Intermodal providers

Railroads and intermodal providers say there will be more volume in 2020 than last year, although shipper demand will not fully recover until the second half of this year.

Despite stiff truck competition, East Coast ports have taken aggressive steps to capture more intermodal cargo and spend significant capital to build out rail infrastructure.

The migration of North American import cargo from west to east has been accelerating, a trend that could have negative implications for Inland Point Intermodal (IPI).

The intermodal picture at the start of 2020 is lackluster because the trucking market isn’t on the verge of a major rebound unless there is an economic catalyst.

Shippers looking to move cargo through Central New York State now have the option of using a new inland port opened by CSX Transportation in Syracuse.

Barring a major turnaround in December, BNSF Railway and CSX Transportation will record their lowest annual intermodal volumes this year since 2016, and two other Class I railroads could possibly join that list.

Asset-monitoring technology will help Canadian Pacific and intermodal shippers to locate and better utilize the railroad’s chassis pool.

In the heart of what is supposed to be peak season, rail container traffic is not only much slower than a year ago, but also behind 2017 levels as well — and truck seems sluggish, too.

Unless the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports attract more cargo, they could wind up stuck with a hefty bill for the intermodal corridor’s bond debt, a report says.

As spot intermodal rates begin to save shippers more money than earlier in 2019, shippers are seeing reduced savings on contract business.

Two refrigerated intermodal carriers, Marten Transport and KLLM Transport, have acquired 53-foot containers as US Class I railroads have been disincentivizing intermodal trailer use.

Despite weak intermodal volume in the third quarter, there is a glimmer of hope for rail shippers as a sequential bump in truckload spot rates have provided additional cost savings.

Intermodal volumes did not recover in the third quarter, prompting questions of what railroads can do to win back shippers, other than waiting for a recovery in trucking.

The Dubai-based global port terminal operator is looking to position an existing inland freight terminal in Hyderabad as a regional multimodal distribution hub as part of a larger effort to offer integrated logistics services in India.

Freight volumes and rates in the US ocean, intermodal rail, and trucking sectors will see flat to low-single-digit percentage growth in the fourth quarter and into 2020 as retailers burn off inventories, according to speakers at IANA’s annual conference.

A conflict of interests among supply chain stakeholders involving how best to manage chassis usage at ports and rail hubs continues to harm productivity, with no immediate solution on the horizon.

The US intermodal industry is currently in the midst of a down cycle after volumes and rates surged in late 2017 and early 2018, but there are opportunities for railroads to accelerate the potential rebound if they are able to take advantage.

The Journal of Commerce has learned Amazon has acquired 53-foot containers, signaling an intention to tender intermodal volume directly to Class I railroads without an intermediary and marketing itself as an end-to-end supply chain solution for small retailers.

The partnership between Canadian National Railway and Cosco was instrumental in propelling Prince Rupert from a bulk port to a major Asian gateway for US and Canadian cargo owners and forwarders.

In its inaugural US Domestic Intermodal Savings Index, JOC finds that intermodal rates are closer to trucking rates than at any time since 2014, so shippers should closely examine their modal choices.

Analysts expect more of a negative outlook from railroads in second-quarter earnings calls, as shippers have not sent as much on intermodal as they have anticipated in 2019.

While the current perception is that there is an ongoing shift of cargo occurring from the West Coast to the East and Gulf coasts, data shows that is not necessarily the case.

The eighth-largest US trucking operator adds an intermodal option in Indianapolis, making service between the US Midwest and Northeast more competitive with trucks.

The alliance between India’s containerized rail leader and digital startup could signal the future of supply chain logistics in the country.

Despite a downturn in volume, freight shippers say intermodal remains a critical component of their supply chains even as technology is poised to lower truck costs.

There is consensus building in the intermodal industry that each port or rail hub should develop a regional pool of grey chassis managed by a single entity responsible for ensuring chassis quality and availability.

If the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, industry fears massive delays at ferry ports of Dover in the UK and Calais in France.

Chasing volume at the expense of profitability is a “problematic recipe,” according to the author, pointing to ocean container carriers as an example.

Although last week’s Surface Transportation Board hearing didn’t include intermodal, shippers complain about penalties assessed when their cargo arrives on a Friday night and their warehouses are closed until Monday.

The terminal operator’s acquisition of a majority stake in three large inland logistics centers in North India builds on services offered via Indian intermodal subsidiary Container Rail Road Services (CRRS).

Panel says shippers need to be proactive in negotiating different terms into their contracts to protect themselves when no chassis are available for final delivery.

The Federal Maritime Commission briefed the STB this week about the efforts of Memphis shippers and truckers to establish a chassis pool to eliminate a common cause of rail demurrage penalties.

Retail giants Walmart and Amazon have entered into conversations directly with Class I railroads to enter in service agreements, bucking the historical structure in which shippers are required to use intermediaries to procure space.

BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and CSX say domestic intermodal contract rates have risen by upper single-digit percentages in the first quarter, but some non-asset intermodal marketing companies tell quite a different story.

Slowing international growth and declining domestic volume in the first quarter point to the worst performance in intermodal since the freight recession ended in late 2016.

North American intermodal volume ended the first quarter worse than initially forecast due to changing shipping patterns and flooding in the Midwest, but there are signs that this is an inflection point to a difficult 2019 and not a fleeting blip.

After a nationwide trucker strike last May, transportation providers like Maersk and Brazilian railroad Brado are taking a multimodal approach to avoid becoming overly dependent on a volatile trucking market.

Domestic intermodal volume will decline on a quarterly basis for the first time since 2016 to begin this year, but it’s still unclear whether the drop in shipments is a worrisome trend or a result of comparisons to an extraordinary 2018.

Although the 2018 imports and intermodal shipments were inflated somewhat due to the tariffs, the 10-year trend has been increased transloading of imports to domestic containers in Southern California.

Should shipment volumes of privately owned domestic containers continue to outpace those of rail-owned units, it will have major implications for the future of non-asset intermodal retailers.