b'16American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(CARDScontinued fromfor this year.page 4) i NvENtorys till aNi ssuEhandleover60%oftotal volume, were all down in theIntermodalvolumesfor secondquarter,accordingtotheremainderoftheyear statistics from the Intermodalwillalsodependuponhow Association of North Americaretailersdealwiththeir (IANA). The decreases rangedexcessinventory.Coming from 18.3% in the Southeast- intothefirsthalfof2022, Southwest lane to 7.1% in thesaidDarrenField,execu-intra-southeast corridor.tive vice president and presi-Sloweryear-over-yeardentofintermodalatJ.B. demand for goods and a com- Hunt Transport Services, our petitive freight environment,customersmadesignificant i.e., the lower trucking rates,orders, and they had a lot of The CGR Cherokee is a double-deck 590-foot ro/ro ferry with a double-deck capacity of 135 railcars. have taken its toll for a secondinventories on hand as sales quarter,saidJoniCasey,began to decline. They were CG Railways unique intermodal service President, and CEO of IANA.flushwithinventory,andit On the other hand, the num- took them some time to burn bers suggest a later peak thisthrough that.Bill DiBenedetto and AJOT staff year and an improved pictureAsaresult,retailersare for the second half of 2023.beingmorecarefulabout When it comes to intermodal or trans- in Veracruz, Mexicoa 900 mile run acrossOverall,IANAexpectstotalaccumulating inventories this loading, the immediate thought is truck to railthe Gulf of Mexico. So, not only is the serviceNorthAmericanintermodalyear.Imnotawareofany or vice versa. Maybe the idea of boxes fromremarkable in its length, but it connects the USvolume to see a 7.7% declinecustomerthatwantstomiss ship to truck or in the case of rail on dock, shipwith Mexico, the nations largest trade part- asalebecausetheydont to rail comes to mind. But when thinking ofner (recently surpassing China) and a fellowhaveinventory,saidField. intermodal rarely does the idea of rail to shipmemberofUSMCA(UnitedState/Mexico/ Theyre just being a little bit spring to the fore with one notable and uniqueCanada) trade agreement.more cautious in the ordering exceptionCG Railways rail ferry. Since transiting the Gulf of Mexico isnt aprocess. The supply chainis Itsnotthatrailferryservicesarethatmill run, the equipment is highly specialized fornow allowing customers to get unusualtheyve been around almost sincethe task. The CGR operates two double-decktheirordersfasterthanthey the inception of railroads themselvesgen- 590-foot roll-on/roll-off rail ferries, the Chero- were during the pandemic. All erally providing vessels to ferry rail cars thatkee and Mayan, each with a double-deck capac- ofthosefactorsareplaying cross rivers or harbors to rail connections onity of 135 railcars compared to the 115 railcara role in the timing and the theoppositeshore.Manyoftheseferriescapacity of the ships they replaced. (And it isvelocity of new orders.were simply barges with tracks and the pro- worth noting that recently the Mayan set a newContinued excess inven-pulsion was provided by tugboats, often spe- onboard capacity record of 154 railcars.) Eachtoryandmorecircumspect cially equipped to handle the short trips. Butrailcar has a maximum capacity of 286,000 lbs.ordering practices are playing CGRs rail ferry service runs from the Port of(143 tons) in comparison to a typical 53-foot(CARDScontinued on Mobile, Alabama to the Port of Coatzacoalcos(UNIQUEcontinued on page 22) Joni Casey, President & CEO, IANA page 23)'