Transborder Rail Freight up 4.2%

During October 2022 transborder freight moved by rail among the United States, Canada and Mexico increased by 4.2 percent to $17.2 billion worth of goods.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said the comparison was to the same month in 2021.

Freight moved by rail between the United States and Canada was worth $65.4 billion, an 11.6 percent increase while the value of freight between the United States and Mexico was $68.4 billion, an increase of 16.2 percent year over year.

The top three commodities — measured by the value of goods — moved by rail in October 2022 between the United States and Canada were vehicles and parts, mineral fuel and plastics.

The top three commodities moved by rail between the United States and Mexico were vehicles and parts, computers and parts, and beverages.

Taking into account all  modes of transportation, freight moving among the three nations totaled $133.8 billion in value, a 13.9 percent increase over October 2021.

Transborder Freight Value up in June

Transborder rail freight among the United States, Canada and Mexico in June was worth $16.4 billion, up 45.5 percent compared with June 2020 and up 3.4 percent compared with June 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

BTS said rail was the second-most used mode of freight transportation, moving 14.1 percent of all transborder freight by value in June.

Rail freight moved between the United States and Canada in June was worth $9.2 billion, representing 15.6 percent of all northern border freight.

Between the United States and Mexico, rail freight represented 12.6 percent of all southern border freight.

The top three rail commodities moved in June were vehicles other than rail, worth $6.2 billion; wood and articles, worth $1.6 billion; and mineral fuels, worth $1.3 billion.

Total North American transborder freight moved in June was worth $116 billion, up 41 percent compared to June 2020. The value of transborder freight in June was up 11.8 percent compared to $103.8 billion in June 2019.

Transborder Freight Value Up in May

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said this week that during May the volume of freight moved by rail among the United States, Canada and Mexico in May was worth $15.9 billion.

That’s an increase of 90 percent when compared with May 2020, but a loss of 2.2 percent when compared with May 2019.

The value of transborder freight moved by rail in May rose 1.1 percent compared with April’s level.

Rail freight moved between the United States and Canada in May was worth $8.5 billion, up 146.4 percent compared with May 2020. Rail freight moved between the United States and Mexico in May was worth $7.5 billion, up 263.8 percent year over year.

The top three commodities moved by rail were motor vehicles and parts, worth $5.7 billion; wood and articles, worth $1.6 billion; and mineral fuels, worth $1.3 billion.

Total transborder freight moved by all modes in May was worth $108.6 billion, up 93.8 percent compared to May 2020 but 1 percent below May 2019’s level.

Transborder Rail Freight Down in April

Rail freight moving among the United States, Canada and Mexico in April was worth $15.7 billion, down 5.7 percent compared with March.

However April of this year posted a 164.4 percent gain over April 2020, when North America was mired in pandemic-related shutdowns, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said.

The value of freight moved by rail in April 2021 rose 0.7 percent from the $15.6 billion moved in April 2019.

Rail freight moving between the United States and Canada in April was worth $8.4 billion, up 132.4 percent year over year.

Rail freight moving between the United States and Mexico was worth $7.3 billion, up 213.9 percent year over year.

The top three commodities moved by rail in April were: motor vehicles and parts at $6 billion; mineral fuels at $1.4 billion; and wood and articles at $1.3 billion.

Freight moved by all transportation modes in April was worth $107.4 billion, up 84.7 percent from April 2020’s level. April 2021 transborder freight was up 2.7 percent compared with April 2019’s level.

Value of Transborder Freight up 30% in March

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said this week the volume of freight moved by rail among the United States, Canada and Mexico in March was worth $16.7 billion, up 30 percent compared with February 2021 and up 11.4 percent compared with March 2020.

The latter month marked the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that depressed rail traffic.

Rail freight in March 2021 was up 2.8 percent compared with $16.2 billion in March 2019.

By border, the value of freight moved between the United States and Canada in March was $9.4 billion, up 29.6 percent compared with February’s level and up 18.5 percent compared with March 2020.

The value of freight moved between the United States and Mexico was up 30.6 percent compared with February and up 3.5 percent compared with March 2020.

The top three commodities moved by rail in March were motor vehicles and parts at $7 billion, mineral fuels at $1.6 billion, and wood and articles, up $1.1 billion.

Total transborder freight moved by all modes in March was $114.6 billion, up 19.5 percent compared with February levels and up 16 percent compared with March 2020.

