Canada’s spot market is hot as freight volumes are “off the charts,” according to Loadlink Technologies.
Loads surged 154% year over year, marking the best January on record by an additional 14%. Shipments from Canada to the U.S. were nearly three times higher than a year ago.
Meanwhile capacity remains extremely tight, with just 0.93 trucks posted per load.
“Combining the current truck shortage with the huge surge in loads only compounds the capacity constraints,” says Claudia Milicevic, president of Loadlink Technologies. “Truck-to-load ratios are even lower than the record low capacity crunch that temporarily ensued following the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate in the U.S. close to five years ago.”
Cross-border loads into the U.S. jumped 281% year over year, while inbound cross-border loads were up 116%.
Domestic freight volumes remained strong, up 166% year over year. The truck-to-load ratio was down 23% from December’s 1.21, and 64% lower year over year when there were 2.57 trucks posted per load.
The shortage of trucks is particularly felt in the reefer segment, Loadlink reports, with the truck-to-load ratio falling from 0.9 in the first half of January to 0.57 in the second half – a decrease of 36%.