March intermodal volumes see gains, reports IANA

March intermodal volumes saw annual growth, according to data provided to LM by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).

Total March volume, at 1,570,326 units, posted a 7.2% annual gain. Trailers continued a longstanding decline, falling 21.0%, to 38,472, and domestic containers, at 717,382, increased 4.7% annually. All domestic equipment, which is comprised of trailers and domestic containers, at 755,854, was up 3.0% annually. ISO, or international containers, at 814,472, rose 11.4% annually.

Through the first three months of 2025, IANA reported that total volume, at 4,554,850 units, is up 6.3% annually. Trailers were down 18.2%, to 118,057, and domestic containers, at 2,105,752, increased 5.6% annually. All domestic equipment posted a 4.0% annual gain, to 2,223,809. ISO containers, at 2,331,041, posted an 8.5% annual increase.

In a recent interview, IANA President & CEO Anne Reinke observed that, in regards to the impact of the White House’s tariff actions on intermodal, Reinke said that from a very high level, IANA’s membership is trying to figure out exactly what this means for them.

“What my concern would be and what I think what our members’ concerns would be is, does this undermine things like cautious optimism, increasing volumes, and tightening capacity,” she said. “The concern is that, do we have less container traffic moving? Anything that affects container traffic, that makes it go down, that would be the concern that we have. We need to figure out exactly what that means for our trading partners and for our membership. And the other piece, of course, with China, is that most of those containers are built in China. So, what does that do with the underlying cost of containers? Now, we don't represent the container manufacturer, but obviously there's a downstream cost to us.”

Larry Gross, President of Gross Transportation Consulting in Durango, CO, an independent consulting practice specializing in freight transportation matters, noted that from an intermodal standpoint, a significant theme has been the disconnect between what has been going on in regards to international intermodal and what is happening on the domestic side. That disconnect, he explained, was related to an extremely strong period of imports over a lengthy stretch in 2024, at about a 15% annual growth rate, whereas annual domestic growth was much less.

“One question is why did that disconnect occur and for how long could it last?” he said. “An undefined amount of that volume has been upstreamed in time that moved earlier than normal, which was in response to a few different factors, like the prospects of an East and Gulf Coast ports strike, at the time, which saw companies making commitments in terms of where they would route their freight and when it would move, as well as the tariff question, which continues to evolve. There is no doubt a lot of volume moved through in advance of the then-potential, and now realized, threat of tariffs.”