Spot market freight sets new records: TransCore

by James Menzies

TORONTO, Ont. – TransCore Link Logistics has reported Q4 Canadian and cross-border load volumes on its Loadlink board broke historical records, when compared to any previous quarter.

Fourth quarter load volumes were up 51% year-over-year, and 9% compared to the third quarter of 2017. December had the highest daily average of load postings compared to any month since Loadlink began recording data.

Highlights from a strong 2017 included: the highest load volumes were in December, and the lowest in February; December marked the second highest posted load volumes on record; since May, there were seven sequential months of record-breaking load volumes; the most significant y-o-y increases occurred in October and December, up 57% both months year-over-year; and total load volumes in 2017 were up an average of 45% compared to 2016.

Equipment postings were down in December, by 27% compared to November. The truck to load ratio in December tightened more than in any of the previous months. At the beginning of the year, there were two trucks for each load posted to Loadlink. In December, it reached a near one-to-one ratio.


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  • There were quite a number of Canadian carriers and freight brokers who responded to a recent Canadian Trucking Industry Insight Survey that they were able to leverage the higher load volumes in 2017. In the midst of all the uncertainty surrounding ELDs, fuel prices, NAFTA and driver shortages, it’s nice to hear optimism from industry participants.

    I also wanted to send a kudos to all of our industry ambassadors like Truck News, and individuals like Margaret Hogg, Bruce Outridge, Guy Broderick, Joanne Mackenzie and so many others who champion spreading the good news about our industry. Canadian trucking rocks!

  • I have experienced where several carrier’s accepted loads at an agreed rate then ultimately bailed out leaving me vulnerable to replacing the carrier at a much higher price. This had even resulted in subsidizing the price I had quoted.
    I have complained to TransCore requesting they remove carriers from listing their availability on the load board – Transcore refused to do so.
    I beleive Transcore should have an ” Unsatisfied fund ” funded by carriers to protect brokers and keep them whole. In 2017 I have have lost approx $ 900 in margin due to these occurrences – and that is because of carriers I discoverded from the load board.

    I would appreciate a response.