TORONTO, Ont. — The total cost of ground transportation for Canadian shippers increased 1.2% from February to March the Canadian General Freight Index (CGDI) indicated this week.

The base rate index, which excludes the impact of accessorial charges assessed by carriers, also increased by 0.5% in March, while average fuel surcharges assessed by carriers decreased this month. Fuel was 14.69 % of base rates in March versus 14.80% in February.

“Total freight costs increased, driven by strong increases in the domestic truckload costs,” said Doug Payne, president and COO of Nulogx. “Cross border and domestic LTL costs decreased while cross border truckload had a marginal increase. This is the third straight month that total costs have increased driven by the truckload costs.”