October 2017 North American Freight Numbers

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BTS 01-18

Thursday, January 4, 2018

BTS Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

david.smallen@dot.gov

 

 

BTS Statistics Release: October 2017 North American Freight Numbers

 

Fig1 

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

 

U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $100.6 billion as all five major transportation modes carried more freight by value with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico in October 2017 compared to October 2016, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) (Figure 2, Table 1).

 

The 7.9 percent rise from October 2016 is the 12th consecutive month in which the year-over-year value of U.S.-NAFTA freight increased in current dollars from the same month of the previous year (Figure 1).

 

Freight by Mode

 

 

Fig2 

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

 

The value of commodities moving by vessel increased 32.6 percent, pipeline by 9.3 percent, air by 6.1 percent, truck by 5.7 percent, and rail by 3.3 percent (Figure 2, Table 2). The large percentage increase in the value of goods moving by vessel is due in part to an increase in the unit value and an 18.0 percent increase in the tonnage of mineral fuels traded.

 

Trucks carried 64.0 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most utilized mode for moving goods to and from both Canada and Mexico. Trucks accounted for $33.4 billion of the $54.5 billion of imports (61.2 percent) and $31.0 billion of the $46.1 billion of exports (67.3 percent) (Table 2).

 

Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.1 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 6.6 percent; pipeline, 5.0 percent; and air, 3.8 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 84.1 percent of the total value of U.S.-NAFTA freight flows (Table 2). 

 

U.S.-Canada Freight

 

 Fig3

 

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

  

Comparing October 2016 to October 2017, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows increased by 6.8 percent to $49.7 billion as the value of freight on all five major modes increased from a year earlier. The value of freight carried on vessel increased by 61.9 percent due in part to an increase in the unit value and a 29.8 percent increase in the tonnage of mineral fuels traded. Pipeline increased by 11.6 percent, air by 8.9 percent, rail by 7.2 percent, and truck by 1.4 percent (Figure 3, Table 3).

 

Trucks carried 57.7 percent of the value of the freight to and from Canada. Rail carried 16.2 percent followed by pipeline, 9.6 percent; air, 4.7 percent; and vessel, 4.4 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 83.4 percent of the value of total U.S.-Canada freight flows (Table 3).

 

U.S.-Mexico Freight

 

 

Fig4 

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

 

 

 

Comparing October 2016 to October 2017, the value of U.S.-Mexico freight flows increased by 9.0 percent to $50.8 billion as the value of freight on three major modes increased from a year earlier. The value of freight carried on vessel increased by 21.8 percent due in part to an increase in the unit value and an 11.7 percent increase in the tonnage of mineral fuels traded. The value of commodities moved by truck increased by 9.5 percent, largely due to a 26.0 percent increase in the value of motor vehicles moved by truck. The value of goods moved by air increased by 1.9 percent. Rail decreased by 0.9 percent, and pipeline by 17.7 percent (Figure 4, Table 4).

 

Trucks carried 70.2 percent of the value of freight to and from Mexico. Rail carried 14.0 percent followed by vessel, 8.8 percent; air, 2.9 percent; and pipeline, 0.6 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 84.7 percent of the value of total U.S.-Mexico freight flows (Table 4). 

 

Commodities

In October 2017, the top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada was vehicles and parts, of which $4.7 billion, or 54.0 percent, moved by truck and $3.7 billion, or 43.1 percent by rail (Figure 5). The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Mexico in October 2017 was vehicles and parts, of which $5.0 billion, or 49.6 percent, moved by truck and $4.0 billion, or 40.0 percent, moved by rail (Figure 6).

 

 

Fig5 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data 

NOTES: Import and export numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.

 

 

 

 Fig6

 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Import and export numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.

 

Reporting Notes

BTS 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. 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 seasonally adjusted and are not adjusted for inflation.

 

For previous statistical releases and summary tables, see TransBorder Releases. See TransBorder Freight Data for data from previous months, and for additional state, port, and commodity data. BTS has scheduled the release of November TransBorder numbers for Jan. 25.

