Intermodal rate growth hits 15th straight month in December

Intermodal pricing rose 4 percent in December compared with the same 2016 period, and that growth looks poised to continue into 2018, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.    Intermodal rates grew 4 percent in December 2017 compared to the same month the previous year, the fifteenth consecutive year-over-year increase, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index, which measures all-in per-mile costs.
   According to Cass, intermodal rates are poised to continue this growth in 2018, as “pricing momentum appears to be increasing.”
   “Throughout 2018, we continue to foresee oil trading in the $45 to $65 range and diesel in the $2.50 to $3.25 range (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.