The Number Everyone Looks At — And Why It's Wrong

When most shippers compare intermodal and truckload, they look at one number: the linehaul rate. It's understandable. The linehaul rate is easy to compare. It's the number on the quote. It's what shows up in bid responses and rate confirmations. And it's easily sorted on an Excel spreadsheet from low to high.

But focusing solely on linehaul is a mistake many shippers make in determining their freight buys. Looking at the linehaul rate alone ignores the underlying cost structure that makes intermodal significantly more cost-efficient, more predictable, and more stable over the long term (I'd argue checking the freight provider's insurance coverage and D&B are more important in today's market).

Intermodal's value isn't just "cheaper rail vs. expensive truck." It's the system-wide reduction of volatility, risk, and cost exposure throughout your freight network.

If you've already read our companion articles - How to Know Which Lanes Are a Perfect Fit for Intermodal, When Intermodal Is the Wrong Choice, and Intermodal vs. Truckload: A True Apples-to-Apples Comparison - you know where intermodal fits and how to compare the modes fairly.

This article goes deeper on the cost side. It's for shippers who want to understand why intermodal's advantage is bigger than it appears on paper.

Why Linehaul Alone Doesn't Tell the Story

A truckload linehaul rate is simple:

• One carrier
• One truck
• One driver
• One all-in cost

Clean. Easy to compare.

Intermodal's cost structure is different. It has more components:

• Dray pickup at origin
• Ramp-in lift
• Rail linehaul
• Ramp-out lift
• Dray delivery at destination

This multi-touch structure can make intermodal feel more complex. When an IMC presents pricing this way, shippers may conclude that the all-in intermodal rate is not meaningfully different from truckload.

Here's what they're missing: Looking only at intermodal's linehaul number understates its actual cost advantage.

When you factor in fuel economics, volatility exposure, capacity cycles, accessorial behavior, and long-term rate trends, intermodal often delivers double-digit savings that don't show up on a rate sheet.

The real comparison isn't linehaul to linehaul. It's total landed cost over time.

Let's dig into the real economics.

1. Fuel Economics: A Structural Advantage Truckload Can't Match

Fuel is one of the biggest drivers of truckload costs. And it's one of the most volatile.

When diesel prices spike, truckload rates spike immediately  because trucks burn far more fuel per mile than trains. There's no escaping the physics.

Truck vs. Rail Fuel Efficiency:

That's a 25-30x efficiency difference.

What does this mean in practice?

• When diesel climbs from $3.50 to $4.50 per gallon, truckload costs surge immediately
• Intermodal fuel surcharges move more slowly and more predictably
• Rail fuel costs per mile remain structurally lower regardless of market conditions

The Hidden Advantage:

Shippers who move more freight by rail decouple themselves from diesel volatility - one of the biggest drivers of transportation cost inflation.

Over the past five years, diesel prices have swung from under $2.50 to over $5.00 per gallon. Every spike hit truckload shippers hard. Intermodal shippers felt it less.

This isn't a one-time savings. It's a structural advantage that compounds over time.

2. Accessorial Control: Intermodal Has Fewer Surprise Charges Than You Think

One of the most common concerns shippers raise about intermodal is accessorials:

• Storage charges
• Demurrage
• Lift fees
• Chassis fees
• Per diem

"I've heard intermodal accessorials can eat up all your savings," shippers tell us.

It's a fair concern. Poorly managed intermodal programs can generate accessorial surprises. But here's the part that rarely gets discussed:

Truckload Accessorials Are Increasing Faster

The truckload market has become significantly more aggressive about accessorial charges:

• Detention fees trigger earlier (often at 1 hour instead of 2)
• Layover rates are more expensive and less negotiable
• Driver shortage means carriers protect driver time aggressively
• Live load/unload variability creates unpredictable detention exposure

Carriers that previously absorbed modest delays are now billing detention more consistently, which has reduced the practical “free time” shippers once relied on.

