Trucking issues, rail modernization, and improved service are drivers
Intermodal transportation is experiencing strong growth in 2026, with volumes consistently surpassing the five-year average. This upward trend is expected to continue into 2027, according to the International Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).
Several factors are contributing to ongoing growth in this industry sector, including trucking issues affecting cost and availability, rail modernization, and improved efficiency and collaboration among all modal providers.
Trucking Companies Face Multiple Challenging Market Dynamics
ATRI research indicates that the trucking industry is experiencing a historic three-year freight recession. Economic concerns are weighing on consumer spending, while shifting tariffs on certain commodities and countries are adding uncertainty across the trucking sector.
COVID-19 triggered sharp swings in trucking capacity and rates. Emergency demand prompted carriers to invest heavily in equipment and labor, but as pandemic-related pressures eased, freight demand fell while operating costs rose, leaving carriers with excess capacity.
In 2026, recent research by C.H. Robinson points to signs of recovery, or a better balance between supply and demand in the trucking industry. However, increased freight demand is only in certain trucking sectors—not across the entire industry. According to C. H. Robinson, the flatbed market has benefited from strength in manufacturing, which helps offset the weakness in residential construction.
Mixed trucking capacity and rate trends have done little to reduce the uncertainty shippers face when choosing transportation modes, prompting more companies to consider intermodal options.
Intermodal is Ready for “Prime Time”
“Intermodal’s value proposition is especially strong right now because it helps customers respond to several pressures in today’s market, including rising transportation costs and tightening truckload capacity,” said Darren Field, executive vice president and president of Intermodal at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. “As customers move more freight into intermodal for those reasons, strong service levels and consistent execution are giving them the confidence to make it a more durable part of their transportation strategy.”
While intermodal has traditionally offered an economical way to move freight cross-country, Andrew Sibolb, director of economics for IANA, said, “Today’s shippers are not chasing low prices, but they are looking for reliability.”
In the past, shippers have expressed concerns about rail transit times and reliability, factors that limited their use of rail or intermodal. However, with rail service improving, a variety of new industries are choosing intermodal transportation.
“Data center construction and renewable energy projects are increasingly turning to intermodal shipping,” said Sibolb. “Products that once moved on flatbed trailers are now being transported in closed containers.”
Class I Railroads Invest in Capacity and Technology to Support Intermodal
Intermodal’s growing acceptance as a viable transportation option may also reflect major Class I railroads’ continued investment in intermodal services to improve reliability and throughput—key priorities for trucking companies and shippers.
Some projects launched by individual railroads include a recent $3.4 billion investment by Union Pacific (UP), which included the expansion of its intermodal access in key markets like Southern California, Phoenix, and Kansas City. The plan included adding technologies to increase capacity and productivity.
BNSF Railway’s $3.6 billion capital plan for 2026 includes several intermodal projects, including the completion of the Barstow International Gateway in California. The railroad also plans to begin construction of a new intermodal facility in Phoenix, Arizona.
The CSX Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore reopened in September 2025, with the final clearance work completed in 2026. This $450+ million project expands Baltimore’s 1.7-mile Howard Street Tunnel, originally built in the 1890s, and updates the structure to allow full clearance for double-stack intermodal container trains.
In addition to these individual projects, a joint investment initiative including several major Class I railroads is expected to lead to significant improvements. In September 2025, participating railroads announced a $5 billion North American capacity expansion.
The initiative includes digital signaling upgrades to improve train sequencing and to reduce dwell times. Yard modernization will expand lift capacity and automate stacking at inland container terminals. New locomotives are intended to provide faster, more reliable intermodal services.
Multimodal Providers Expand and Improve Intermodal Services
“J. B. Hunt, along with our rail partners, has invested in the quality of our rail service offerings over the last several years,” said Darren Field, executive vice president and president of Intermodal at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.
He said intermodal growth began about a year ago, after significant highway capacity left the market in 2026 and customers began seeking supply chain capacity solutions.
“As a result, intermodal demand has reached levels not seen in some time, and its network, drayage operations, and providers are well positioned to meet that demand while maintaining consistent service,” said Field.
Other multimodal providers are also investing in their intermodal services. The Hub Group, a company with roots in the rail sector, now offers trucking, logistics, and other services. The company recently expanded its footprint in intermodal services through the acquisition of the assets of Marten Transportation. The $51.8 million acquisition makes Hub North America’s second-largest provider of temperature-controlled intermodal services.
In November 2025, Schneider launched Schneider Fast Track, a premium intermodal service for shippers with time-sensitive freight and higher service requirements. The company said the program combines its asset-based truckload and intermodal capacity with strategic rail partnerships to offer faster transit times and 95 percent or better on-time performance.
Partnership Across Modes Is Critical to Effective Intermodal Service
Partnerships between shippers and all providers involved in intermodal transportation are critical to success, especially at a time of strong growth in demand and as higher expectations from consumers are becoming the norm.
“J.B. Hunt’s intermodal network relies on very strong communication and execution planning by our team; communication and visibility are key to the way we operate, and our rail providers operate,” said Field.
Technology enables the company to provide the right information to the people, equipment, and systems that might interact with a customer’s shipment.
Field said, “Our intermodal network relies on strong communication and execution planning by our teams. That communication and visibility are key to the way we operate, and the way our rail providers operate.”
According to Field, technology gives J.B. Hunt an operational advantage by delivering the right information to the people, equipment, and systems involved in each customer’s shipment. Technology has also helped the company reduce costs of serving customers, further enhancing the value proposition.
IANA Unifies the Interests of Multiple Intermodal Stakeholders
The many individual improvements by companies and modes are supported by IANA, a unifying organization that focuses on technology and practices to benefit all its members.
IANA’s membership includes carriers, shippers, third-party logistics providers, and Intermodal Marketing Companies (IMCs). The organization developed uniform intermodal exchange agreements. These provide a standard contract that governs equipment interchange in intermodal transportation, reducing liability and streamlining operations for carriers, railroads, and shippers.
The organization also works with policymakers to advocate for rules to benefit intermodal stakeholders. In 2026, IANA supported a US Department of Labor rule proposal that would expand independent contractor categorization under the Fair Labor Standards Act, potentially protecting hundreds of thousands of intermodal workers.
From Competition to Collaboration
The strong growth in intermodal transportation reflects a much broader change in the industry. Before deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980, carriers were limited in their opportunities to compete with rail or intermodal transportation for cross-country moves. At the time some relationships between trucking companies and railroads appeared to be adversarial.
J.B. Hunt was the first trucking company to collaborate with railroads and other providers to create a seamless intermodal experience for shippers. Collaboration remains central to the company’s intermodal strategy and is essential to continued growth.
Now, intermodal has become a complementary mode rather than a direct competitor, as truckers offer intermodal services themselves and as part of integrated supply chains. Today, modal lines are less of a priority as shippers seek the most efficient ways to serve customers, and trucking companies, rail, and intermodal providers are working collaboratively to consistently deliver the reliability and efficiency that current supply chains require.
“The goal is not to move freight between modes, but to create solutions that help customers operate efficiently as conditions change,” said Field.
