August was the first month since December 2014 where the total value of US freight with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico increased from the same month of the previous year, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
Two transportation modes – air and truck – carried more cross-border freight by value in August 2016 compared to August 2015, resulting in a 0.7 percent increase to $93.1 billion in the total current dollar value of freight moved.
The value of commodities moving by air and truck increased 4.9 percent and 3.4 percent respectively, while the value of freight carried on other modes decreased: rail by 0.3 percent; pipeline by 4.5 percent and vessel by 12.5 percent.
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 $31.2 billion of the $49.7 billion of imports (62.8 percent) and $29.6 billion of the $43.4 billion of exports (68.3 percent).
Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.3 percent of all US-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 5.8 percent; pipeline, 5.1 percent; and air, 3.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 85.7 percent of the total value of US-NAFTA freight flows.
From August 2015 to August 2016, the total value of US-Canada freight fell to $47.3 billion, down 1.4 percent from a year earlier, due to decreases in the value of goods moved by vessel and pipeline.
From August 2015 to August 2016, the value of US-Mexico freight increased 3.0 percent to $45.8 billion as three modes of transportation – pipeline, truck and air – carried a higher value of US-Mexico freight than a year earlier.
In August 2016, the top commodity category transported between the US and Canada by all modes was vehicles and parts, of which $5.2 billion, or 55.1 percent, moved by truck and $4.0 billion, or 42.5 percent, moved by rail. The top commodity category transported between the US and Mexico by all modes in August 2016 was electrical machinery, of which $7.4 billion, or 79.5 percent, moved by truck.