During the past few years, rail cargo transportation service prices have been on a slippery decline. Despite increasing demand, tanking fuel prices have laid the track for cheaper rail transportation during the past three years. While falling prices have been a welcome relief to shippers, carrier profitability has still been increasing due to steady demand and absent competition for many routes. However, service prices rebounded in 2017 and look to keep pushing higher over the next few years as oil prices recover further. -Connor DiGregorio, Research Analyst, IBISWorld Inc.

The drive for cost cuts and higher margins at U.S. trucking and railroad operators is pinching their biggest customers, forcing the likes of General Mills Inc and Hormel Foods Corp to spend more on deliveries and consider raising their own prices as a way to pass along the costs.