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Domestic container volume posted its strongest growth of the year in the third quarter and, despite a stagnant economy and falling diesel prices, overall intermodal volume still rose for the seventh-straight quarter, according to the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) quarterly Intermodal Market Trends and Statistics report released yesterday.

Domestic container shipments jumped 9 percent year over year to 1.3 million units, slightly above the 8.8 percent and 8.6 percent upticks recorded in the first and second quarters of 2011, respectively. All domestic equipment volume rose 6.3 percent to 1.7 million units.

However, trailer volumes dipped 0.8 percent to 424,987 units compared with third-quarter 2010, possibly due to lower diesel prices, according to the report. International volume dropped as well, by 2.6 percent to 1.96 million units, as many ports posted declines in import volumes. International units handled by rail did not mirror that decline, though, “suggesting that international volume may have gained share from highway movements,” IANA said.

Total intermodal volume increased 1.4 percent year over year to 3.65 million units, a smaller growth rate than anticipated, due to “the economy’s fluctuations and very difficult comparisons to last year’s early peak, which was in August,” the report stated.