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

Overall 2011 Intermodal Volume Comparisons

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.