Rail Intermodal – Container Volumes (ORAIL/IRAIL)

WHAT IS IT?

The daily volume of intermodal containers moving in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The data are presented as 7-day moving averages using the date that containers were in-gated at point of origin. Since it includes only containerized intermodal volume, intermodal trailers (trailer-on-flatcar, or TOFC) are excluded. 

The data is broken out as follows:

  • International containers versus domestic containers 
  • Container size (20’ 40’ 45’ 48’ and 53’)
  • Direction of travel – Outbound/Inbound to/from metro area (no breakdown by rail ramp)
  • Lane (metro area to metro area)
  • Loaded versus empty
  • There is no breakdown between ambient and refrigerated containers

Container size and international/domestic breakdown

  • There are five container lengths – 20’, 40’, 45’, 48’ and 53’ which appear after the word “RAIL” in the ticker
    • A loaded 20’ container inbound to Chicago would be IRAIL20L.CHI
  • For a summation of all international container sizes (20’,40’, and 45’), you can search for “INT” instead of the equipment size and find total volumes for the combined number of 20’, 40’, and 45’ containers.
    • Loaded international containers inbound to Chicago would be IRAILINTL.CHI
  • For domestic containers (48’, 53’), you can search for “DOM” instead of the equipment size and find total volumes for the combined number of 48’, and 53’ containers.
    • Loaded domestic containers inbound to Chicago would be IRAILDOML.CHI
  • This breakdown differs from the weekly intermodal data provided by the Association of American Railroads which groups all international and domestic containers together. 

Direction of travel (outbound versus inbound) and lane (origin-destination pairing)

  • Inbound to a market e.g. Chicago or CHI
    • The letter “I” will be the first letter in the ticker i.e. IRAIL20L.CHI
  • Outbound from a market e.g. Chicago or CHI
    • The letter “O” will be the first letter in the ticker i.e. ORAIL20L.CH
  • The volume of loaded 53’ containers moving daily from one market to another can be calculated as follows:
    • Los Angeles to Chicago would be ORAIL53L.LAXCHI

Loaded or empty

  • A container will have the letter “L” or “E” as the last character in the ticker to designate whether the container is loaded or empty.
  • That is helpful for intermodal providers in determining where empty containers can be sourced
    • A loaded 20’ container inbound to Chicago would be IRAIL20L.CHI
  • If no “L” or “E” is used in the ticker (e.g., ORAIL.USA), then both loaded and empty containers will be included

Volume compared to past year or month

  • The tickers ORAILLW, ORAILLF, and ORAILLY display the data compared to one week ago, one month ago and one year ago, respectively.
  • These tickers can be used in aggregate (e.g., ORAILLY.USA), outbound from a particular destination (e.g., ORAILLY.CHI) or between an origin-destination pair (e.g., ORAILLY.LAXDAL)
  • The year-ago comparison in ORAILLY helps for analysts to compare trends versus one year ago, removing the impact of seasonality

Aggregated Country Volume

  • United States
    • Using the same example above, the total volume of outbound 53’ loaded domestic containers in the U.S. would be ORAIL53L.USA
  • Canada
    • Using the same example above, the total volume of outbound 53’ loaded domestic containers in Canada would be ORAIL53L.CAN

WHO IS INTERESTED?

Shippers use intermodal volume by lane to evaluate whether there is sufficient intermodal density in their current highway lanes to warrant exploring the use of intermodal to lower freight costs.

Shippers use rail intermodal volume for insights into whether other shippers are finding value in intermodal service. Rising intermodal volume may suggest that shippers are receiving adequate service at rates that undercut highway rates in the same lane. 

Non-asset based logistics companies can utilize the loaded and empty container volume to assess where containers can be sourced in order to provide shippers with intermodal solutions. 

Drayage companies utilize inbound intermodal volume data to understand drayage demand in the upcoming days. Since the volume in ORAIL/IRAIL is based on the date of container in-gating, a drayage company in Chicago, for instance, is given a heads-up about demand in the coming days by viewing the dense LA-Chicago lane (ORAIL.LAXCHI) or by just looking at inbound Chicago volume (IRAIL.CHI). 

Equity research analysts use domestic intermodal volume to help model the quarterly results of the public domestic intermodal companies (i.e., J.B. Hunt, Hub Group and Schneider). The ticker ORAILDOML.USA, which includes only loaded domestic containers, which closely represents that segment’s market.  

WHAT DOES IT TELL ME?

According to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), rail intermodal is the largest single source of U.S. freight rail revenue and represents a competitively priced, environmentally friendly alternative to road transport. It has grown in large part because railroads have invested billions of dollars on new intermodal terminals, track upgrades, and other infrastructure projects that have made rail intermodal more reliable and cost-effective.
Rail intermodal is defined as the long-haul movement of shipping containers and truck trailers by rail, combined with a truck or water movement at one or both ends. Intermodal allows railroads, ocean carriers, trucking companies, and intermodal customers to take advantage of the best attributes of various transportation modes to yield an efficient and cost-effective overall freight movement.

The daily volume of intermodal containers tells you:

  • The volume of freight moving between freight markets
  • The volume of empty containers being repositioned due to freight imbalances between markets
  • The volume of international shipping containers moving by rail
  • The volume of empty shipping containers being shipped overseas back to their port of origin due to international trade imbalances

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Related Topics

Intermodal contract savings versus truckload (IMCSI)

Inbound Rail Market Share (IRAILMS)

Outbound Rail Market Share (ORAILMS)

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