Truckload rates continue steady growth

Truckload pricing increased 3.6 percent year-over-year in July after a similar increase in June, according the latest Cass Truckload Linehaul Index.    Truckload rates increased 3.6 percent in July 2015 compared to July 2014, according to the latest Cass Truckload Linehaul Index. Cass Information Systems Inc., a transportation intelligence analyst, said the July 2015 represented an 11 percent increase compared with July 2013.
   The company attributed the continued growth in rates to higher contract rates, which have been steadily integrated into the index over the course of the year.
   Year-over-year truckload rates have increased in each of the last five months, with June rates growing 3.6 percent, and rates in May, April and March increasing 3.5 percent, 3.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.
   Investment firm Avondale Partners said it expects truckload pricing to continue to increase between 4 percent and 9 percent through the remainder of 2015.
   In terms of TL demand, Avondale projects “the decline in industrial freight flows, especially related to oil and gas exploration, to be more than offset by a stronger consumer backdrop.” The firm added it was “encouraged by the current growth streak in dry van loads, which are currently tracking toward mid-single digit growth for 2015, which would be the strongest percentage increase performance since 2010.”