TransBorder Freight Annual Report 2024

 

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) compiled the dollar value of commodities that moved across the United States’ land borders with Canada and Mexico by mode of transportation in 2024. Manufacturing and logistics sectors across North America are linked and interdependent. America’s land borders with Canada and Mexico are economically vital conduits for North American supply chains, with nearly $3.5 billion in daily cross-border freight shipments. Besides oil and energy products, automobiles, and electronics, Canada and Mexico are also America’s largest trade partners in agricultural goods.

U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico consistently facilitate over $1 trillion in cross-border trade annually. To put things in perspective, in 2024 the value of total U.S.-international trade was $5.3 trillion, of which U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico comprised 30.0 percent. In 2024, U.S. freight flows with Canada and Mexico equaled $1.6 trillion dollars, a 1.8% increase over 2023. 

Surface modes of transportation (truck + rail) lead North American commerce, together accounting for 77.1% of all freight flows by dollar value in 2024. Trucking continues to be the dominant form of freight transportation in North America, accounting for 55.5% of total flows with Canada and 72.5% with Mexico. Rail was second place with 13.8% with Canada and 11.7% with Mexico.

 

Table 1a.  Value of Monthly U.S.-North American Freight Flows
(USD Millions)

Month	2021	2022	2023	2024	Percent Change       2021-2024
January	94,284	113,707	125,783	124,177	31.7
February	95,860	112,459	119,919	128,916	34.5
March	114,587	141,850	141,472	133,540	16.5
April	107,369	135,255	126,573	137,996	28.5
May	108,646	139,439	136,241	138,924	27.9
June	115,955	141,238	134,795	134,229	15.8
July	111,270	132,559	127,052	134,156	20.6
August	113,075	140,339	138,015	136,726	20.9
September	109,220	133,934	131,816	136,271	24.8
October	117,417	133,756	138,501	138,889	18.3
November	120,094	125,826	131,020	130,976	9.1
December	117,548	121,668	121,586	126,292	7.4
Annual	1,325,325	1,572,031	1,572,774	1,601,091	20.8

Note: Totals includes mail and other.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr
 

Table 1b.  Modal Percent Value of U.S.  Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico: 2024
USD Actual

Mode	U.S.-Canada Freight	Modal percent	U.S.-Mexico Freight	Modal percent	U.S.-Canada/Mexico Combined Freight	Total freight modal percent
Total	761,199,136,085	100.0%	839,891,957,628	100.0%	1,601,091,093,713	100.0%
Truck	422,798,198,587	55.5%	609,009,458,647	72.5%	1,031,807,657,234	64.4%
Rail	104,842,208,703	13.8%	98,251,163,890	11.7%	203,093,372,593	12.7%
Vessel	38,366,978,459	5.0%	81,730,021,474	9.7%	120,096,999,933	7.5%
Pipeline	100,862,007,475	13.3%	5,742,347,610	0.7%	106,604,355,085	6.7%
Other (including unknown)	55,221,818,747	7.3%	17,028,588,740	2.0%	72,250,407,487	4.5%
Air	34,615,154,875	4.5%	21,530,855,386	2.6%	56,146,010,261	3.5%
Imports into Foreign Trade Zones	4,465,611,416	0.6%	6,597,038,822	0.8%	11,062,650,238	0.7%
Mail	27,157,823	0.0%	2,483,059	0.0%	29,640,882	0.0%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

Table 2: Value of U.S. Freight with Canada and Mexico as a Percentage of Total U.S. Trade: 2019 - 2024
USD Actual

Year	U.S.-Canada Freight	U.S.-Mexico Freight	U.S.-North America Combined	U.S.-Int'l Freight	Percent of Total	Year-over-year change
2019	612,117,585,003	614,500,090,695	1,226,617,675,698	4,137,639,906,375	29.6
2020	525,531,097,628	538,066,059,696	1,063,597,157,324	3,761,472,584,841	28.3	-13.3
2021	664,160,506,749	661,164,319,325	1,325,324,826,074	4,586,259,225,321	28.9	24.6
2022	792,722,458,974	779,307,814,494	1,572,030,273,468	5,306,326,672,111	29.6	18.6
2023	773,938,974,684	798,834,655,096	1,572,773,629,780	5,098,229,579,346	30.8	0.0
2024	761,199,136,085	839,891,957,628	1,601,091,093,713	5,331,905,478,186	30.0	1.8

