TransCore’s Canadian freight volumes skyrocket in January

March 5, 2014

TransCore Link Logistics Canadian Freight Index opened the New Year with never seen before highs in load volumes. After closing last year setting a record high for December, January volumes climbed sharply by 43% month-over-month, marking its volumes the highest ever recorded for the month of January in any year.

January’s year-over-year increase set the stage for the year by an astonishing 47%, beating last January’s historic highs. January also had radical results displayed throughout all measurements for the month which includes all domestic, cross-border and interstate data submitted by Loadlink’s Canadian-based customers.

Cross-border postings averaged 72% of total load volumes. Cross-border loads increased by 48% from January 2013.

Cross-border loads originating in Canada destined to the United States realized the biggest gains with a 65% year-over-year increase in volumes. Cross-border loads originating in the United States destined for provinces within Canada climbed by 42% year-over-year.

The top five states of origin for loads destined to Canada ordered from highest to lowest total loads were Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin (not normally seen in the top five) and Michigan.

Intra-Canada load volumes represented 23% of the total volumes for January and increased considerably by 40% compared to the same period last year.

Equipment postings were relatively flat for January with a one percent decrease compared to December 2013 and were the lowest numbers seen in 13 months. The equipment-to-load ratio displayed flattering numbers with a noteworthy decline in January to 1.36 from 1.97 in the previous month. This radical drop represented a 71% improvement month-over-month.

Interestingly, the combined Canadian and US equipment-to-load ratio for cross-border and inter-Canadian postings had a notable drop from 1.27 to 0.88 which represented a 76% improvement. The combined data for Canadian and US loads for January increased by 50% year-over-year.