Transferred freight rose 6.9 percent compared with the $107.2 billion worth of freight moved in March 2019.
The most widely used mode for freight was truck with rail coming in second.

Transborder Freight Value Down in February

The value of transborder freight moving by rail among the United States, Canada and Mexico in February was $12.8 billion, down 7.5 percent compared with January’s level and down 10.8 percent compared with February 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

BTS said the decrease in rail between 2021 and 2020 was primarily due to a decline in motor vehicles and parts, the largest commodity moved across the border by rail.

The value of freight moved by all transportation modes among the three countries in February totaled $95.9 billion, up 1.7 percent compared to January, but down 0.1 percent compared to February 2020.

Freight moved by rail represented 13.4 percent of all transborder freight during February.

Between the United States and Canada freight moving by rail was worth $7.3 billion, down 1.2 percent from a year ago.

The value of freight moving by rail between the United States and Mexico in February was worth $5.6 billion, down 20.8 percent year over year.

Transborder Freight Fell in 2020

Freight moving among the United States, Canada and Mexico fell 13.3 percent in 2020  to $1.06 trillion the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said this week.

The comparison was with calendar year 2019. In a news release, BTS said total transborder freight in fell every month from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic until rising 0.4 percent in December.

Rail was the second-most used mode, handling $148 billion worth of freight in 2020, a 16.9 percent decrease compared with 2019’s level.

The value of freight moved by rail last year between the United States and Canada was $79 billion, down 18.3 percent, while the value of freight moved by rail between the United States and Mexico was $70 billion, down 15.3 percent.

The top three rail commodities in 2020, which represented 58.9 percent of transborder rail freight, were motor vehicles and parts, valued at $69 billion; mineral fuels, $10 billion; and plastics, $8 billion.

Value of Transborder Freight Rose in December

The value of transborder freight moving by rail among the United States, Canada and Mexico increased 1.6 percent to $14.1 billion worth of goods in December 2020 compared with November 2020 the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported.

In a news release, BTS said that on a year-over-year basis, freight moved by rail in December decreased 2 percent in value.

The value of freight moved by all modes of transportation in December totaled $96.8 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent compared to the previous month and a gain of 0.4 percent compared  to the same month in 2019.

Rail was the second-most-used mode in December as measured by value, accounting for 14.6 percent of all transborder freight.

In December, $7.4 billion worth of freight was moved by rail between the United States and Canada, up 1.9 percent compared with the previous month but a decline of 7.4 percent compared with the same month in 2019.

The value of freight moving between the U.S. and Mexico was $6.8 billion, up 1.3 percent compared with the previous month and up 4.7 percent compared with December 2019.

Transborder Freight Dropped 3.7% in November

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said this week that the value of transborder freight moved by rail among the United States, Canada and Mexico decreased 3.7 percent to $13.9 billion worth of goods last November.

The comparison was with October 2020. On a year-over-year comparison, freight moved by rail in November 2020 was 0.8 percent less than in November 2012.

The value of freight moved by all modes of transportation among the three nations in November totaled $95.9 billion, down 6.1 percent compared with October and 3.2 percent compared with November 2019.

Rail was the second-most used mode in November as measured by value, making up 14.5 percent of all transborder freight.

In November, $7.2 billion worth of freight was moved by rail between the United States and Canada, down 5 percent compared with October but up 0.9 percent compared with the same month in 2019.

Between the U.S. and Mexico $6.7 billion worth of freight moved by rail, which was down 2.3 percent compared with October and down 2.5 percent compared with November 2019.

Transborder Freight Up 5% in October

Transborder freight moved by rail between the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 5 percent to $14.5 billion worth of goods in October 2020 compared with September 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported last week.

BTS said on a year-over-year basis, freight moved by rail in October fell 0.4 percent.

Freight moved by all modes of transportation among the three nations rose 5.8 percent to $102.1 billion worth of goods in October compared with September, but fell 4.7 percent in a year-over-year comparison.

Rail was the second-most used mode in October making up 14.2 percent of all transborder freight.

During October $7.6 billion worth of freight moved by rail between the United States and Canada, up 2 percent compared with September but down 3.6 percent year over year.

Between the United States and Mexico, $6.8 billion worth of freight was moved by rail in October, up 8.5 percent in September and 3.4 percent year over year.