The volume of intermodal units traveling on U.S. railroads last week was the highest ever seen, the Association of American Railroads reports.  U.S. carload and intermodal volume both grew for the week ending in June 14. A total of 270,243 intermodal units moved on U.S. railroads, up 0.2 percent from the previous week and 6.3 percent higher than the same week in 2013. Carload volume also grew, totaling 295,132 units, 0.8 percent higher week-to-week and 2.2 percent higher year-over-year.  "Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 24 weeks of 2014 was 12.96 million carloads and intermodal units, up 4.4 percent from last year," AAR said.

An industry group seeking ways to improve performance of the Port of New York and New Jersey has issued 23 recommendations covering chassis, trucking, communication, performance indicators, and more.  The New York-New Jersey initiative is the most comprehensive of several recent efforts by ports to address productivity issues. Virginia launched a similar industry task force in response to delays at Hampton Roads terminals last winter. Port Metro Vancouver in British Columbia also has conducted a portwide efficiency review.  The New York-New Jersey recommendations are the product of 3,000 hours of meetings over nearly six months by the task force and five working groups that focused on terminals, drayage, intermodal equipment, rail, and communications.  The task force was announced in December in response to last year's summer-long gridlock at port terminals. Nearly 100 people representing 60 companies and organizations participated in the group and its committees. The recommendations will be discussed at an open forum July 15 in Newark.

Canadian truck drivers are bristling at a U.S. proposal to more than double the fees they pay to authorities at the border.

Canadian truck drivers would see their annual transponder fees jump from $105 to $320 under a U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to hike its Animal Plant and Health Inspection Services fees.  Including the Customs and Border Protection fee, Canadian truck drivers would have to pay $420 annually to cross the border into the U.S. Trucks without a transponder would see the cost of making a trip to the U.S. rise from $10.75 to $13.50.  The fees would apply to Canadian trucks that haul agriculture and food shipments, which must be cleared by the USDA, and to those hauling non-perishables. The USDA said the increase is needed to cover the cost of operating its Agriculture Quarantine Inspection program.