Intermodal pricing continues to gather steam

North American intermodal rates in April climbed another 6.6 percent, the 19th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase.    Intermodal rates kept picking up steam in April, growing another 6.6 percent compared to the same month the previous year, the 19th consecutive year-over-year increase, 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 141.9, leaving it just short of the all-time high set in March, bringing the three-month rolling average growth rate to 5.9 percent and 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.