Intermodal rates hit new high in January

Intermodal pricing rose another 5 percent for the month compared with the same 2017 period, the sixteenth consecutive monthly year-over-year increase, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.    Intermodal rates grew another 5 percent in January 2018 compared to the same month the previous year, the sixteenth 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 reading of 141.4 represented an all-time high for the index, and intermodal rates appear poised to continue this growth into 2018, as “pricing momentum appears to be increasing” thanks in part to higher diesel prices.
   “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.