Rail/Intermodal
By a 4-to-1 vote, the Federal Trade Commission this week affirmed an administrative law judge (ALJ) ruling that chassis agreements requiring motor carriers to use specific chassis providers violate the Shipping Act of 1984 in situations when an entity other than the ocean carrier is paying for the use of the equipment. The FMC decision covers four regions at issue in the ALJ’s ruling: Los Angeles/Long Beach, Chicago, Savannah, and Memphis.
ALJ Erin Wirth handed down the initial decision in February 2023 in response to a complaint filed by the Intermodal Conference of the American Trucking Associations against the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association, Consolidated Chassis Management LLC, and 11 ocean carriers.
The proceeding is not over, however, as the ALJ must still determine what specific actions and, potentially, reparations will be required.
The FMC’s order, the ALJ’s initial decision, and the parties’ filings in the proceeding are available at https://www2.fmc.gov/readingroom/proceeding/20-14.
Rail and Intermodal Volume
North American rail carload and intermodal traffic moved only modestly sequentially in the latest week. Total carload volume increased 1.1% week over week while economically sensitive freight was up 1.6%. Carload traffic was down 1.4% y/y; economically sensitive volume was down 1.3%.
Intermodal traffic declined 2% week over week. In an unusual development, container volume was down while trailer loadings were up. However, container volume was up more than 10% y/y while trailer volume was down nearly 22%.
Through the first six weeks of 2024, intermodal volume is up 4.8% y/y while carload volume is down 6.1%. Only two commodity groups have recorded volume greater than the same 2023 period: Chemicals and petroleum and petroleum products. After running uniformly positive y/y for several weeks, Mexican rail traffic is now mixed with most carload commodities running negative y/y.
