Trucking’s Share of Nafta Trade Rose 4.5% Last Year
Trucks carried the largest amount of trade among North American Free Trade Partners last year, with trucking trade rising 4.5% from 2013 to $715 billion, the Department of Transportation reported.
Trucking’s percentage of total freight carried held at 59.9% year-over-year, accounting for $348.7 billion in imports and $365.9 billion in exports to and from Canada and Mexico, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said March 18.
Four of five transportation modes — truck, rail, pipeline, and vessels — carried more U.S. freight with the two Nafta partners by value last year, as the overall value of freight by all modes rose 4.5% to $1.2 trillion.
Bureau of Transportation StatisticsThe value of commodities moving by pipeline rose the most year-to-year, at 12.5%. Following trucks at 4.5%, rail increased 1.5 %, vessels edged up 0.2% and airfreight slipped 0.2%.
While trucking remained the dominant mode, its share has slipped by 3.7 percentage points since 2004 — the first year BTS compiled data for all modes — primarily due to greater use of pipelines, the agency said.
U.S.-Canada freight rose 3.8% last year. Trucks carried 53.8% of the $658.2 billion of freight to and from Canada, followed by rail at 15.8%, pipeline at 13.5%, vessel at 5.9% and air at 4.3%.
U.S.-Mexico freight rose by 5.5%. Trucks carried 67.5% of the $534.5 billion of freight to and from Mexico, followed by rail at 13.8%, vessel at 12.2%; air at 2.9% and pipeline at 0.9%.
