Truckload Linehaul Rates Flat YoY for First Time in 27 Months

Spot prices are low and dragging contract prices down

After a 27-month run of year-over-year increases, truckload linehaul rates were flat (-0.0%) in July compared to the same time last year. Additionally, they were down -4.3% from the all-time high established this past December. Lower volumes and added capacity are driving spot prices down, which is in turn dragging contract rates down. being the main drivers. Spot prices are low and dragging contract prices down.

Donald Broughton, analyst and commentator for the Cass indexes, predicts this month that the truckload index “will go negative next month and stay negative through the end of the year.”

Intermodal Shipping Costs Continue to Decline

After setting an all-time high in March, the Cass Intermodal Price Index® has steadily declined sequentially. July continued that trend, falling another -0.5% sequentially. The cost of Intermodal shipping is slightly higher (up 1.5%) on a YoY basis and July marked the 34th consecutive month of YoY increases. That said, the weakness in truckload spot pricing and the decline in the price of diesel have weakened pricing power for intermodal. Broughton predicts, “the YoY results for the Cass Intermodal Index will go negative in October, and may fall negative as early as August or September.” 

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