Spot Freight Market Rebounds, Best in Three Months

TORONTO – A measure of the spot freight market closed out September on an up note, following two consecutive months of disappointing load volume.

The TransCore Link Logistics Canadian Freight Index picked up modestly with load volume increasing 7 percent from the month before but was still down 25 percent compared the same time last year.

This put the index at 210 for September, its best reading since June when it registered 263 but still way below 279 in September 2014.

The third quarter saw load volume fall off compared to the previous quarters, declining 22 percent from the second quarter and 28 percent compared to the same period last year, based on activity from the company’s Loadlink load boards.

In the cross-border market, which represents just over two-thirds of the loads posted by Loadlinks’s Canadian-based customers, inbound freight decreased 40 percent and outbound loads fell 8 percent year-over-year. Inbound trucks jumped 39 percent and outbound equipment availability increased 20 percent during the same time frame.

Of the cross-boarder loads heading into Canada, 59 percent were destined for Ontario, 20 percent for the Western Provinces, 19 percent for Quebec and 2 percent for the Atlantic Provinces.

Intra-Canada load volumes represented 28 percent of the total volume and slipped 19 percent year-over-year.

Overall equipment capacity increased in September by 2 percent month-over-month and by 29 percent year-over-year. The equipment-to-load ratio declined to 3.29 from 3.47 in August. Year-over-year, this ratio increased 72 percent from 1.92 in September 2014.

TransCore’s Canadian Freight Index measures trends from roughly 5,000 of Canada’s trucking companies and freight brokers, and includes all domestic, cross-border and interstate data submitted by Loadlink’s customers. 


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