Meanwhile, Intermodal Accessorials Are Becoming More Predictable

Strong IMCs increasingly offer:

• Bundled accessorial pricing that caps exposure
• Chassis-included rates that eliminate per-diem surprises
• Storage caps and guardrails built into contracts
• Proactive monitoring to prevent charges before they occur
• Exception management that addresses issues in real-time

The key difference: Intermodal accessorials are largely controllable when you work with an experienced IMC. 

The Hidden Advantage:

A well-managed intermodal program often has more predictable accessorial costs than truckload, especially when capacity tightens and carriers become aggressive about protecting their time.

The shippers who fear intermodal accessorials often don't realize how much they're already paying in truckload detention and layover charges.

3. Volatility Reduction: Intermodal Shields You From the Truckload Cycle

If you've been in transportation for more than a few years, you know: truckload is extremely cyclical.

Rates behave like a roller coaster:

• Tight market → rates surge
• Soft market → rates crash
• Spot volatility bleeds into contract pricing
• Capacity crunches create service failures and emergency freight costs

This volatility creates headaches across the organization:

• Budget planning becomes a guessing game
• Cost forecasting is unreliable
• Margin protection is difficult
• Customer pricing stability is nearly impossible

How do you set prices for your customers when your transportation costs can swing double digits in a single quarter?

Intermodal Operates Differently

Intermodal rates are significantly more stable than truckload.

Because railroads operate structured networks with fixed infrastructure and scheduled trains, intermodal pricing:

• Changes less frequently
• Tracks with long-term cost curves, not short-term spot dynamics
• Isn't impacted by day-to-day spot market volatility
• Has slower, more predictable fuel adjustments
• Moves in smaller increments during up-cycles

When truckload spot rates spike, intermodal contract rates typically hold steady.

This scenario played out for many InTek customers during the pandemic.

Current Market Context:

We've been in a freight recession since July 2022. Truckload spot rates have bounced along the bottom for over two years now. During this period, intermodal spot rates (excluding fuel) have been flat since Week 19 of 2024, sitting at December 2019 lows since Week 11 of 2025.

Here's something we track closely: the statistical correlation between truckload spot rates and intermodal spot rates is extremely tight with an r-value around 0.90.

What does that tell us?

Truckload spot rates signal a turn. Intermodal determines whether that turn has real momentum.

When truckload spikes but intermodal doesn't follow, the spike is usually temporary - driven by weather, a holiday, or a short-term demand blip. When intermodal follows truckload up, the market is genuinely tightening.

As we begin 2026, truckload has seen brief pops without intermodal confirming any sustained recovery. That tells us the market remains soft and any truckload rate pressure has been short-lived.

The Hidden Advantage:

Intermodal reduces exposure to truckload spot spikes, creating:

• Better budget accuracy (you can actually forecast your costs)
• More consistent landed cost (fewer surprises for finance)
• Lower financial risk (your margins are protected)
• Pricing stability for your customers (you can make commitments)

Shippers who use intermodal intentionally see fewer surprises in their transportation budgets.

That predictability has real value, even if it doesn't show up in a linehaul comparison.

4. Capacity Stability: Intermodal Doesn't Feel Pain the Same Way Truckload Does

Truckload capacity is governed by highly variable factors:

• Equipment availability
• Seasonal surges
• Weather disruptions
• Regional economic shifts
• Regulatory changes (HOS, ELD, CDL enforcement)

Any one of these can flip a market from loose to tight in days.

Intermodal Capacity Is Governed by More Stable Factors:

• Rail network density (changes slowly)
• Train schedules (fixed)
• Terminal throughput (planned)
• Drayage capacity (more predictable than long-haul trucking and easily managed because of their short-haul characteristics)

Truckload can "flip" fast. Intermodal rarely does.

