IANA reports calendar year 2024 and December intermodal volume gains

Calendar year 2024 and December intermodal volumes posted solid annual growth levels, according to data provided to LM by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).

Total December volume, at 1,526,922 units, posted an 8.3% annual gain. Trailers continued an ongoing decline, falling 10.4% annually to 52,682, and domestic containers, at 712,268, increased 7.9% annually. All domestic equipment, which is comprised of trailers and domestic containers, at 764,950, headed up 6.4% annually. ISO, or international containers, at 761,972, rose 10.2% annually.

Calendar year 2024 intermodal volume, at 18,083,970 units, increased 8.5% annually. Trailers fell 16.1% annually to 591,388, and domestic containers, at 8,472,063, were up 5.3% annually. All domestic equipment, at 9,063,451, posted a 3.5% annual gain. ISO containers, at 9,020,519, rose 13.9% annually.

This continues a strong run of intermodal growth, as per IANA’s data.

Third quarter intermodal volumes maintained solid momentum, according to data issued in its “Intermodal Quarterly.” IANA reported that total third quarter volume, at 4,627,631 units, headed up 9.8% annually, growing for the fourth consecutive quarter, following eight straight quarters of annual declines. The first and second quarters saw annual gains of 8.8% and 7.7%, respectively.

The IANA report stated that consumers maintained “aggressive spending” in the third quarter, which matched up with third quarter retail sales posting a 1.0% annual gain, representing the highest quarterly annual growth percentage, going back to the initial pandemic recovery in 2021, noted IANA. It also observed that despite a two-year slump in manufacturing and problematic homebuilding, the economy is on solid footing.

IANA said, at the time, that intermodal volume patterns were following a typical seasonal upswing pattern, coming to a late summer peak and subsequently declining over the balance of the year. It said that 2024 intermodal growth had been largely driven by the surge in West Coast imports that were diverted away from the brief East and Gulf Coast port labor stoppage that subsequently led to international container traffic gains.

IANA explained that the pairing of import growth and resilient economic activity helped to deliver strong international intermodal volumes.

With many experts saying the freight market is bottoming, or approaching a bottoming, coupled with excess truckload capacity still a factor, IANA observed late last year that a tightening of truckload capacity would be viewed as a tailwind for intermodal business, adding that it is “a matter of time when over-the-road capacity becomes more constrained,” with projections running the gamut from the second quarter to the third quarter in 2025.