The figures were released in the second quarter edition of Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics, which is published quarterly by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). Second quarter growth was 5.9% year-over-year. IANA says that this is the first time since 1996, when it began publishing the loadings, that year before quarterly and monthly peaks were beaten in the first half of the following year.
As might be expected with global sourcing trends, there was continued strength in container imports from Pacific Southwest ports as well as the rest of the Asian region. There was a slight decline in domestic traffic from the first quarter of 2006 which had climbed 4.4% year-over-year. IANA attributes part of the boost in domestic traffic to the industry’s shift to the use of 53-foot containers.