What Happens When Truckload Tightens:

• Rates jump quickly in weeks
• Carriers reject contracted tenders
• Shippers scramble for coverage
• Spot freight becomes the norm
• Service failures multiply
• Emergency freight costs explode

What Happens With Intermodal During the Same Period:

• Contract pricing holds steady
• Tender acceptance remains consistent
• Rail network absorbs volume without dramatic rate spikes

The Hidden Advantage:

Intermodal removes shippers from the "capacity lottery" of truckload peaks, especially around:

• Produce season
• Q4 retail surge
• Construction season
• Weather disruptions
• End-of-quarter pushes

Even more important: rail capacity can absorb sudden volume spikes better than a fragmented truckload market. Railroads can add cars to trains. Trucking companies can't instantly hire and train new drivers and buy new equipment.

Why This Matters Now:

Shippers who maintained intermodal programs during this soft truck market will be better positioned when capacity tightens - and it always does, eventually. Those who abandoned intermodal when truck got cheap will scramble to get back on rail, often finding equipment unavailable and rates higher than if they'd stayed.

We saw this exact pattern play out in 2019-2021. History tends to repeat.

5. Longer-Term Price Behavior Favors Intermodal

Take a 5-10 year view of transportation costs, and truckload and intermodal diverge significantly.

Truckload Pricing Drifts Higher Faster

The structural cost pressures on trucking are relentless:

• Driver wages continue to rise
• Insurance costs have skyrocketed 
• Maintenance costs are increasing (parts, labor, equipment complexity)
• Equipment costs are rising (new trucks cost $150,000-$200,000+)
• Regulatory compliance adds cost (ELD, safety technology, emissions)
• E-commerce density pulls capacity toward short-haul

All of these push truckload rates higher over time regardless of where we are in the cycle.

Intermodal Pricing Grows More Slowly

Rail has different cost dynamics:

• Rail labor costs move more predictably (union contracts, structured negotiations)
• Fuel efficiency reduces inflation exposure (25-30x more efficient than truck)
• Infrastructure investment improves network efficiency over time
• Technology adoption increases asset utilization
• Scale economics favor large, structured networks

The result: intermodal's cost curve rises more slowly than truckload's.

The Hidden Advantage:

Intermodal becomes more cost-competitive every year, especially on long-haul corridors. The savings you capture by switching to intermodal today will likely grow over time, not shrink.

Your intermodal advantage compounds as truckload's structural costs continue to climb.

6. Equipment Utilization: Rail Makes Better Use of Every Asset

Truckload efficiency depends heavily on human factors:

• Driver hours (limited by HOS regulations)
• Driver availability (limited by labor market)
• Road congestion (variable and unpredictable)
• Weather (completely uncontrollable, for now)
• Loading dock timing (dependent on shipper/receiver operations)

A truck can only move as fast as its driver can legally and safely operate. And the truck sits idle while the driver sleeps.

Intermodal Assets Are Utilized More Efficiently:

• Multiple trains per week on major corridors
• Continuous movement (trains don't stop for HOS resets)
• Lower downtime (containers move independent of driver availability)
• Fewer labor constraints (rail crews change without stopping the freight)
• More predictable cycles (scheduled departures, consistent transit)

The Hidden Advantage:

Better asset utilization reduces your per-mile cost, which is something truckload can't replicate at scale.

When a container moves from Los Angeles to Chicago, it doesn't care about driver hours, rest stops, or fuel station locations. It just keeps moving.

7. Sustainability = Financial Advantage

Sustainability used to be a "nice to have." Now it's becoming a financial imperative.

Shippers increasingly face:

• ESG reporting requirements
• Customer pressure on supply chain sustainability
• Scope 3 carbon emissions audits
• Internal carbon reduction goals
• Brand and investor scrutiny
• Regulatory pressure on emissions

Intermodal's Emissions Advantage Is Significant:

Rail produces approximately 75% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than trucking on a ton-mile basis.

A single intermodal shipment from Los Angeles to Chicago generates a fraction of the carbon footprint of the same move by truck.

