A new general freight index specific to the Canadian marketplace published by Nulogx shows a fascinating story about how freight costs fared while the economy was working its way into recession. Dr. Alan Saipe, president of Supply Chain Surveys, is reviewing the index monthly for validity. He explains that in the first seven months of 2008 general freight costs for shippers rose 14.4%, driven up by increases in both freight rates and fuel surcharges. From January to July rates increased 7.3% while average fuel surcharges rose by nearly 44%. Then the realities of the slowing economy in both Canada and the US began to take over. In August average fuel surcharges started to fall, tracing the decline in the cost of crude oil. At the same time freight rates leveled off as the economy weakened, and then notched up for the start of 2009. The combined result brought total freight costs steadily down from their peak in mid-2008. The index has fallen 13.4% since July 08. In fact, in May 09 ground transportation cost less than it did in January 08.

The Canadian General Freight Index focuses on TL and LTL shipments, both domestic and cross-border. It comes from analysing Nulogx’s database of more than $750 million of freight transactions each year. More information is available at www.cqfi.ca.

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Canadian General Freight Index