Intermodal container volume set a new record in 2011 with 12.4 million moves, beating former record-year 2007 by a noteworthy 3.7 percent, according to IANA's Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics report. The North American intermodal industry showed its resilience during Q4 2011, delivering solid overall volume increases of 4.1 percent for the quarter and 4.9 percent for the year. It was intermodal's second-consecutive year and eighth-consecutive quarter of year-over-year volume gains.
Fourth Quarter 2011 Intermodal Volume Comparisons
Equipment Type
2010
2011
Change
Trailers
446,019
432,623
-3.0%
Domestic Containers
1,166,456
1,307,165
+12.1%
All Domestic Equipment
1,612,475
1,739,788
+7.9%
ISO Containers
1,847,025
1,860,393
+0.7%
Total
3,459,500
3,600,181
+4.1%
Overall 2011 Intermodal Volume Comparisons
Equipment Type
2010
2011
Change
Trailers
1,664,787
1,693,782
+1.7%
Domestic Containers
4,495,364
4,926,185
+9.6%
All Domestic Equipment
6,160,151
6,619,967
+7.5%
ISO Containers
7,250,387
7,451,558
+2.8%
Total
13,410,538
14,071,525
+4.9%
Record Q4 container volume was largely due to continued strength in domestic container loadings, which skyrocketed more than 12 percent during the quarter and totaled 4.93 million for the year. This was a 9.6-percent increase over 2010's total. Gains in domestic containers were solid in all IANA regions during the quarter. Big box domestic loadings of 48-foot and 53-foot domestic containers also posted their highest-recorded numbers in Q4 and the year, accounting for 39.8 percent of all container volume during 2011.
