Domestic TruckloadResults published today by the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI) indicate that the cost of ground transportation for Canadian Shippers dropped for the third consecutive month in December, while Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers continued to rise.
The CGFI Total Freight Cost Index decreased by 1.6% in December compared to November, while the Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers, decreased 2.5%.  The CGFI is still 2.9% above the April low point and 1.5% above last year’s result for the same period.
Notably, average Fuel Surcharges increased substantially for the third consecutive month from their September low of 13.0% to 15.7% in December.
“In December we continued to see the cooling off of the Domestic Truck Load sector,” comments Doug Payne, President & COO Nulogx.  “However this was offset somewhat by a sustained increase in Fuel Surcharges and a surprisingly strong Domestic LTL result,” adds Payne.
According to Alan Saipe, President of Supply Chain Surveys, “While the price increases seen in the Domestic Truckload sector earlier in the year did not take, we are expecting that carriers will try again for rate increases in early 2011.”