Intermodal volume increased 20.3% year-over-year in Q3 2010, as international led the way with a remarkable 28.1% upsurge according to a report released Nov. 4 by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).' IANA's Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics Report also shows that domestic intermodal volume hit a new all-time peak in Q3 2010, advancing 11.7% year-over-year.

While domestic container volume increased a solid 13% during the quarter, it may have been higher, as data indicates some domestic container shipments may have been limited by capacity constraints.' Such constraints may have compelled some shippers to use trail'ers, as trailer volume advanced a healthy 8.5% during the quarter.

Third Quarter 2010 Intermodal Volume Comparisons

Equipment Type 2009 2010 Change
Trailers 395,308 428,767 8.50%
Domestic Containers 1,028,989 1,162,460 13.00%
All Domestic Equipment 1,424,297 1,591,227 11.70%

Domestic container shipments continue to outpace the overall economic recovery, as it continues to increase share over other transportation modes.' While many domestic container fleet operators have placed or'ders for new containers, contain'ership capacity constraints have prevented many of these orders from being filled.' As a result, there are fewer domestic containers available to handle surging demand.

A side effect of the domestic container shortage is that it has driven some growth into trailer movements.' With the resurgence in international intermodal and continued gains in domes'tic containers, intermodal shipments are well on their way to regaining the ground lost during the recession ' Q3 2010 volumes were only 2.6% below the previous peak levels of 2008.