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InTek Intermodal Index (III) Weekly Market Analysis

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Weekly market intelligence including the InTek Intermodal Index (tracking intermodal spot rates), along with truckload pricing, diesel trends, and railroad volumes

Updated every Thursday | Last updated: August 27, 2026

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This Week at a Glance

Week ending August 24, 2026

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Intermodal Spot Rate

(excluding fuel)

▲ +1.5% vs. last week

▲ +4.2% vs. last year

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Truckload Spot Rate

(excluding fuel, DAT)

▲ +4.8% vs. last week 

▲ +46.8% vs. last year

 

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Diesel Fuel

(EIA National Average)

▲ +3.6% vs. last week 

▲ +52.4% vs. last year

 

 

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Intermodal Volume

(YTD vs. 2025)

U.S. ▲ +3.6%

North American ▲ +2.9%

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This Week's Analysis

By Rick LaGore, CEO, InTek Logistics | August 24, 2026

Analysis of the InTek Intermodal Index (III) and freight market trends

Trends in the Intermodal Transportation Spot Rate and Market

For the first time in a long time, intermodal price and intermodal volume moved up together, and truckload moved with them. Intermodal spot rose 1.5%, its largest weekly gain of the run. Truckload spot climbed 4.8%. Volume firmed on a rolling basis to the strongest week-for-this-time-of-year reading in five years. After two months of price and volume pointing different directions, they aligned this week.

That alignment is what the confirmation framework watches for, so it is worth being precise about what drove it. The intermodal spot move came largely from peak-constrained charges on Southern California outbound, which is a seasonal capacity signal in specific lanes rather than a broad repricing. The volume strength is wider than that. Both readings point up. Put plainly, this is one strong week that fits the direction the framework has been waiting on, not yet a confirmed turn.

The underlying market has not changed shape. Truckload sits well above last year on a cost base that has not come down. Diesel keeps climbing and lands harder on over-the-road than on rail. Intermodal keeps taking converted freight and holding it. What moved this week is that all three started pointing the same way at once.

This is the cleanest confirmation week of the run, and it comes with the seasonal caveat attached. When intermodal spot, intermodal volume, and truckload spot all move up together, the framework treats that as intermodal confirming the truckload move instead of diverging from it. That is this week. The reason to hold the read loosely is that the intermodal price piece leaned on Southern California peak charges, and peak charges fade when peak does.

For shippers, nothing about the playbook has changed. Price the spread on total landed cost with fuel in it. With diesel now 52.4% above last year, the fuel line is the largest single item in the comparison, and it is widening the intermodal advantage independent of anything the linehaul rates do week to week. A comparison run today comes out further in intermodal's favor than one run a month ago, and most of that shift is fuel.

InTek Intermodal Index (excluding fuel):

  • Up 1.5% vs. prior week
  • Up 4.2% vs. prior year

The InTek Intermodal Index (III), which tracks intermodal spot rates, rose 1.5% for the week and stands 4.2% above last year, the firmest weekly move of this run after a summer of small steady increments.

The primary driver is peak-constrained pricing on Southern California outbound lanes, where capacity tightens seasonally into the fall. That is worth reading as a lane-specific peak signal rather than a market-wide step up. At 4.2%, the annual reading is more durable, and it has firmed steadily through the summer.

National Truckload Spot Rate (DAT, excluding fuel): (DAT Trendline Report)

  • Up 4.8% vs. prior week
  • Up 46.8% vs. prior year

Truckload spot climbed 4.8% for the week and holds 46.8% above last year.

The weekly move ends the recent stretch of small declines and points back up, consistent with peak season building into the fall. For a modal comparison, the number that matters is the annual one, and truckload's cost base sitting well above last year keeps the cost gap wide on lanes where both modes compete.

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Diesel Fuel (EIA):

  • $5.652/gallon
  • Up $0.198 (3.6%) vs. prior week
  • Up $1.944 (52.4%) vs. prior year

Diesel closed the week at $5.652 per gallon, up 19.8 cents (3.6%) on the week and up $1.944 (52.4%) on the year. The year-over-year gap crossed 50% this week. Diesel has now added close to 40 cents over two weeks, and last week's new high did not hold as a high for long.

If you read this summary the last couple of weeks, forgive the repetitiveness: The driver has not changed. This move still sits in refining and distillate supply, not in crude, so diesel keeps setting highs without a matching move in oil.

