BTS Releases November 2014 North American Freight Numbers

BTS 05-15

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

 

BTS Releases November 2014 North American Freight Numbers

 

 

            U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $96.3 billion in November 2014 as two transportation modes – truck and pipeline – carried more U.S.-NAFTA freight than in November 2013, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) (Figure 1, Table 1). Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-NAFTA freight flows by all modes increased by 0.1 percent. The annual growth in the value of NAFTA trade slowed in November due in part to the reduced value of shipments of mineral fuels and of imported vehicles, parts, and electrical machinery.

 

Freight by Mode

In November 2014 compared to November 2013, the value of commodities moving by truck grew by the largest percentage of any mode, 1.4 percent, followed by pipeline freight which increased by 1.1 percent (Figure 1, Table 2). Rail freight decreased by 3.0 percent mainly due to reduced value of trade in vehicles and parts, vessel freight decreased by 3.3 percent mainly due to lower mineral fuel prices, and air freight decreased by 7.1 percent due to a decline in trade of precious stones, aircraft parts, and electrical machinery.

Of the $115 million increase in the value of U.S.-NAFTA freight from November 2013, a $787 million increase by truck and a $74 million increase by pipeline offset decreases by the other modes, air, vessel and rail.

            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 accounted for $29.9 billion of exports and $28.7 billion of imports.

 

Rail remained the second largest mode, moving 15.3 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 8.7 percent; pipeline, 6.8 percent; and air, 3.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 83.0 percent of the total U.S.-NAFTA freight flows (Table 2).

 

U.S.-Canada Freight

 

Year-over-year, U.S.-Canada freight moved by vessel was the only mode to show an increase, growing 0.2 percent (Figure 2). Freight moved by pipeline decreased 0.3 percent, and truck 1.5 percent. Rail freight decreased 5.2 percent due to a decline in trade of vehicles and auto parts, electrical machinery, and vegetable oils. Air freight decreased 5.6 percent due to a decline in trade of precious stones, aircraft parts, and electrical machinery.

 

Trucks carried 55.2 percent of the $52.4 billion of freight to and from Canada, followed by rail, 16.3 percent; pipeline, 11.8 percent; vessel, 5.7 percent and air, 4.5 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 83.3 percent of the total U.S.-Canada freight flows (Table 3).

 

U.S.-Mexico Freight

 

Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-Mexico pipeline freight rose 30.4 percent, the largest percentage increase of any mode, due to an increase in the volume of U.S. exports of mineral fuels. Pipeline freight remained 0.9 percent of total U.S.-Mexico freight value (Figure 3). Freight moved by truck increased 4.3 percent while rail rose 0.3 percent. Freight carried by vessel decreased 5.2 percent mainly due to lower mineral fuel prices and air declined 9.9 percent due to a decline in trade of electrical machinery and precious stones.

 

Trucks carried 67.6 percent of the $43.9 billion of freight to and from Mexico, followed by rail, 14.2 percent; vessel, 12.2 percent; air, 2.8 percent; and pipeline, 0.9 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.6 percent of the total U.S.-Mexico freight flows (Table 5).

 

Commodities

            In November 2014, the top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada was mineral fuels, of which $6.1 billion, or 57.7 percent, moved by pipeline (Table 4). The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Mexico in November 2014 was electrical machinery, of which $7.5 billion, or 92.7 percent, moved by trucks (Table 6).

 

Reporting Notes

Press releases and the BTS website define surface transportation modes as truck, rail and pipeline. See North American TransBorder Freight Data on the BTS website for additional data for surface modes since 1995 and all modes since 2004. The category of all modes of transportation cited in the following tables includes freight movements by truck, rail, vessel, pipeline, air, other and unknown modes of transport.     

           

Data in this press release are not adjusted for inflation. Additional summary data adjusted for inflation and exchange rates can be found on the BTS website under TransBorder Indexed Freight Flow Data. The BLS indexes used in the adjustments for inflation and exchange rates may be revised in each of the three months after original publication. For more information, see TransBorder Press Releases for previous press releases and summary tables. See TransBorder Freight Data for data from previous months, and more state, port, or commodity data. BTS has scheduled the release of December TransBorder numbers for Feb.26.

