Nafta Truck Freight Value Declines in July
The value of U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico declined 8% in July as the freight value carried by trucks also decreased, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Sept. 29.
Truck freight value dipped 0.6% as total trade fell to $93 billion due in part to the reduced price of mineral fuel, according to BTS.
“A decline in the value of freight shipments does not necessarily mean there was a lower volume of freight transported,” BTS said in its report.
Trucks carried 63.9% of the trade among North American Free Trade Agreement partners, making them the most heavily used mode of moving goods to and from Canada and Mexico.
The decline in freight moved by trucks in July follows a 5.1% rise the prior month despite the recession in Canada, according to BTS.
Trucks transported $29.4 billion of exports and $30 billion of imports among the Nafta partners.
U.S.-Canada trade for the month by truck declined 6.2%, and rail dropped 19.2%. Trucks carried 57.5% of the $47.5 billion in freight to and from Canada.
Trade with Mexico by truck dipped 5.6% from last year and accounted for 70.6% of the $45.5 billion of freight moved to and from the country. Trucks transported $7.5 billion in electrical machinery to and from Mexico, more than any other commodity.
Nafta trade by pipeline dropped by 34.8% to $5.6 billion, and ship trade declined 26.3% to $7 billion.