 

 

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

(millions of current dollars) 

Month

2015

2016

2017

Percent Change 2015-2016

Percent Change 2016-2017

January

89,258

82,430

87,960

-7.7

6.7

February

85,723

84,038

86,474

-2.0

2.9

March

96,070

90,462

100,289

-5.8

10.9

April

93,327

90,380

91,068

-3.2

0.8

May

92,707

89,840

98,246

-3.1

9.4

June

99,030

92,671

99,764

-6.4

7.7

July

92,995

83,725

89,175

-10.0

6.5

August

92,442

93,126

97,439

0.7

4.6

September

93,246

91,126

94,379

-2.3

3.6

October

96,624

93,165

100,561

-3.6

7.9

November

88,154

91,089

 

3.3

0.0

December

86,748

87,086

 

0.4

0.0

Year-to-date

931,424

890,963

945,356

-4.3

6.1

Annual

1,106,325

1,069,138

 

-3.4

-11.6

 

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

 

October 2016

October 2017

Percent Change October

2016-2017

All Modes

Imports

50,314

54,509

8.3

Exports

42,851

46,052

7.5

Total

93,165

100,561

7.9

 

 

 

 

 

All Surface Modes

Imports

45,263

47,395

4.7

Exports

34,899

37,164

6.5

Total

80,161

84,559

5.5

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

31,884

33,351

4.6

Exports

28,975

30,993

7.0

Total

60,859

64,344

5.7

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

9,857

9,779

-0.8

Exports

4,821

5,379

11.6

Total

14,677

15,158

3.3

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

3,522

4,265

21.1

Exports

1,103

792

-28.2

Total

4,624

5,057

9.3

 

 

 

 

 

Vessel

Imports

2,326

3,583

54.1

Exports

2,701

3,084

14.2

Total

5,027

6,667

32.6

 

 

 

 

 

Air

Imports

1,501

1,615

7.6

Exports

2,055

2,159

5.0

Total

3,556

3,774

6.1

 

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 TransBorder Freight Data

 

 

 

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

(millions of current dollars)  

Mode

 

October 2016

October 2017

Percent Change October 2016-2017

All Modes

Imports

23,908

25,786

7.9

Exports

22,640

23,940

5.7

Total

46,548

49,726

6.8

 

 

 

 

 

All Surface Modes

Imports

21,650

22,431

3.6

Exports

18,402

19,065

3.6

Total

40,052

41,496

3.6

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

13,065

12,979

-0.7

Exports

15,214

15,702

3.2

Total

28,278

28,681

1.4

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

5,076

5,203

2.5

Exports

2,433

2,851

17.2

Total

7,509

8,054

7.2

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

3,509

4,249

21.1

Exports

756

512

-32.2

Total

4,265

4,761

11.6

 

 

 

 

 

Vessel

Imports

730

1,529

109.4

Exports

631

674

6.9

Total

1,361

2,203

61.9

 

 

 

 

 

Air

Imports

894

946

5.8

Exports

1,237

1,376

11.2

Total

2,132

2,321

8.9

 

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 TransBorder Freight Data

 

 

Table 4. Value of Monthly U.S.-Mexico Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars) 

Mode

 

October 2016

October 2017

Percent Change October 2016-2017

All Modes

Imports

26,405

28,723

8.8

Exports

20,211

22,112

9.4

Total

46,617

50,835

9.0

 

 

 

 

 

All Surface Modes

Imports

23,612

24,964

5.7

Exports

16,497

18,099

9.7

Total

40,109

43,063

7.4

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

18,820

20,371

8.2

Exports

13,762

15,291

11.1

Total

32,581

35,663

9.5

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

4,780

4,576

-4.3

Exports

2,388

2,528

5.9

Total

7,168

7,104

-0.9

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

12

16

33.6

Exports

347

279

-19.5

Total

359

296

-17.7

 

 

 

 

 

Vessel

Imports

1,595

2,053

28.7

Exports

2,070

2,410

16.4

Total

3,666

4,463

21.8

 

 

 

 

 

Air

Imports

607

669

10.2

Exports

818

783

-4.2

Total

1,425

1,452

1.9

 

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 TransBorder Freight Data


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