CGFI Rises 10% after 12th Consecutive Increase

CGFI Rises 10% after 12th Consecutive Increase and the Transcore spot market index saw a sizeable gain in March with a 24% increase from the month prior.

Results published by the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI) indicate that the cost of ground transportation for Canadian Shippers increased .8% in February when compared with January results. After the 12th consecutive monthly increase, the CGFI is now 10% above the March 2011 result.

The Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of Accessorial Charges assessed by carriers increased slightly in January, and is now .5% over the January result. Since March 2011, base rates reported by the CGFI have risen 4.4%.

Average Fuel Surcharges assessed by Carriers have increased from 18.79% of Base Rates in March 2011 to 20.42 % in February 2012.

TransCore’s spot market Canadian freight index saw a sizeable gain in March with volumes up 24% month-over-month, while the first two months of the year recorded only 1% gains. However, year-over-year volumes were down 18% from the unusual record-setting levels reached in March last year.

“Both the CGFI and TranCore Freight Index are reporting substantial increases in freight costs and activity overall ”  says Michelle Arseneau, Managing Partner at GX Transportation “this continues to put pressure on the transportation industry’s driver shortage”

Download the following charts as a PDF – Click Here.

This is a summary showing Total Freight Costs for over the road shipments starting in January 2008.
This chart depicts only General Freight  shipments and includes all accessorial and fuel surcharges.
It excludes specialty freight services, rail, air, ocean and courier shipments. Freight services paid in US currency have been translated into Canadian dollars based on the exchange rate applicable on the shipment date.

This chart shows the change in  Base Freight Costs since January 2008  for Canadian shippers.  The data presented is the same as the General Freight Index above, except that all costs associated with separately identified Fuel Surcharges and Other Accessorial charges has been removed from the analysis.

This chart shows the changing Fuel Surcharge rates paid by Canadian Shippers.  The Fuel Surcharge data shown is  expressed as a percentage of the overall Base Freight Cost paid by shippers in the study sample.