Loadlink’s load volumes saw a slight uptick and capacity lessening for the month.
TORONTO – TransCore Link Logistics’ Canadian spot market saw improvement as the summer season concluded with increased load volumes. Capacity contracted slightly due to a minor bump in load volumes aided by a small decline in truck volumes. 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.
Hurricane-related at-risk markets in Florida and parts of Georgia saw average inbound load volumes increase 37 percent in the days preceding the storm reaching the coast of the United States. Average inbound truck volumes dropped eight percent, as carriers may have wanted to avoid positioning equipment in these areas prior to the hurricane.
Cross-Border Freight Movement
Contrary to July, intra-Canadian freight postings remained relatively unchanged. On the other hand, outbound cross-border freight to the U.S. jumped 27 percent over the month, while inbound cross-border freight from the U.S. fell by 11 percent. This resulted in an overall three percent increase in cross-border freight movement.
Equipment Performance
August’s equipment numbers decreased five percent, while daily average number of truck postings dipped under one percent. This decline was mostly due to a 12 percent decrease in outbound cross-border trucks to the U.S. and a six percent decrease in intra-Canada truck postings.
Truck-to-Load Ratio
The truck-to-load ratio in August contracted downwards to a value of 3.88, a seven percent decrease from July’s decade-high ratio of 4.16.
About TransCore Indexes
Truckload spot rates in specific areas can be accessed from TransCore’s Rate Index truckload rating tool, and real-time and historical data on total truck and load volumes, as well as ratios in specific areas can be accessed from TransCore’s Posting Index.
TransCore’s Canadian Freight Index accurately measures trends in the truckload freight spot market. The components of the Freight Index are comprised from roughly 6,500 of Canada’s trucking companies and freight brokers; this data includes all domestic, cross-border and interstate data submitted by Loadlink customers.
About TransCore Link Logistics
Looking for a better way to match available freight loads with trucks, TransCore Link Logistics in 1990 developed Loadlink, a load board connecting brokers, carriers, owner operators and private fleets in Canada to a real-time database of 18 million loads, shipments and trucks – the largest in the industry. The monthly Canadian Freight Index now defines the freight movement spot market. The company also provides its customers with dispatch solutions, ACE/ACI eManifest, Posting Index, Rate Index, credit solutions, factoring, an online transportation job board, mileage software and more.
More information on TransCore Link Logistics can be found at www.transcore.ca, @loadlink on Twitter, on YouTube, on Facebook and on LinkedIn.