TORONTO, Ont. – The Canadian Freight Index registered a number of records in January.

According to TransCore Link Logistics, the company that compiles the index, 2014 opened with “never seen before highs in load volumes.”

Even though volumes hit a record high in December 2013, January numbers surpassed them, increasing 43% from the previous month. And in comparison to January 2013, this year’s figures were 47% higher.

TransCore also reports that cross-border postings averaged 72 percent of total load volumes, and that they were 48% higher in January 2014 than they were in January 2013. Cross border loads originating in Canada and heading to the US were up the most with a 65% year-over-year increase in volumes, while US loads destined for Canada were up 42% year-over year. More loads came out of Illinois than any other state. Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin and Michigan rounded out the top five states of origin. TransCore notes that the inclusion of Wisconsin in this ranking is unusual.

Intra-Canada load volumes made up 23% of the total volume of January shipments. This movement represents a significant change from the same time last year as January 2014 numbers came in 40% higher than January 2013 figures.

The only negative registered was a slight one, and it came in equipment postings, which were down 1% from December 2013. The January results are the lowest in 13 months.

The equipment-to-load ratio declined from 1.97 in December to 1.36 in January. TransCore says, “This radical drop represented a 71 percent improvement month-over-month.” The company also reported the “combined Canadian and United States equipment-to-load ratio for cross-border and inter-Canadian postings had a notable drop from 1.27 to 0.88 which represented a 76 percent improvement. The combined data for Canadian and United States loads for January increased by 50 percent year-over-year.”