“U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $100.6 billion in August 2014 as all five major transportation modes – air, vessel, pipeline, rail, and trucks – carried more U.S.-NAFTA freight than in August 2013, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). August was the sixth consecutive month with U.S.-NAFTA freight flows exceeding $100 billion.”
(Pictured above: Percent Change in Value of U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows by Mode: August 2013 – August 2014)
Freight by Mode
“In August, the value of commodities moving by vessel grew by the largest percentage of any mode, 11.7 percent. Pipeline freight increased 6.8 percent followed by a rail increase of 3.4 percent, a truck increase of 3.3 percent, and an air increase of 2.3 percent.”
“Of the $4.2 billion increase in the value of US-NAFTA freight from August 2013, truck freight contributed the most, $1.9 billion, followed by rail, $514 million. The trucking increase was due almost entirely to growth in truck freight with Mexico as U.S.-Canada truck trade remained almost unchanged.”
“Trucks carry three-fifths of U.S.-NAFTA freight and are the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks carried 59.6 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight in August 2014, accounting for $31.2 billion of exports and $28.8 billion of imports.”
>> Click here to read the entire release from the U.S. Department of Transportation