According to a report today from the US Department of Transportation, the value of commodities moving by rail and air increased 8.0 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, in September while the value of freight carried on other modes decreased: truck, 3.8 percent; pipeline, 5.2 percent and vessel, 6.8 percent.
Trucks carried 64.7 percent of US-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both US-NAFTA partners in September. Trucks accounted for $30.1 billion of the $48.8 billion of imports (61.7 percent) and $28.9 billion of the $42.4 billion of exports (68.1 percent).
Rail remained the second largest mode by value in September, moving 15.9 percent of all US-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 5.4 percent; pipeline, 4.9 percent; and air, 4.1 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 85.5 percent of the total value of US-NAFTA freight flows.
From September 2015 to September 2016, the value of US-Canada freight flows fell 4.4 percent to $46.2 billion mainly due to decreases in the value of goods moved by vessel and pipeline. All modes of transportation except rail carried a lower value of US-Canada freight than a year earlier.
The value of US-Mexico freight during the same period decreased 0.04 percent to $44.9 billion despite four modes of transportation – pipeline, rail, air, and vessel – carrying a higher value of US-Mexico freight than a year earlier. Truck, which accounts for 69.9 percent of the value of freight to and from Mexico, was down 4.0 percent. Freight carried by pipeline increased by 15.3 percent, rail by 12.9 percent, air by 10.9 percent, and vessel by 7.1 percent.
In September 2016, the top commodity category transported between the US and Canada by all modes was vehicles and parts, of which $5.2 billion, or 55.9 percent, moved by truck and $3.9 billion, or 41.8 percent, moved by rail. The top commodity category transported between the US and Mexico by all modes in September 2016 was electrical machinery, of which $7.4 billion, or 81.8 percent, moved by truck.