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Third-quarter rail intermodal volume rose 9.4 percent in North America, with railroads moving 13 percent more domestic containers and 11.8 percent more international containers compared with third-quarter 2001, according to Intermodal Association of North America's (IANA) Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics Report released Nov. 11.


The volume increase follows a 9.5 percent rise in intermodal traffic during the second quarter. Between April and September, railroads moved the most intermodal loads since 1994, IANA said.


By region, Midwest/Northwest corridor intermodal moves increased 29.6 percent and South Central/Southwest corridor moves, 12.8 percent in the third quarter. Trans-Canada intermodal traffic also increased during the quarter because some imports were diverted to Canadian west coast ports.


Intermodal marketing companies experienced third-quarter growth, too. Total transportation revenue rose 7.2 percent, as intermodal revenue increased 7.5 percent and highway revenue grew 6.4 percent compared with last year. Total loads were up 3.5 percent.


And average revenue per intermodal load increased 4.9 percent, likely because there was enough equipment to handle growing volume, IANA said.