Blog

The content below is for brokers interested in utilizing the DrayNow spot market. For brokers interested in securing intermodal drayage service for their contracted lanes, please feel free to reach out to us via contact form.

For a look at last month’s data dive on intermodal spot rates, click the link here.

Continuing the trends in spot rate activity we noted in July, average spot rates on the DrayNow platform in August saw comparatively similar month-over-month trajectories. Spot rates in Los Angeles continued to come down from a record high set two months prior, while Chicago and Atlanta intermodal spot rates rose.

Judging from the prior data points on the LA line in the graph, the past few months have been some of the least volatile seen in the market. In August, Los Angeles intermodal spot rates dropped just 2% month-over-month. This is still relatively high for the market, considering it is just 3% lower than the record high recorded in June. Compared to August 2021, spot rates in Los Angeles are up 4%.

July intermodal spot rate activity in the Chicago market was almost exactly the same compared to June. For August, the average spot rate per mile was up 6% compared to the previous month. In the most recent few months, intermodal spot rate trends in Chicago and Los Angeles have been in direct contrast with one another. Spot rates rising in Chicago while falling in LA is closing the gap that we have seen in recent months. When compared to August 2022, Chicago spot rates are up 54%.

The Atlanta market saw the most significant changes to intermodal spot rates on the DrayNow platform in August, rising 10% month-over-month. It is now the highest record average rate for the market this year, but still 7% lower than the last peak in December 2021. Year-over-year, the average intermodal spot rate per mile is up 28%.

In the month of August, diesel prices saw steady decreases in the first half of the month before rising towards the end. There was only a slight decrease in the average rate it takes to move freight in LA, but the Chicago and Atlanta markets saw higher increases, meaning that carriers across the board are likely still expecting higher drayage rates.