advertisement

---

In the fourth quarter, domestic intermodal volumes continued to rise and international container counts continued to fall, according to the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) latest “Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics” report.

Although total intermodal volume dropped 6.4 percent to 3.1 million units, domestic container counts rose 9 percent to 1.1 million units and “all domestic” equipment volume inched up 0.8 percent to 1.5 million units compared with fourth-quarter 2008 data.

“All but two IANA regions recorded domestic container volume gains,” the report states. “December volume was a substantial 16.9 percent above year-ago levels.”

Meanwhile, the number of trailers tumbled 15.4 percent to 415,455 units and international container volume fell 12.3 percent to 1.6 million units. However, the pace of the international volume decline slowed significantly and was fairly widespread across most IANA regions, the report states.

“Volume improved significantly compared to the previous three quarters, which each posted losses above 20 percent,” IANA officials said in the report.

For the full year, domestic containers increased 2.9 percent to 4 million units; all domestic equipment levels dropped 5.8 percent to 5.6 million units; trailers plunged 22.1 percent to 1.6 million units; and international container volume tumbled 21.1 percent to 6.1 million units compared with 2008 data. Total intermodal volume declined 14.6 percent to 11.7 million units.

After an up-and-down 2009, two major Los Angeles-area ports had a promising start to 2010 and now are projecting flat-to-modest intermodal volume growth in the year’s first half. In January, the Port of Long Beach, Calif., handled 428,805 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 7.4 percent compared with January 2009’s 399,295 TEUs. Imported container volume rose 8.6 percent to 217,925 TEUs while export container volume jumped 27.9 percent to 113,183 TEUs.

The Port of Los Angeles’ total January volume decreased 2.4 percent to 572,969 TEUs, but loaded container volume rose 3.7 percent to 437,548 TEUs and loaded export container volume jumped 35.2 percent to 141,243 TEUs. Loaded import container volume fell 6.7 percent to 296,304 TEUs.