The volume increase reflected a solid full-year performance by intermodal marketing companies, whose loads rose 3.7%. The increases resulted in improved annual volume, revenue and revenue per load in every IMC category, the first increase in all of those categories since 2000.

"The growth in domestic intermodal was very encouraging at a time when other freight traffic volume has been struggling," says Tom Malloy, vice president of member services and business development for IANA. "That growth affirms the continuing value of intermodal service and sets the stage for a return to international volume increases when import traffic rebounds.

Overall freight traffic on US railroads was the second highest on record, according to the Association of American Railroads in Washington, DC. Volume totaled 16.95 million carloads, down 2.5% from '06.