Fleets Increasingly Add Video-Based Telematics From Lytx

Lytx has increased subscriptions for its video-based telematics system by more than 25% in the past year since being acquired by private equity firm GTCR, the company announced.

Since February of 2016, Lytx has added 101,000 new subscriptions to reach more than 400,000. Also, 907 new companies adopted Lytx DriveCam programs over that period, which brings the total client count to more than 2,200.

The company has logged 33 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in subscriptions. And for the second consecutive year, nearly half of its clients expanded their fleet deployments. In 2016, Lytx added contract committments of more than $220 million.

During the year, Lytx clients reduced their claims by $1,750 per vehicle, which doesn't include additional savings in fuel consumption and maintenance brought by safer driving habits.

Lytx's flagship product is DriveCam, which has been added to more than 650,000 vehicles around the globe. The company also offers ActiveVision, a system than detects distracted and drowsy driving and provides immediate feedback. In 2016, Lytx introduced the Unisyn platform that allows fleet managers to access live and recorded video from remote access points.

Related: Lytx Acquired By Private Equity Firm

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Intermodal Freight Rates Jump, Truckload Linehaul Slips

Intermodal rates rose in January by the largest amount in more than two years, while truckload linehaul rates retreated, according to one measure.

The Cass Intermodal Price Index rose 3.8% in January from the same time in 2016, the largest year-over-year increase since October 2014, due largely to a nearly 22% increase in fuel cost over the past year. The reading of 134.7 also marks a 4.3% increase from December 2016 and puts the index at its highest level since April 2014.

Although diesel fuel prices have recovered from their early 2016 lows, "we do not expect a significant amount of sequential strength from intermodal," said the investment firm Avondale Partners, which provides analysis of the report. “But the current level of demand and pricing will produce a positive year-over-year comparison for the next nine to 10 months.”

The Cass Intermodal Price Index is an indicator of market fluctuations in per-mile U.S. domestic intermodal costs, that includes all costs associated with the move, such as linehaul, fuel and accessorials.

Meantime, the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index was 0.3% lower in January than the same time a year ago, after falling 0.9% and 1.5% in December and November, respectively. The January reading of 125.4 is also down 1% compared to December, following a 2.6% gain from November.

Although this represents 11 consecutive months of year-over-year declines, the drop in January was the smallest over that time frame.

The good news, according to Avondale Partners Analyst Donald Broughton, is that after an extended period of soft demand and excess capacity, "we are...seeing some improvements in pricing power of truckers.”

The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index is an indicator of market fluctuations in per-mile truckload pricing that isolates the linehaul component of full truckload costs from others, such as fuel and accessorials, providing a reflection of trends in baseline truckload prices.

Data ...Read the rest of this story