Intermodal pricing increased 0.3 percent for the month compared with the same 2015 period, just the second year-over-year increase since December 2014, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.
Intermodal rates ticked up 0.3 percent in November 2016 compared to the same month last year, just the second year-over-year increase since December 2014, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index, which measures all-in per-mile costs.
Rates had fallen for the previous 21 consecutive months leading up to a modest 0.4 percent increase in October.
The continued negative growth in rates was a record for the index, which was created in 2005. The previous record decline was set in the 13 months from December 2008 through December 2009.
Intermodal rates fell 0.7 percent from the previous year in September, 2 percent in August, and 2.4 percent in July.
Investment firm Avondale Partners said the uptick “marked the second consecutive month of increases with the data set being influenced by fuel (up 4.2 percent YoY).”
“We concede that the extent to which loads can be shifted from domestic intermodal back to over-the-road truck is dependent on trucking capacity, which is currently available in most lanes,” the firm added.
Intermodal rates rise for second straight month in November
