TORONTO — Newly released figures by the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI) indicate that the total cost of ground transportation for Canadian shippers increased by 0.3 percent in June from May, the second consecutive monthly increase.

When compared to June 2014, the index is 7.1 percent higher, up from May’s year-over-year gain of 4.86 percent and is the biggest year-over-year increase so far in 2015. The measure includes all accessorial and fuel surcharges, but excludes specialty freight services, rail, air, ocean and courier.

“Cross border less-than-truckload (LTL) freight costs continue to increase this month. Although there were slight increases in cross border truckload freight costs, these were mostly offset by decreases in the LTL and truckload domestic costs,” said Doug Payne, president and chief operating officer of Nulogx, a transportation management system provider that provides analysis of the report.

The breakdown also showed the base rates in June, which exclude accessorial charges assessed by carriers, increased an average of 1 percent when compared to May and gained 11.8 percent versus the same time a year earlier.

Average fuel surcharges assessed by carriers increased in June. Fuel was 15.56% of base rates for the month versus 15.46 percent in May, an increase of 0.6 percent, but is 27.9 percent lower than compared to June 2014, its biggest year-over-year drop so far this year.