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7/30/2024
Total intermodal volume in second-quarter 2024 rose 7.9% to 4,474,377 units compared to volume in Q2 2023, the International Association of North America (IANA) announced yesterday.
International containers in the quarter soared 13.3% to 2,263,103, while domestic container volume climbed 5% to 2,065,293 units. However, trailer volume plunged 20.6% to 145,981 units from a year ago, according to an IANA press release.
While the trailer segment continued its decline, overall loadings reached nearly 4.5 million in Q2 2024, the best since Q3 2022, according to IANA’s "Intermodal Quarterly" newsletter.
"International volume provided the biggest lift for intermodal in the second quarter,” said IANA President and CEO Joni Casey. “Federal Reserve actions over the next three months will help determine whether the industry can continue this progress.”
All but one of the 10 IANA regions registered growth in Q2. Originations from Mexico rose 22.6% compared to Q2 2023, supported by new services and additional capacity tied to automotive production, according to the newsletter.
Loadings rose 16.5% in the Northwest, and 13.4% in the Southwest, as imports propelled growth in those port regions. Volume gains also were posted in the South Central region, 9.3%; Mountain Central, 8%; Southeast, 7.3%; Midwest, 7%; western Canada, 5.6%; and the Northeast, 0.3%.
Only the eastern Canada region logged a decline, which was 0.5%.
“Overall intermodal loadings are moving up in the typical seasonal pattern, progressing to a peak in August or September, before tapering off during the remaining months of the year,” the newsletter reported. “This upward momentum in 2024 has been driven primarily by a surge in imports on the West Coast which drove increased international container traffic.”