For release February 2, 2012
Contact: matt mlynarczyk
voice 703-623-2929

2011 Record-Setting Year for Intermodal Container Volume

CALVERTON, MD, February 2, 2012 – Intermodal container volume set a new record in 2011 with 12.4 million moves, beating former record-year 2007 by a noteworthy 3.7%, according to IANA's Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics report released today. The North American intermodal industry showed its resilience during Q4 2011, delivering solid overall volume increases of 4.1% for the quarter and 4.9% 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 Types 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 Types 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 over 12% during the quarter and totaled 4.93 million for the year. This was a 9.6% increase over 2010's total. Gains in domestic containers were solid in all IANA regions during the quarter. Big box domestic loadings of 48' and 53' domestic containers also posted their highest-recorded numbers in Q4 and the year, accounting for 39.8% of all container volume during 2011.

Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics is published quarterly by IANA and is available on a subscription and individual copy basis. Members of the working press may request a sample copy of the Q4 2011 Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics from Matt Mlynarczyk at matt@intermodal.org or 703-623-2929. The report features detailed analyses and reproducible graphical representations of Q4 2011 results.

Intermodal Association of North America, Suite 1100, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD 20705 http://www.intermodal.org/