BTS Releases May North American Freight Numbers

BTS 36-13
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Contact: Dave Smallen
Tel: 202-366-5568 

BTS Releases May North American Freight Numbers
Trucks Transported 60.8% of U.S.-NAFTA Trade in May 2013 

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation today released May North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) freight numbers showing that trucks carried 60.8 percent of the $98.6 billion of freight moved in May 2013 between the United States and its NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico. Trucks were followed by rail at 15.1 percent, vessels at 8.6 percent, pipelines at 6.8 percent and air at 3.9 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.7 percent of the total NAFTA freight flows. 

BTS, a part of the Department’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that in May, for freight flows with Canada, trucks carried 55.2 percent of the $54.8 billion of the freight, followed by rail at 16.5 percent, pipelines at 11.4 percent, vessels at 6.4 percent and air at 4.6 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 83.2 percent of the total U.S.-Canada freight flows. 

            For freight flows with Mexico in May, trucks carried 67.8 percent of the $43.8 billion of the freight, followed by rail at 13.4 percent, vessel at 11.4 percent, air at 3.0 percent and pipelines at 0.9 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.1 percent of the total U.S.-Mexico freight flows. 

Beginning with January 2013, BTS monthly TransBorder press releases contain data for all modes of transportation. Press releases and the BTS website now define surface transportation modes as truck, rail and pipeline. Data on surface modes can be found in Figure 3 and in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 7. 

The value of goods moving between the U.S. and its NAFTA partners by all modes of transportation increased 1.8 percent from May 2012 and rose 77.5 percent from May 2009. Data in this press release are not adjusted for inflation, except for the monthly totals illustrated in Figure 2 for comparison.

See BTS Transborder Data Release for summary tables, state rankings and additional data. See North American Transborder Freight Data  on the BTS website for additional data for surface modes since 1995 and all modes since 2004.           

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