves.
The December totals reinforced a shift highlighted in IANA’s third-quarter Market Trends & Statistics report. It noted that domestic intermodal for the first time is surpassing international containers, initially on a seasonally adjusted basis.
During 2014, total international shipments rose 4.4% to 8.17 million, IANA said, slightly more than the 8.11 million domestic total. Domestic intermodal rose 5.1% for the year, the trade association's statistics showed.
Included in the 2014 domestic total was a 5.7% rise in container cargo and a 2.9% increase in trailer freight.
The final statistics will be available later this month in IANA's quarterly trends report, Casey said.
