Intermodal rate increase highest since 2011

North American intermodal rates grew for the 21st consecutive month in June, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.    Intermodal rates climbed another 10.9 percent in June compared with the same 2017 period, the largest year-over-year increase since August 2011, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index, which measures all-in per-mile costs.
   According to Cass, last month’s growth brought the index to a reading of 136.7 and represented the 21st consecutive month of year-over-year increases for intermodal rates.
   The strong performance also brought the three-month rolling average growth rate for intermodal pricing up to 8.8 percent, indicating that tight truckload capacity and higher fuel prices are “creating incremental demand and pricing power for domestic intermodal.”
   “Longer term, we continue to foresee oil trading in the $45 to $65 range and diesel in the $2.50 to $3.25 range throughout 2018 (without the refining interruption pressure produced by hurricanes or other catastrophic events),” said economist Donald Broughton, who analyzes the intermodal rate index and the North American freight transportation industry at large for Cass.