Intermodal pricing climbs 12 percent

July figure marks the largest year-over-year increase since 2011.    Intermodal pricing in North America climbed another 12 percent in July compared with the same 2017 period, the largest year-over-year increase since July 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 139.2 and represented the 22nd-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 10.6 percent, indicating that tight truckload capacity and higher fuel prices are “creating incremental demand and pricing power for domestic intermodal,” according to economist Donald Broughton, who analyzes the intermodal rate index and the North American freight transportation industry at large for Cass.
   “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 Broughton.