Three transportation modes – air, vessel and truck – carried less US freight by value with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico in October 2016 compared to October 2015 as total freight on all modes decreased 3.6 percent to $93.2 billion in current dollars, according to the annual TransBorder Freight Data released today by the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
The value of commodities moving by truck decreased 6.1 percent; vessel by 7.0 percent and air by 12.7 percent while the value of freight carried on pipeline and rail increased 21.8 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.
Trucks carried 65.3 percent of US-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both US-NAFTA partners. Trucks accounted for $31.9 billion of the $50.3 billion of imports (63.4 percent) and $29.0 billion of the $42.9 billion of exports (67.6 percent).
Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.8 percent of all US-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 5.4 percent; pipeline, 5.0 percent; and air, 3.8 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 86.0 percent of the total value of US-NAFTA freight flows.
From October 2015 to October 2016, the value of US-Canada freight flows fell 2.5 percent to $46.5 billion due to decreases in the value of goods moved by vessel (down 31.1 percent), air (down 8.8 percent) and truck (down 3.1 percent).
From October 2015 to October 2016, the value of US-Mexico freight flows fell 4.7 percent to $46.6 billion due to decreases in the value of goods moved by air (down 18.0 percent) and truck (down 8.5 percent). The value of freight carried on three modes increased: pipeline, by 23.6 percent; rail by 10.4 percent; and vessel by 6.9 percent.