February 2019 North American Transborder Freight Numbers
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Transborder freight between the U.S. and other North American countries (Canada and Mexico) in February 2019:
- Total Transborder Freight: $94.2 billion of transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation, up 0.2% compared to February 2018
- Most-used mode: Truck moved $60.2 billion of freight, up 1.3% compared to February 2018
- Second mode: Rail moved $13.0 billion of freight, down 4.2% compared to February 2018
Truck Freight: $60.2 billion (63.9% of all transborder freight)
- By border:
U.S.-Canada: $26.7 billion (57.5% of all northern border freight)
U.S.-Mexico: $33.6 billion (70.2% of all southern border freight)
- Compared to previous year:
U.S.-Canada down 2.0%
U.S.-Mexico up 4.0%
- Three busiest truck border ports (46.1% of total transborder truck freight)
- Laredo, TX $14.5 billion
- Detroit, MI $8.4 billion
- El Paso, TX $4.8 billion
- Top three truck commodities (50.9% of total transborder truck freight)
- Computers and parts $11.8 billion
- Motor vehicles and parts $9.5 billion
- Electrical machinery $9.3 billion
Figure 1: North American Freight by Mode, February 2019
| Mode | Value | 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Truck | 60.2 | 2 |
| Rail | 13.0 | 3 |
| Vessel | 7.5 | 4 |
| Pipeline | 5.1 | 5 |
| Air | 3.6 | 6 |
| 7 |
Source:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, https://www.bts.gov/transborder
Rail Freight: $13.0 billion (13.8% of all transborder freight)
- By border:
U.S.-Canada: $7.1 billion (15.4% of all northern border freight)
U.S.-Mexico: $5.9 billion (12.4% of all southern border freight)
- Compared to previous year:
U.S.-Canada down 6.4%
U.S.-Mexico down 1.4%
- Three busiest rail border ports (56.4% of total transborder rail freight)
- Laredo, TX $3.5 billion
- Detroit, MI $2.0 billion
- Port Huron, MI $1.9 billion
- Top three rail commodities (62.4% of total transborder rail freight)
- Motor vehicles and parts $6.6 billion
- Mineral fuels $0.8 billion
- Plastics $0.8 billion
Total Transborder Freight by Mode:
U.S.-Canada (both directions)
(Dollars in Billions)
Truck: $26.7
Rail: $7.1
Pipeline: $4.8
Air: $2.3
Vessel: $2.2
U.S.-Mexico (both directions)
(Dollars in Billions)
Truck: $33.6
Rail: $5.9
Vessel: $5.3
Air: $1.2
Pipeline: $0.4
Reporting Notes
Data in this Bureau of Transportation Statistics 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 March TransBorder numbers for May 28.