The Hidden Financial Link:

Carbon reduction is increasingly linked to cost and competitiveness:

• Large retailers (Walmart, Target, Amazon) are requiring sustainable shipping from suppliers
• Scope 3 emissions penalties are coming as regulations tighten
• Carbon taxes are being piloted globally and will eventually reach North America
• ESG-driven procurement decisions affect supplier eligibility
• Consumer preference is shifting toward sustainable brands

The Hidden Advantage:

Intermodal future-proofs your supply chain against emerging carbon costs and positions you as a preferred supplier to your own customers.

Shippers who build sustainable logistics networks now will have a competitive advantage when carbon costs become mandatory. Those who wait will face sudden cost increases and scramble to catch up.

8. Resilience and Risk Cost Reduction

When disruptions - hurricanes, snowstorms, port congestion, labor shortages, regional surges - hit, the cost of truckload spikes quickly.

Why? Because truckload capacity is fragmented across thousands of carriers, each making independent decisions about where to deploy trucks. When demand surges in one region, capacity floods there, while leaving other regions short.

Intermodal's Structured Network Absorbs Disruption Differently:

• Fixed routes provide geographic stability
• Fixed schedules create operational predictability
• Fewer touchpoints per mile reduce points of failure
• Higher network redundancy enables alternative routings
• Infrastructure recovers faster after major weather events

The Hidden Advantage:

Avoiding disruption cost is often worth far more than a linehaul rate difference.

A single week of emergency spot freight during a capacity crunch can cost more than a year's worth of intermodal savings. Shippers who build resilient networks with intermodal avoid those spikes entirely.

Putting It All Together: Total Landed Cost Shows the Real Picture

When you evaluate only linehaul, intermodal looks like 10-15% savings on qualifying lanes.

When you evaluate total landed cost over time, the savings jump dramatically.

Intermodal's Real Savings Come From:

The True Total Cost Advantage: Often 25% and greater

Most shippers who analyze total landed cost, not just linehaul, find intermodal delivers far more savings than they ever realized.

The linehaul comparison might show 12-15% savings. The total landed cost analysis, factoring in all the hidden advantages, often shows 25% or more in total value.

The Bottom Line: Intermodal's Real Value Lives Beneath the Rate

Truckload pricing is loud, volatile, and visible. Every spike makes headlines. Every capacity crunch creates panic.

Intermodal pricing is stable, predictable, and structurally efficient. It doesn't make headlines because it doesn't swing wildly.

Once you go deeper than the linehaul number, the hidden advantages become clear:

• Less volatility in your transportation spend
• Less fuel exposure when diesel spikes
• Fewer unexpected costs from accessorials and emergency freight
• Greater long-term price stability as truckload costs climb
• More capacity resilience during market crunches
• Lower carbon and regulatory risk as sustainability becomes mandatory
• Stronger total landed cost control across your network

Intermodal is not just a cheaper long-haul mode.

It's a smarter financial strategy for shippers looking to reduce cost, risk, and uncertainty across their supply chain.

Related Reading: The Complete Intermodal Decision Framework

This article focuses on the cost advantages of intermodal. For a complete picture of when and how to use intermodal, see our companion articles:

• How to Know Which Lanes Are a Perfect Fit for Intermodal — The criteria that make a lane ideal for intermodal
• When Intermodal Is the Wrong Choice — And What to Use Instead — The 10 situations where truckload or other modes beat intermodal
• Intermodal vs. Truckload: A True Apples-to-Apples Comparison — How to fairly compare the modes on lanes where both could work

Together, these articles give you a complete framework for making smart mode decisions by maximizing savings where intermodal fits while avoiding the lanes where it doesn't.

Ready to See Your Total Landed Cost Savings?

At InTek Logistics, we help shippers analyze their networks and quantify the total cost advantage of intermodal — not just the linehaul savings.

We provide:

• Lane-by-lane total landed cost analysis
• Fuel exposure modeling
• Accessorial cost comparison
• Volatility impact assessment
• Long-term cost curve projections
• Carbon footprint calculations

For more about InTek Logistics - and the industry in general, go to our Resources or visit the highlighted pages below. If you're interested in working with us, fill in our brief form and we'll be happy to get in touch to discuss your freight needs.

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