TORONTO, Ont.  – Canadian spot market saw improvement as the summer season concluded with increased load volumes, TransCore Link Logistics said in a report published Monday.

“Capacity contracted slightly due to a minor bump in load volumes aided by a small decline in truck volumes,” the report said.

“The change in load volumes from July constituted the smallest month-over-month change so far in 2019, offering some potential short-term stability.”

Daily volumes in the month remained relatively consistent, barring a boost at the end of the month.

“This could have coincided with the long weekend, some last-minute back-to-school shipments, as well as from emergency relief supplies in preparation for hurricane Dorian,” TranScore said.

Cross-border freight movement

Contrary to July, intra-Canadian freight postings remained relatively unchanged, the report said.

On the other hand, outbound cross-border freight to the U.S. jumped 27% over the month, while inbound cross-border freight from the U.S. fell by 11%. This resulted in an overall 3% increase in cross-border freight movement.

Equipment performance

August’s equipment numbers decreased 5% while daily average number of truck postings dipped under 1%.

“This decline was mostly due to a 12% decrease in outbound cross-border trucks to the U.S. and a 6% decrease in intra-Canada truck postings,” the report said.

Truck-to-load ratio

The truck-to-load ratio in August contracted downwards to a value of 3.88, a 7% decrease from July’s decade-high ratio of 4.16, it said.