Intermodal’s 2008 Volumes Best Since 2004

The growth in domestic traffic is detailed in the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) new report, Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics. However, international intermodal volumes dropped 7%, year-over-year, from 8,335,480 in 2007 to 7,749,769 in 2008.

Reflecting general economic trends, international intermodal volumes declined in the fourth quarter of 2008 by 11.1%. As IATA notes, International Shipping Organization (ISO) containers had been the main driver of intermodal growth before 2007 due to US consumer demands for imported products.

For the entire year, in addition to the falling off of ISO container volumes, there was a decline of 4.0% in trailer volumes. With the growth in domestic container volumes for the year balancing out the drop in trailer volumes, all domestic equipment still had growth, climbing to 5,909,726 from 5,743,472 in 2007.