May 2020 North American Transborder Freight Down 49% from May 2019
Transborder freight between the U.S. and other North American countries (Canada and Mexico) in May 2020:
Total Transborder freight: $56.1 billion of transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation, down 48.9% compared to May 2019. The $56.1 billion in total Transborder freight was the lowest amount since May 2009.
- Most-used mode: Trucks moved $39.1 billion of freight, down 43.2% compared to May 2019.
- Second most-used mode: Railways moved $5.5 billion of freight, down 66.3% compared to May 2019.
- Transborder freight value in May was down 3.5% from April and down 43.3% from March.
Total Transborder Freight:
- Compared to May 2019:
Truck Freight: $39.1 billion (69.8% of all transborder freight)
- By border:
- Compared to May 2019:
- Top Three Busiest truck border ports (40.5% of total transborder truck freight)
- Laredo, TX $7.7 billion
- Detroit, MI $4.9 billion
- Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY $3.3 billion
- Top three truck commodities (39.2% of total transborder truck freight)
- Computers and parts $7.5 billion
- Electrical machinery $5.6 billion
- Vehicles and parts $2.2 billion
Figure 1: North American Freight by Mode, May 2020
Mode | Value | 1 |
---|---|---|
Truck | 39.1 | 2 |
Rail | 5.5 | 3 |
Vessel | 3.1 | 4 |
Pipeline | 2.3 | 5 |
Air | 3.2 | 6 |
7 |
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, https://www.bts.gov/transborder
Rail Freight: $5.5 billion (9.8% of all transborder freight)
- By border:
- Compared to May 2019:
- Three busiest rail border ports (44.1% of total transborder rail freight)
- Laredo, TX $1.0 billion
- Port Huron, MI $0.8 billion
- Eagle Pass, TX $0.6 billion
- Top three rail commodities (26.2% of total transborder rail freight)
- Plastics $0.6 billion
- Motor vehicles and parts $0.5 billion
- Mineral fuels $0.4 billion
Total Transborder Freight by Mode:
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 June TransBorder numbers for Aug. 25.