North American US-NAFTA freight value in June down from year ago

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation, released data late last week on North American freight activity for June.

The figures show that the US-NAFTA freight value amounted to $99 billion in June. All modes of transportation except for trucks carried less US-NAFTA freight than in June 2014, with year-over-year US-NAFTA freight value down 3.8 percent. This has been attributed to the overall lower value of NAFTA trade via vessel and pipeline in June from decreased unit prices of fuel shipments.

When comparing June 2015 to June 2014, the overall value of commodities that were transported by truck rose by 5.1 percent. In contrast, rail transportation decreased by 4.5 percent, and air by 8.9 percent. The value of vessel freight fell by 24.4, and pipeline freight fell by 40 percent, mostly because of the lower unit price for fuel shipments.

Trucks transported 65 percent of US-NAFTA freight. This is the most heavily used transportation mode for moving goods to and from US-NAFTA partners. Trucks are responsible for $33.2 billion out of the $53.8 billion in imports, as well as $31.2 billion out of the $45.2 billion in exports.

TransBorder Freight Data gathered the data for the June report.