Sources: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr
 

 

Figure 1.  U.S. Freight with Canada and Mexico as Percent of Total U.S. Trade (USD): 2019 - 2024

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

U.S.-North American Freight Points

• Total transborder freight: $1.6 trillion of transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation, 1.8% change compared to 2023
• Freight between the U.S. and Canada: $761.2 billion, down 1.6% from 2023
• Freight between the U.S. and Mexico: $839.9 billion, up 5.1% from 2023
• Trucks moved $1.0 trillion of freight, up 3.6% compared to 2023
• Railways moved $203.1 billion of freight, down 2.9% compared to 2023
• Vessels moved $120.1 billion of freight, down 4.9% compared to 2023
• Pipelines moved $106.6 billion of freight, down 5.3% compared to 2023
• Air moved $56.1 billion of freight, down 1.7% compared to 2023
• Vessel and pipeline freight decreased due to the lower dollar value of mineral fuels

 

Figure 2.  Value of U.S. Trade with Canada and Mexico by Mode (USD): 2019 – 2024

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

Table 3a: U.S.-Canada Freight by Truck: 2024

Top 10 Ports	% Export	% Import	% of Total	Value ($M)	YOY Change
Detroit - Michigan	57.2	42.8	27.0%	114,145,716,114	-10.1%
Port Huron - Michigan	50.4	49.6	18.6%	78,473,543,263	10.0%
Buffalo-Niagara Falls - New York	54.5	45.5	17.1%	72,330,312,875	-2.7%
Pembina - North Dakota	59.5	40.5	5.7%	24,103,142,985	-4.3%
Champlain-Rouses Point - New York	42.1	57.9	5.3%	22,284,678,573	-4.1%
Blaine - Washington	56.2	43.8	4.7%	19,961,713,363	-4.9%
Alexandria Bay - New York	44.3	55.7	4.2%	17,572,613,174	-9.8%
Sweetgrass - Montana	48.7	51.3	3.6%	15,108,167,202	-4.5%
Portal - North Dakota	67.8	32.2	3.1%	13,256,177,004	5.5%
Low-Valued Imports And Exports	100.0	0.0	1.5%	6,405,757,736	-21.9%
Top 10 Truck Commodities	% Export	% Import	% of Total	Value ($M)	YOY Change
Computer-Related Machinery and Parts	62.7	37.3	16.5%	69,813,320,144	-3.9%
Vehicles Other than Railway	52.3	47.7	13.9%	58,845,733,823	-9.7%
Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	69.7	30.3	7.1%	29,965,652,066	1.3%
Plastics and Articles	51.3	48.7	4.9%	20,705,094,881	0.2%
Special Classification Provisions	33.7	66.3	4.7%	19,967,674,729	-11.8%
Pearls; Stones; Metals and Imitation Jewelry	47.1	52.9	3.1%	13,117,650,694	-13.0%
Pharmaceutical Products	54.1	45.9	2.6%	10,967,114,379	5.1%
Paper and Paperboard	46.0	54.0	2.5%	10,487,675,978	3.6%
Articles of Iron and Steel	49.7	50.3	2.3%	9,932,998,781	-9.0%
Preparations of Cereals and Flour	31.1	68.9	2.3%	9,801,430,480	4.5%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

