Intermodal Volume Rises 1.4% in Third Quarter

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Intermodal traffic volume rose 1.4% in the third quarter, the seventh straight quarter of year-over-year gains, the Intermodal Association of North America said.

Domestic container volume climbed 9%, the strongest increase of the year, to 1.27 million units, while trailer volume dipped 0.8% to about 425,000 units, IANA said in a statement.

While rising diesel prices drove freight to trailers during the first half of the year, diesel prices began a decline in the third quarter which may have contributed to the decline in trailer activity in rail service, IANA said.

International container volume declined 2.6% in the quarter to 1.96 million units, IANA said.

Railroad volume is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be higher-valued merchandise than bulk commodities, uses trains for the long haul and trucks for the shorter distance at either end of the trip.

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Productivity Rises in Third Quarter

U.S. workers’ productivity increased in the third quarter and labor costs declined, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The 3.1% increase in productivity followed a revised 0.1% dip the previous three months that was previously reported as a 0.7% decline.

Productivity is a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work.

Economists had forecast a 3% increase, Bloomberg reported.

Labor costs fell 2.4% after a revised 2.8% gain in the previous quarter that was originally reported as a 3.3% rise.

When worker efficiency improves at a slower pace and labor becomes more expensive, companies may raise prices in order to guard their profits, contributing to more rapid inflation.

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