New Logistics Data Available from Cass to Analyze Transportation Costs
ST. LOUIS, MO, January 19, 2011 – Expense management leader Cass Information Systems (Nasdaq: CASS) and Avondale Partners, LLC have created a transportation index that accurately measures changes in U.S. domestic per-mile intermodal rates. The new Cass Intermodal Linehaul Index™ removes the effects of fuel and accessorial costs, focusing solely on the linehaul component of total intermodal costs.
“Cass aggregates transportation expense data for millions of U.S. shipments every month. This logistics data generates a wealth of business intelligence that is meaningful and valuable,” said John Pickering, chief operating officer, Cass Transportation Information Services division. “Like our other transportation indexes, we expect our intermodal index to be closely watched by shippers, industry analysts and other market watchers.”
The Cass Intermodal Linehaul Index™ is based on per-mile pricing as of January 2005. Using a base value of 100, the Index for December registered a value of 102.3, which reflects a 1.9% increase in rates year over year. In comparison, truckload rates in December showed a gain of 8.6% from the prior year.
As it has done with the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index™, Avondale Partners will factor the intermodal data into in-depth market analyses on the transportation sector, which it publishes regularly to its investor client base. Donald Broughton, managing director and senior equity analyst, transportation, commented, “As far as we’re aware, this is the only intermodal pricing index available.”
As the largest freight audit and payment provider, Cass has been publishing the Cass Freight Index™ since 1990 and has more recently begun publishing mode-specific data. Cass logistics data products also include Cass Benchmark Data Services™, allowing shippers to compare their costs to industry averages for truckload, LTL, rail and intermodal, and within geographic and weight constraints. The term ‘intermodal’ refers to the transportation of goods using more than one mode of transportation, typically a combination of truck and rail.
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About Cass
Cass Information Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASS) is the leading provider of transportation, utility and telecom expense managementand related business intelligence services, disbursing more than $27 billion annually on behalf of its clients. With annual revenues approaching $100 million and total assets exceeding $1 billion, Cass is a business process outsourcer focused on invoice audit, processing and payment services. Cass Commercial Bank, established in 1906, is a wholly owned subsidiary and Federal Reserve Member Bank, providing sophisticated financial exchange services to the parent organization and its clients. Cass is part of the Russell 2000(R). More information is available at http://www.cassinfo.com.