Table 3b: U.S.-Mexico Freight by Truck: 2024

Top 10 Ports	% Export	% Import	% of Total	Value ($M)	YOY Change
Laredo - Texas	38.1	61.9	46.3%	281,973,460,240	8.2%
Ysleta Port of Entry	34.8	65.2	13.7%	83,383,147,095	13.6%
Otay Mesa - California	38.7	61.3	10.0%	60,938,705,561	2.8%
Hidalgo - Texas	30.9	69.1	7.0%	42,579,251,859	1.5%
Santa Teresa - New Mexico	41.4	58.6	6.4%	38,809,651,186	44.9%
Nogales - Arizona	35.7	64.3	4.1%	25,040,661,426	10.2%
Calexico-East - California	39.5	60.5	3.6%	21,899,361,724	1.6%
Brownsville - Texas	49.3	50.7	2.6%	15,988,979,267	-10.3%
Eagle Pass - Texas	45.1	54.9	1.8%	10,999,497,676	6.2%
El Paso - Texas	78.6	21.4	1.7%	10,394,584,344	2.0%
Top 10 Truck Commodities	% Export	% Import	% of Total	Value ($M)	YOY Change
Computer-Related Machinery and Parts	32.4	67.6	23.7%	144,166,007,146	29.3%
Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	38.4	61.6	21.9%	133,308,402,511	5.8%
Vehicles Other than Railway	23.9	76.1	14.0%	85,179,576,388	2.3%
Measuring and Testing Instruments	32.7	67.3	5.2%	31,646,775,140	5.6%
Plastics and Articles	71.9	28.1	4.2%	25,361,799,700	2.4%
Furniture; Lamps and Prefabricated Buildings	12.3	87.7	2.3%	14,167,231,799	-4.2%
Articles of Iron and Steel	54.4	45.6	2.3%	13,942,522,542	1.7%
Edible Fruit and Nuts	11.1	88.9	2.0%	12,008,970,897	4.0%
Edible Vegetables and Roots	5.5	94.5	1.7%	10,464,870,133	8.6%
Special Classification Provisions	2.7	97.3	1.2%	7,575,082,676	16.7%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

U.S.-Canada Data Points

• Detroit, Port Huron, and Buffalo are the top truck ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada
• Detroit, Port Huron, and International Falls are the top rail connection ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada
• Chicago, Port Huron, and Minneapolis are the top pipeline connection regions for U.S. energy freight flows with Canada
• Port of Boston, Arthur, and Portland are the top water port connections for U.S. energy flows with Canada
   

U.S.-Mexico Data Points

• Laredo, Ysleta, and Otay Mesa are the top truck ports with Mexico
• Laredo, Eagle Pass, and El Paso are the top rail connection ports with Mexico
• El Paso, Hidalgo, and Laredo are the top pipeline connection regions with Mexico
• Port of Houston, Arthur, and Texas City are the top water port connections for U.S. energy flows on the Southern border
• Energy flows by vessel with Mexico are more expansive than pipeline flows with Canada

 

Since earlier than 2006, U.S. freight flows with Canada by value had commonly exceeded that with Mexico. However, starting in 2015, there have been several instances where U.S. freight with Mexico by value has surpassed that of Canada. This trend first appeared in October 2015 and has continued and extended through the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, during this same period, the weight of freight flows with Canada has continued to exceed that of Mexico. U.S. freight flows with Canada by weight continue to be greater than Mexico due to petroleum and mineral fuels transported by pipeline. In 2024, the dollar value of mineral fuel flows with Canada and Mexico decreased 6.6% from 2023. 

 

Figure 3. Value of U.S. Freight with Canada and Mexico (USD): 2010 - 2024

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

Since the pandemic in 2020, truck freight has grown faster than rail freight for U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico combined. In 2024, trucks shipped $1.0 trillion worth of goods from and to Canada and Mexico, while rail accounted for $ 203.1 billion. From 2023 to 2024, the value of truck freight increased by 3.6% while rail decreased by 2.9 percent.

 

Figure 4.  Value of U.S. Freight by Truck and Rail with Canada and Mexico (USD): 2014 -2024

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

Zooming in further, the total value of freight shipments by truck with Canada and Mexico reveals another emerging long-term trend. U.S. freight transportation by truck with Mexico has been increasing at a faster pace than Canada since 2020. From the pandemic lows in April 2020 to December 2024, freight by truck with Canada has increased from $17.8 billion to $32.4 billion while freight by truck with Mexico has grown from $20.8 billion to $45.2 billion.

Figure 5.  Value of U.S. Freight by Truck with Canada and Mexico (USD): 2020 - 2024

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, available at https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/kijm-95mr

 

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