For a shipper, a crude forecast is still not a fuel-surcharge forecast. Rail is roughly three times more fuel efficient than over-the-road truck on a ton-mile basis, so at a 52.4% year-over-year diesel gap the fuel line penalizes long-haul trucking most and keeps marginal freight converting to rail. That conversion is part of what showed up in this week's volume.

(The full spreadsheet of the historical weekly price moves of diesel full can be found at https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel.)

 

Year-to-Date Intermodal Volume by Region and Railroad vs. 2025

North American intermodal volume runs 2.9% ahead of 2025 year to date and US volume 3.6%, both gaining back the tenth they dipped the prior week. The more current read is stronger, with US volume near 4.1% on a four-week rolling basis and this week's originations at the 91st percentile of the prior five-year range for the calendar slot.

The growth is concentrated. Mexico cross-border leads by a wide margin as nearshoring routes more freight through that corridor, Western roads run high single digits as softening imports free capacity for truck-to-rail conversion, and Eastern roads hold mid single digits. Canadian lanes remain soft. On the reported table, GMXT leads at 15.3%, recovering part of last week's drop, with CSX (5.7%), BNSF (4.7%), and NS (4.2%) above or near the US average and CN (-2.6%) the softest.

The story is around modal conversion with overall demand still having yet to surge: long-haul truck-to-rail plus strong Mexico cross-border, carries volume while imports soften. Shippers who convert for reliability have historically stayed on intermodal after truck pricing eases, which is what turns substitution into retained share.

North American Intermodal

2.9%

U.S. Intermodal

3.6%

Volume by Class 1 Railroad

BNSF 4.7%
CN -2.6%
CPKC 0.2%
CSX 5.7%
GMXT 15.3%
NS 4.2%
UP -0.2%

 

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Intermodal Spot Rate Trend Charts

InTek Intermodal Index (III) spot rate per mile including fuel, showing weekly trends

Intermodal Spot Rate Per Mile (Including Fuel)

  

InTek Intermodal Index (III) spot rate per mile excluding fuel, showing weekly trends

Intermodal Spot Rate Per Mile (Excluding Fuel)

 

InTek Intermodal Index (III) average intermodal spot rate per mile from 2021 to 2026 Intermodal Spot Rate Average Per Mile (2014-2026)

InTek Intermodal Index (III) average intermodal percentage rate change per mile from 2021 to 2026

Intermodal Spot Rate Y/Y % Change (2014-2026)

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What to watch next week

Three things to watch heading into the week of August 31, 2026.

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Does intermodal spot hold once peak charges fade?

This week's 1.5% leaned on Southern California peak pricing. Watch whether the index holds its gain as the seasonal charges roll off, or whether it gives back the way a lane-specific move usually does. The answer to this question separates a peak effect from a durable step up.

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Does diesel keep setting highs past 50%?

The year-over-year gap crossed 50% this week and shows no sign of relief. Watch the next EIA print. Refineries are running hard while others sit down globally, and hurricane season is open, so the supply risk still points up rather than down.

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Does the import rollover cap the volume story?

The strength this week is domestic and Mexico cross-border, while containerized imports soften under a flattening pull-forward. Watch whether the international side declines fast enough to offset the domestic and cross-border gains.

Last week's scorecard

Last week we flagged three things. Here is how they played out.

  • Does truckload spot find a level or keep drifting? It found a level and turned up. After three small weekly declines, spot climbed 4.8% this week as peak season built. The drift lower is over, at least for now, and the year-over-year premium holds near 47%.

  • Does diesel hold the new high? It did not just hold it, it beat it. Diesel added another 19.8 cents to $5.652 and pushed the year-over-year gap past 50%. The refining-driven run that has defined the back half of the summer persists.

  • Does contract data close the repricing question? Still open. No new contract print landed this week. June Cass truckload linehaul at 5.5% above last year remains the standing figure, and until the next release, the repricing read rests on spot data alone.

About the InTek Intermodal Index:

The InTek Intermodal Index (III) tracks weekly domestic intermodal spot rates on a per-mile basis, both including and excluding fuel surcharges. Each week's report includes comprehensive market analysis covering truckload pricing trends, diesel fuel costs, and Class I railroad intermodal volumes to provide context for rate movements.

Published every Thursday since 2014, the Index serves as a resource for shippers, carriers, and industry analysts tracking North American freight market trends.

Citation: InTek Intermodal Index. (2026). Weekly Intermodal Spot Rate Report. Retrieved from https://www.inteklogistics.com/spot-rates

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