Cass Intermodal Linehaul Index
A Measure of Market Fluctuations in Per-Mile Intermodal Freight Costs
As the nation’s largest payer of freight bills, Cass manages more than $20 billion annually in freight spend, enabling us to compile meaningful logistics data that serves as an indicator of transportation industry trends. The Cass Intermodal Linehaul Index™ is a measure of market fluctuations in per-mile U.S. domestic intermodal pricing.
April 2012
Intermodal linehaul rates saw a month-to-month jump of 2.1% in April, posting the second highest value in our index's history at 104.5. The increasing prices in intermodal are further evidence of growing demand created by the share shift from truckload. The index posted its first year-over-year increase (+2.4%) since December 2011. March saw a strong sequential gain (+2.1%) as well. The monthly report from Avondale Partners concluded: “We believe that intermodal service providers could see some modest gains in pricing in the near term due to high fuel prices, however we continue to believe that over the intermediate term, the large number of containers coming on line and aggressive pricing by carriers focused on ramping up their intermodal businesses will keep pricing grounded.”
| Index point: |
104.5 |
| Y/Y change: |
+2.4% |
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Index Definition
The Cass Intermodal Linehaul Index is an accurate, timely indicator of market fluctuations in per-mile U.S. domestic intermodal pricing. The index isolates the linehaul component of intermodal costs from other components (e.g. fuel and accessorials), providing an accurate reflection of trends in baseline intermodal prices. It is based on pricing as of January 2005 and uses a base value of 100.
Data within this unique index is derived from actual freight invoices paid on behalf of Cass’ clients, which totaled over $20 billion in 2011.
Cass partners with the securities analyst firm Avondale Partners LLC to publish this Index. View the independent Avondale report for more information.
Other Transportation Indexes from Cass
Cass also furnishes the Cass Freight Index, a measure of freight industry volume by dollars and number of shipments, and the Truckload Linehaul Index, a measure of trends in truckload pricing.