Two transportation modes – rail and truck – carried more US freight by value with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico in February 2016 than in February 2015. However, the total value of cross-border freight carried on all modes fell 2.0 percent from February 2015 to $84.0 billion in February 2016 in current dollars, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
The value of commodities moving by rail increased 6.0 percent, the largest increase from 2015 to 2016 of any mode. The 6.0 percent year-over-year growth in the value of rail freight is largely due to an increase in imports of vehicles and parts, the largest commodity carried by rail. The value of commodities moved on trucks increased by 4.7 percent from 2015 to 2016. The value of freight on other modes declined: air 1.7 percent; pipeline 35.6 percent; and vessel 41.0 percent.
Trucks carried 67.4 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 $29.3 billion of the $45.0 billion of imports (65.1 percent) and $27.3 billion of the $39.0 billion of exports (70.0 percent).
Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.6 percent of all US-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 4.3 percent; pipeline, 4.0 percent; and air, 3.8 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 87.0 percent of the total value of US-NAFTA freight flows.
From February 2015 to February 2016, the value of US-Canada freight flows fell 5.5 percent to $42.6 billion even as two modes of transportation – rail and truck – carried a higher value of US-Canada freight than a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the value of US-Mexico freight grew 2.0 percent to $41.4 billion as three out of the five transportation modes – truck, rail, and air – carried more US-Mexico freight value than in February 2015. Freight carried by truck increased 7.7 percent. Rail freight value rose 4.7 percent while air freight value increased 1.2 percent. Vessel freight value decreased by 37.4 percent, while pipeline freight value dropped by 11.9 percent, both due mainly to lower crude oil prices.
In February 2016, the top commodity category transported between the US and Canada by all modes was vehicles and parts, of which $4.9 billion, or 56.2 percent, moved by truck and $3.6 billion, or 41.5 percent, moved by rail. The top commodity category transported between the US and Mexico by all modes in February 2016 was vehicles and parts, of which $3.5 billion, or 44.7 percent, moved by rail.