The value of US-NAFTA freight totaled $93.5 billion as all five major transportation modes carried more freight by value with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico in December 2017 compared to December 2016, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
The 7.4 percent rise from December 2016 is the 14th consecutive month in which the year-over-year value in current dollars of US-NAFTA freight increased from the same month of the previous year.
The value of commodities moving by vessel increased 37.8 percent, pipeline by 14.2 percent, truck by 5.4 percent, air by 4.1 percent, and rail by 2.8 percent. The large percentage increase in the value of goods moving by vessel is due in part to a 11.4 percent year-over-year crude oil price increase, and a 22.2 percent increase in the tonnage of mineral fuels transported by vessel.
Trucks carried 60.7 percent of US-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most utilized mode for moving goods to and from both US-NAFTA partners. Trucks accounted for $29.0 billion of the $50.5 billion of imports (57.4 percent) and $27.8 billion of the $43.0 billion of exports (64.6 percent).
Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 14.5 percent of all US-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 8.4 percent; pipeline, 6.5 percent; and air, 4.1 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 81.7 percent of the total value of US-NAFTA freight flows.
Comparing December 2016 to December 2017, the value of US-Canada freight flows increased by 9.5 percent to $48.7 billion as the value of freight on all five major modes increased from a year earlier. In December 2017, the top commodity category transported between the US and Canada was mineral fuels, of which $5.6 billion, or 61.7 percent, moved by pipeline and $2.1 billion, or 23.0 percent by vessel.
Comparing December 2016 to December 2017, the value of US-Mexico freight flows increased by 5.2 percent to $44.8 billion as the value of freight on three major modes increased from a year earlier. The top commodity category transported between the US and Mexico in December 2017 was vehicles and parts, of which $3.7 billion, or 45.0 percent, moved by truck, and $3.4 billion, or 41.4 percent, moved by rail.