Three of the five transportation modes carried more US-NAFTA trade in August 2013 than in August 2012 as the value of overall US trade with its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico, rose 2.0 percent from year to year, according to the August NAFTA freight data released Thursday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the US Department of Transportation.
BTS, a part of the Department's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that pipelines showed the most year-to-year growth at 18.2 percent. The increase in the value of freight carried by pipelines reflects the rise in prices for oil and other petroleum products, the primary commodity transported by pipelines.
Truck, which carries three-fifths of US-NAFTA trade and is the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both US-NAFTA partners, rose 0.7 percent while rail rose 3.0 percent. Vessel declined 2.6 percent and air 2.4 percent.
Trucks carried 59.9 percent of the $96.5 billion of US-NAFTA trade in August 2013 accounting for $30.3 billion of exports and $27.5 billion of imports. Trucks were followed by rail at 15.6 percent, vessels at 8.5 percent, pipeline at 7.4 percent and air at 3.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.9 percent of the total NAFTA freight flows.
For trade with Canada in August, trucks carried 54.6 percent of the $53.4 billion of the freight, followed by rail at 16.7 percent, pipelines at 12.8 percent, vessel at 5.0 percent and air at 4.5 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 84.1 percent of the total US-Canada freight flows.
For trade with Mexico in August, trucks carried 66.3 percent of the $43.2 billion of the freight, followed by rail at 14.3 percent, vessel at 12.8 percent, air at 2.8 percent and pipelines at 0.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 81.3 percent of the total US-Mexico freight flows.