The BNSF officially opened it new $200 million intermodal yard in Memphis on Wednesday, April 23.  The 185-acre facility has eight electric rail-mounted cranes which will be able to handle 1 million lifts per year.  These cranes produce zero emissions and reduce the number of trucks needed to move containers within the year.  The new facility at 4814 Lamar also has a streamlined automated gate system for trucks that uses digital cameras to record incoming and outgoing traffic.  The gateway system gets the trucks into and out of the yard faster, cutting idling time by 50 percent.  

 

Intermodal transport's share of U.S. long-haul truck traffic reached a record high of 13.5 percent in the first quarter, according to a recent analysis by FTR Associates.  Both total intermodal movements and movements of domestic intermodal equipment reached new market share highs, according to the firm's May "Intermodal Update" report.  "This marks the fourth consecutive share increase for intermodal," said Lawrence Gross, senior consultant for FTR and principal author of the report. "The sector was hitting on all cylinders during the first quarter. Domestic sector market share resumed growing after a pause in the fourth quarter of last year, continuing a solid upward trend that began as early as third-quarter 2007."  Meanwhile the international sector continued to recover from its downturn, with international intermodal shipments growing faster than overall long-haul truck. Gross expects that intermodal growth will continue for the foreseeable future.  "The stars are aligning for what could be an acceleration in intermodal share growth," he said. "Active truck capacity is coming into balance with demand, and even a modest increase in freight demand could lead to shortages of truck drivers and, hence, truck capacity, resulting in more opportunity for intermodal. Increases in fuel prices and the continued rebound in international shipments will also aid share growth."
 

Demand for new trucks and other equipment is rising as the economy improves and capacity tightens, surveys by two vehicle market research firms report.  CK Commercial Vehicle Research said fleet operators are feeling much better about buying equipment and putting parked trucks back into service.  Its Fleet Sentiment Buying Index rose 18 percent in April to 64.6 from January, with 33.3 percent of its private and government fleet participants saying they plan to place orders for power units in the next three months and 28.9 percent planning trailer orders.  That followed a 21 percent drop in the FSR Buying Index in January.  Rapidly tightening capacity led ACT Research to increase its forecast for heavy-duty truck production this year by 6,000 units, raising year-over-year growth to 19 percent in the latest release of its North American Commercial Vehicle Outlook.  "Fleet age has truckers increasingly making comments about upgrading the fleet," said John Burton, vice president of the transportation sector at ACT Research, Columbus, Ind.  "Anecdotal evidence suggests reserve capacity is in poor shape, having been idled and cannibalized during the downturn," Burton said.