Intermodal rates fall for ninth straight month

Year-over-year rates dropped 2.3 percent in September, the ninth consecutive month of declining prices, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.    Intermodal rates fell 2.3 percent in September 2015 compared to September 2014, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.
   Cass Information Systems Inc., a transportation intelligence analyst, said year-over-year rates were down for the ninth consecutive month. Intermodal rates dropped 1.9 percent in August, 2.9 percent in July, and 2.8 percent in June compared with the previous year.
   “We expect intermodal rates will continue to decline in 2015,” analysts with investment firm Avondale Partners said in a statement.
   “We concede that the extent to which loads can be shifted from domestic intermodal back to over-the-road truck is dependent on trucking capacity, but the ~$0.20 a mile decline in fuel surcharges collected by truckers in the last year (with most of that decline coming in the most recent 4-5 months) has to challenge demand and pricing power for domestic intermodal, especially in shorter lengths of haul.”