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InTek Intermodal Index (III) Week Ending Aug. 17, 2026

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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 - Historical Edition

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This Week at a Glance

Week ending August 17, 2026

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Intermodal Spot Rate

(excluding fuel)

▲ +0.1% vs. last week

▲ +3.9% vs. last year

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Truckload Spot Rate

(excluding fuel, DAT)

▼ -0.4% vs. last week 

▲ +46.8% vs. last year

 

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Diesel Fuel

(EIA National Average)

▲ +3.7% vs. last week 

▲ +46.9% vs. last year

 

 

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Intermodal Volume

(YTD vs. 2025)

U.S. ▲ +3.5%

North American ▲ +2.8%

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This Week's Analysis

By Rick LaGore, CEO, InTek Logistics | August 17, 2026

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

Trends in the Intermodal Transportation Spot Rate and Market

Diesel is the story again, and this week it broke the wrong way for truckload. On-highway diesel jumped 19.7 cents to $5.454, a new high for this run and 46.9% above last year, reversing last week's step down in a single print. Intermodal spot held nearly flat, up 0.1%. Truckload spot eased back 0.4%.

The mode comparison keeps moving on fuel, not linehaul. The two spot rates barely budged this week. A shipper pricing the all-in comparison saw the linehaul spread hold close to steady while the fuel spread widened again. That has been the pattern through the back half of the summer.

The underlying read holds: that intermodal keeps firming in small increments and holding share, while truckload sits well above last year on a cost base that has not come down. Diesel keeps applying pressure, and that pressure lands harder on over-the-road than on rail.

Demand has not changed and the cost side is where the week moved. Both spot rates held steady, so the linehaul side of the comparison stayed quiet. Diesel did not, and that is where a shipper should be looking at this point in the freight cycle.

Intermodal spot is up 3.9% year over year, with truckload up considerably. That divergence is the cost gap, and with diesel now 46.9% above last year, the fuel component sits on top of an already wide linehaul difference. Price the spread on total landed cost with fuel in it. On lanes where both modes compete, a comparison run today comes out further in intermodal's favor than one run even a month ago, and most of that shift is fuel.

InTek Intermodal Index (excluding fuel):

  • Up 0.1% vs. prior week
  • Up 3.9% vs. prior year

The InTek Intermodal Index (III), which tracks intermodal spot rates, was essentially flat for the week, up 0.1%, and firmed to 3.9% above last year.

The weekly moves have stayed small and steady since late spring. The year-over-year reading has climbed through the summer.

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

  • Down 0.4% vs. prior week
  • Up 46.8% vs. prior year

Truckload spot eased 0.4% for the week and holds 46.8% above last year. The weekly move is small - the third modest decline in the recent stretch - and it reads as a slight move from a high level rather than a turn.

The year-over-year figure (the one shippers running a modal comparison should worry about) has truckload's cost base sitting well above last year. And it keeps the cost gap wide on lanes where both modes compete.

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Diesel Fuel (EIA):

  • $5.454/gallon
  • Up $0.197 (3.7%) vs. prior week
  • Up $1.741 (46.9%) vs. prior year

Diesel closed the week at $5.454 per gallon, up 19.7 cents (3.7%) on the week and up $1.741 (46.9%) on the year. Last week's decline looked like the climb breaking. This week not only erased the decline, it set a new high for the run. This is a reminder that one down week is not a trend.

The driver has not changed. This move still sits in refining and distillate supply, not in crude, so diesel can post a new high 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 46.9% year-over-year diesel gap, the fuel line is comfortably the largest single item separating the two modes on cost.

(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 2.8% ahead of 2025 year to date, with the United States at 3.5%, both easing a tenth from last week.

Uneven growth by railroad continues. GMXT still leads the reporting carriers at 14.7%, though that reading fell from 18.6% last week. CSX at 5.6% and BNSF at 4.8% run above the US average, with NS at 4.3% close behind. CN at -2.6%, UP at -0.6%, and CPKC at -0.2% remain below last year. UP and CPKC are both moving slowly back toward break-even, and the Canadian carriers are working against tougher comparisons.

The aggregate holds steady while individual carriers move in both directions. That is the normal shape this far into the year. US intermodal running 3.5% ahead of last year, against a total freight market that has been soft, is the share story continuing. Demand still has yet to join the party.

North American Intermodal

2.8%

U.S. Intermodal

3.5%

Volume by Class 1 Railroad

BNSF 4.8%
CN -2.6%
CPKC -0.2%
CSX 5.6%
GMXT 14.7%
NS 4.3%
UP -0.6%

 

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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 24, 2026.

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Does truckload spot find a level or keep drifting?

Three small weekly declines in a row leave spot easing at a high level. Watch whether it steadies or keeps sliding. Where it settles - rather than the weekly move - is the read on how much summer strength carries into fall.

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Does diesel hold the new high?

Last week's dip proved temporary and this week set a new high. Watch the next EIA print for whether refining tightness keeps pushing or relief finally arrives. Each week diesel holds up here, third-quarter fuel-surcharge exposure on truckload gets heavier and the intermodal fuel advantage compounds.

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Does contract data close the repricing question?

The spot-to-contract gap has been the open question for weeks. June Cass truckload linehaul ran 5.5% above last year, and the next contract print is what tells shippers how much repricing is still ahead. Until it lands, the read rests on spot alone.

Last week's scorecard

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

  • Whether the truckload decline continues. It did, although with a very slight move. Spot eased another 0.4% after last week's 0.8%, a third small decline in a row. The direction is lower, the magnitude is more a drift, and truckload remains far above last year.

  • Where does diesel settle now that the climb has broken? It did not settle. It jumped. Diesel added 19.7 cents to a new high of $5.454, erasing last week's decline and then some. Last week's read that the climb had broken was wrong, and the one-week dip turned out to be the head-fake rather than the top. The refining-driven run is still going.

  • What is on the horizon we are not watching? Fuel supply remains the live risk, and this week it delivered. The refining tightness that has driven diesel all summer pushed price to a new high. With refineries running hard and hurricane season open, the exposure that watch item named is still the one to track.

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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