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U.S. railroads have set another high-water mark for intermodal volume for the year. During the week ending Aug. 14, they handled a 2010-record 233,767 containers and trailers, up 20.8 percent compared with volume from the same week in 2009, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Weekly container volume, which jumped 22.4 percent, reached an all-time record high while trailer volume rose 12.3 percent.

Despite the uptick in intermodal traffic to near-2008 levels, container capacity remains tight in head-haul lanes, especially for West Coast moves, according to Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.’s “Truck, Intermodal and Rail Trends” report for August. The trend will continue given constrained truckload capacity, the report states.

In terms of intermodal pricing, “we expect the broader rails to take advantage of sold-out peak season capacity,” Baird analysts said in the report. “Overall, we expect a very strong domestic and international intermodal peak shipping season in head-haul lanes.”
 
During the week ending Aug. 14, U.S. railroads also originated 295,948 carloads, up 7.1 percent year over year. Sixteen of 19 carload commodity groups registered gains.
 
Canadian railroads reported weekly volume of 73,197 carloads, up 16.7 percent, and 50,694 containers and trailers, up 18.5 percent. Mexican railroads increased weekly carload volume 16.5 percent to 13,990 units and boosted weekly intermodal volume 19.1 percent to 6,925 units.
 
Through 2010’s first 32 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads originated 11.8 million carloads, up 10.1 percent, and 8.5 million containers and trailers, up 14.5 percent year over year.

For more AAR traffic data for the week ending Aug. 14 and through 32 weeks, follow this link.