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

Check out last month’s data on intermodal spot rates.

We’re excited to announce a change to the monthly spot rate data report. Moving forward, we will be reporting on the intermodal spot rate trends based on a 3-month rolling average in each key market. This is a greater reflection look of overall spot rate trends, utilizing historical data for greater context.

Intermodal spot rate trends in Atlanta and Los Angeles continue to see less change compared to Chicago. Month-over-month, spot rates were up 18% in Chicago, 2% in Los Angeles and down 2% in Atlanta. With the sharp spot rate increase in Chicago, what’s clear is that average spot rates in each market are converging, with Chicago taking the top spot, followed by Atlanta and Los Angeles.

The big news out of this month is Chicago spot rates jumping 18% month-over-month. As we can see from the rolling average data in Chicago, drayage spot rates have been trending upward since the beginning of the year. Compared to January, the cost to move Chicago intermodal spot freight is up 33%. And when comparing June 2024 to the same time last year, spot rates are up 26%.

Following months of overall spot rate per mile decline, the Los Angeles market is trending up, with a 2% spot rate increase month-over-month. With the new rolling average data, we can see that the cost to move LA spot freight has been on a downward slope since peaking in November 2023. Due to the spike in Chicago average spot rates, Los Angeles is back to being the market where it’s the cheapest to move spot freight. However, compared to June 2023, spot freight costs in Los Angeles are actually up 1%.

Atlanta spot rates decreased 2%, following months of overall average spot rate per mile increases. Contrary to trends in the Los Angeles market, the cost to move intermodal spot freight in Atlanta was on an upward trend since January. In comparison to June 2023, drayage spot rates are up 11% year-over-year.

What’s next for intermodal spot rates? Diesel prices started to increase in the middle of June, and are continuing to rise through July. This may increase the cost to move spot freight overall, so it will be interesting to see what happens once the full data for July is available.