All five major transportation modes – truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air – carried more US freight with Canada and Mexico by value in 2017 than in 2016, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The total freight value in 2017 reached $1.139 trillion, up 6.6 percent from 2016.
The share of the value of freight moved by vessel rose by 1.2 percent and the pipeline share increased by 1.1 percent from 2016 to 2017. A 17.3 percent increase in the year-over-year price of crude oil in 2017 played a key role in the annual increases in the dollar value of goods shipped by pipeline (up 31.3 percent) and vessel (up 29.6 percent). As a result of the vessel and pipeline increases, the share of freight moved on other modes declined: air by 0.1 percent, rail by 0.2, and truck by 2.2 percent.
Trucks continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both Canada and Mexico, carrying 63.3 percent of the freight transported. Despite a 2.2 percentage point decrease from 2016 in the share carried, trucks accounted for $720.8 billion of the $1.1 trillion in freight flows with Canada and Mexico in 2017.
Rail remained the second largest mode, moving $174.1 billion or 15.3 percent, followed by vessel, 6.6 percent; pipeline, 5.7 percent; and air, 3.8 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail, and pipeline combined carried 84.3 percent of the total value.
Trucks carried 60.2 percent of the $614.0 billion of goods imported from Canada and Mexico in 2017, followed by rail, 18.5 percent; pipeline, 8.4 percent; vessel, 6.4 percent; and air, 3.1 percent. Trucks carried 66.8 percent of the $525.5 billion of goods exported to Canada and Mexico, followed by rail, 11.5 percent; vessel, 6.9 percent; air, 4.8 percent; and pipeline, 2.6 percent.
From 2016 to 2017, the value of US-Canada freight flows increased 7.1 percent to $582.4 billion. Trucks carried 57.7 percent of the value of the freight, followed by rail, 16.2 percent; pipeline, 10.6 percent; vessel, 3.9 percent; and air, 4.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail, and pipeline combined carried 84.5 percent of the value.
The top commodity category transported between the US and Canada in 2017 was vehicles and parts valued at $107.4 billion with $60.7 billion or 56.5 percent moved by truck and $43.7 billion or 40.7 percent moved by rail.
From 2016 to 2017, the value of US-Mexico freight flows increased 6.1 percent to $557.0 billion. Trucks carried 69.1 percent of the value of the freight, followed by rail, 14.4 percent; vessel, 9.5 percent; air, 3.0 percent; and pipeline, 0.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail, and pipeline combined carried 84.1 percent of the value.
The top commodity transported between the US and Mexico in 2017 was vehicles and parts at $104.8 billion, with $48.9 billion or 46.7 percent moved by truck, and $44.7 billion or 42.7 percent moved by rail.