North American intermodal operators are continuing to make volume gains, but are showing mixed results when it comes to revenue.
At CSX, full-year income and revenue per unit (RPU) year on year fell 1%, to $2.04bn, and 5%, to $708, respectively, said chief commercial officer Kevin Boone as he addressed investors, and pointed to ground gained in terms of volumes.
“We continue to compete and win intermodal business,” he said, and noted volume growth in all four quarters “for the first time in ten years”.
He added: “On the intermodal side, it is encouraging to see at least some stabilisation and maybe some contractual rates starting to move up slightly. Our domestic intermodal business performed well, converting traffic from road, even in this challenging truck market.”
Carloads hit 2.8m teu last year, up 5% on 2023, with year-on-year growth of 4% ,to 746,000 teu, for the final three months.
CSX CEO Joseph Hinrichs told investors that, while intermodal had the lowest RPU, he expected it to “show the fastest growth this year, particularly with the carrier making headway in efforts toward greater cost control and improved efficiency.
Union Pacific’s RPU fell 7% year on year, to $1,404, for the full year and 9% in Q4, to $1,376, but the operator posted otherwise strong numbers.
Full-year intermodal revenue was up 3% on 2023, to $4.7bn, with Q4 turnover up 6%, to $1.25bn. Full-year volumes jumped 11%, to 3.3m teu, helped in part by an end-of-year surge as Q4 volumes saw 16% growth, to 911,000 teu.
CEO Jim Vena said: “Our strong fourth-quarter results represented a great capstone to a very successful year for Union Pacific.”
Canada Pacific Kansas City Southern posted similarly strong Q4 numbers, at least on the money side, reporting a 12% uptick in revenue over the period, compared with Q4 23, bringing in C$949m ($657m).
During Q4, it also recorded a 4% year-on-year bounce in RPU, to C$1,538, despite volumes dropping 9% to 411,000 teu.
Full-year figures showed less variation, with revenue up 2%, at C$2.52bn, volumes also up 2%, at 1.64m teu, and RPU all but flat, at C$1,536, capping CP’s first full year with Kansas City Southern following the merger.
Among the operator, standing out for all the wrong reasons was Canadian National, which saw quarterly and full-year revenues fall 8%, to C$876m, and 2%, to C$3.75bn, year on year, respectively.