 

 

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows

(millions of current dollars)

Month	2012	2013	2014	Percent Change 2012-2013	Percent Change 2013-2014
January	87,383	90,766	90,326	3.9	-0.5
February	89,294	88,894	89,557	-0.4	0.7
March	99,726	95,757	101,478	-4.0	6.0
April	92,278	98,956	100,141	7.2	1.2
May	96,778	98,742	103,942	2.0	5.3
June	94,178	93,502	102,978	-0.7	10.1
July	87,815	93,080	101,075	6.0	8.6
August	94,847	96,426	100,624	1.7	4.4
September	89,809	94,465	102,245	5.2	8.2
October	98,612	103,140	108,243	4.6	4.9
November	94,927	96,136	96,252	1.3	0.1
December	84,766	90,906		7.2
Year-to-date	1,025,647	1,049,864	1,096,861	2.4	4.5
Annual	1,110,413	1,140,770		2.7

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTE: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

  

Table 2. Value of Monthly U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars)

Mode		November 2013	November 2014	Percent Change November 2013-2014
All Modes	Imports	51,109	50,949	-0.3
	Exports	45,027	45,303	0.6
	Total	96,136	96,252	0.1
All Surface Modes	Imports	43,255	43,529	0.6
	Exports	36,195	36,332	0.4
	Total	79,450	79,861	0.5
Truck	Imports	27,519	28,680	4.2
	Exports	30,260	29,887	-1.2
	Total	57,779	58,567	1.4
Rail	Imports	9,916	9,483	-4.4
	Exports	5,268	5,251	-0.3
	Total	15,184	14,734	-3.0
Pipeline	Imports	5,820	5,366	-7.8
	Exports	667	1,194	79.2
	Total	6,487	6,560	1.1
Vessel	Imports	4,721	4,547	-3.7
	Exports	3,921	3,807	-2.9
	Total	8,642	8,354	-3.3
Air	Imports	1,603	1,438	-10.3
	Exports	2,245	2,137	-4.8
	Total	3,848	3,575	-7.1

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.   Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, and other transportation.  For additional detail, please refer to the “Data Fields” section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/TransBorder/TBDR_DataFields.html

  

 

Table 3. Value of Monthly U.S.-Canada Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars)

Mode		November 2013	November 2014	Percent Change November 2013-2014
All Modes	Imports	27,387	26,778	-2.2
	Exports	25,724	25,580	-0.6
	Total	53,111	52,358	-1.4
All Surface Modes	Imports	23,768	23,229	-2.3
	Exports	20,737	20,365	-1.8
	Total	44,506	43,594	-2.0
Truck	Imports	11,786	12,024	2.0
	Exports	17,543	16,878	-3.8
	Total	29,329	28,902	-1.5
Rail	Imports	6,182	5,854	-5.3
	Exports	2,804	2,665	-5.0
	Total	8,987	8,519	-5.2
Pipeline	Imports	5,799	5,351	-7.7
	Exports	391	822	110.5
	Total	6,190	6,174	-0.3
Vessel	Imports	1,497	1,565	4.6
	Exports	1,509	1,445	-4.2
	Total	3,005	3,010	0.2
Air	Imports	993	941	-5.2
	Exports	1,502	1,415	-5.8
	Total	2,495	2,356	-5.6

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, and other transportation.  For additional detail, please refer to the “Data Fields” section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/TransBorder/TBDR_DataFields.html

 

 

Table 4. Top Commodity Transported between the U.S. and Canada for Each Mode of Transportation, November 2014

(millions of current dollars)

Mode	Commodities	Exports	Imports	Total
All Modes	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	2,597	8,043	10,639
Truck	Vehicles Other than Railway	3,103	2,455	5,559
Rail	Vehicles Other than Railway	852	2,520	3,371
Pipeline	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	805	5,335	6,139
Vessel	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	1,198	1,304	2,502
Air	Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	317	143	460

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTE: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.

 

 

Table 5. Value of Monthly U.S.-Mexico Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars)

Mode		November 2013	November 2014	Percent Change November 2013-2014
All Modes	Imports	23,722	24,171	1.9
	Exports	19,303	19,722	2.2
	Total	43,025	43,893	2.0
All Surface Modes	Imports	19,487	20,300	4.2
	Exports	15,457	15,966	3.3
	Total	34,944	36,267	3.8
Truck	Imports	15,733	16,656	5.9
	Exports	12,717	13,009	2.3
	Total	28,450	29,665	4.3
Rail	Imports	3,733	3,629	-2.8
	Exports	2,464	2,585	4.9
	Total	6,197	6,215	0.3
Pipeline	Imports	21	15	-28.7
	Exports	276	372	34.8
	Total	297	387	30.4
Vessel	Imports	3,224	2,981	-7.5
	Exports	2,413	2,362	-2.1
	Total	5,637	5,343	-5.2
Air	Imports	610	497	-18.6
	Exports	743	722	-2.8
	Total	1,353	1,219	-9.9

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, and other transportation.  For additional detail, please refer to the “Data Fields” section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/TransBorder/TBDR_DataFields.html

 

 

Table 6. Top Commodity Transported between the U.S. and Mexico for Each Mode of Transportation, November 2014

(millions of current dollars)

Mode	Commodities	Exports	Imports	Total
All Modes	Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	3,017	5,059	8,076
Truck	Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	2,699	4,789	7,488
Rail	Vehicles Other than Railway	628	2,689	3,317
Pipeline	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	372	15	387
Vessel	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	1,499	2,160	3,660
Air	Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	215	139	353

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTE: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.