Intermodal Spot Rate Pricing Trendline Analysis

Weekly discussion and analysis: Trends in the intermodal spot rate market

Intermodal Mileage Spot Rate per Mile (including fuel)-2

For the week of July 21, 2025, domestic intermodal spot rate index:

Flat to prior week.
Up 3.6% from prior year.

Intermodal Mileage Spot Rate per Mile (excluding fuel)-2

Year-to-Date Intermodal Volume by Region and Railroad vs. 2024

Year-over-year numbers held steady this week, driven by tariff-related pull-forwards. We expect this trend to continue for the next 3 to 5 weeks, as shippers build inventory ahead of the tariffs. What happens beyond that point remains uncertain.

North American Intermodal: 3.6%

United States: 5.0%

Railroad

BNSF: 4.7%
CN: 0.6%
CPKC: 10.5%
CSX: 2.6%
GMXT: -1.7%
NS: 2.1%
UP: 8.4%

Comparison of Truckload to Intermodal Spot Rate

National Truckload Spot Rate (as reported by the DAT Trendline Report):

Down 1.0% from prior week.
Up 0.5% from prior year.

Domestic 53' Intermodal Spot Rate:

Flat to prior week.
Up 3.6% from prior year.

The intermodal national spot rate increase is primarily being driven from outbound SoCal freight.

For a full review of the 2025 US Intermodal Savings Against Truckload we point you to a tremendous piece of research the Journal of Commerce publishes quarterly.

Diesel Fuel Update

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an average diesel fuel price of $3.812 per gallon this week, which is up $0.054 or 1.4% from the prior week.

The diesel price per gallon is up $0.033 or 0.9% from the same period last year.

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