Results published today by the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI) indicate that after several months of steady increases, the cost of ground transportation for Canadian Shippers dropped slightly in October.

The CGFI Total Freight Cost Index decreased by .8% in October compared to September, while the Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers, decreased .92%.  The CGFI is still 7.5% above the April low point and 5.3% above last year’s result for the same period.

Notably, average Fuel Surcharges increased by 6% to 13.77% of Base Rates when compared to September results.  Fuel surcharges increased for the first time in 5 months, and are beginning to reflect the higher cost of diesel fuel for trucking companies.

“We are just starting to see the impact that higher fuel prices will have on shippers and trucking companies, and we expect to monitor this trend through the winter months” comments Doug Payne, President & COO of Nulogx.  “As for the slight decline in Base Rates, this is not unexpected given the consecutive monthly increases we have seen since last April,” adds Payne.

For full details on the CGFI please visit: www.cgfi.ca

Results published today by the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI) indicate that the cost of ground transportation for Canadian Shippers increased slightly during the first 6 months of 2010.

Overall Freight Costs increased by 1.8% from December 2009 to June 2010. Base Rates, which exclude the impact of Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers, also increased by 2.2%. Average Fuel Surcharges decreased marginally from 14.7% of base rates to 13.4% which buffered the effect of the increasing Base Rates.

In addition, overall freight costs for June trended upward, increasing 1.9% when compared to May and 3.2% compared to April.

To register to receive the CGFI results – click here.

According to Dr. Alan Saipe, President, Supply Chain Surveys Inc.”"While rates continued to trend downward in the first quarter of 2010, we have seen two successive months of increases, which may indicate that we reached bottom in April although it is still too early to know for sure”.

“Most of the increases are  in the Domestic Truckload sector,” says Doug Payne, President of Nulogx, “If fleet operators have eliminated their excess capacity  they may now be looking to secure price increases in this more volatile market segment.”