Intermodal logistics hubs that are major transfer facilities for containers shipped by rail are expanding as fast as they can to meet growing demand from shippers who are choosing rail over trucks due to the surge in per-mile trucking rates. 

The supply-chain gridlock at West Coast ports has caused unprecedented congestion in logistics networks across the US, especially at the handful of hubs where all five Class 1 railroads intersect, including the intermodal inland ports in Chicago and Memphis.

Containers are stacked up in every nook and cranny at CenterPoint Intermodal Center, North America's largest inland port, a 6,400-acre master-planned intermodal development about 40 miles southwest of Chicago that can handle more than 3 million TEU shipping containers annually.