US-Nafta Freight Value Falls, Truck Shipments Off the Least
The value of U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico carried by truck declined by 1.5% in January, compared with a month earlier, and was the smallest decline among all modes, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported March 24.
The value of cross-border freight carried on all modes fell 7.7% to $82.4 billion year-over-year, reflecting in part the sharp drop in crude oil prices, according to BTS.
The value declines on other modes included: vessel off 37.3%, pipeline down 32.7%, air off 12.8% and rail down 3.5%, BTS said.
Once again, trucks proved to be the most heavily used mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-Nafta partners, and carried 66.5% of the freight, BTS said.
Trucks accounted for $28.4 billion of the $44.6 billion of imports, or 63.7%, and $26.4 billion of the $37.9 billion of exports, good for a 69.7% share, according to BTS.
Rail remained the second-largest mode by value, moving 15.2% of all U.S.-Nafta freight, it said.
Trucks also carried 60.5% of the value of the freight to and from Canada but the total was down 4% from January 2015 primarily because of a 9.3% decline in the value of U.S. exports to Canada by truck, according to BTS.
In addition, BTS reported trucks carried 72.6% of the value of freight to and from Mexico. The total was up from January because the 4% growth in U.S. imports by truck outweighed the decline in exports.
