2014 North American Freight Numbers
(billions of current dollars)
Four of five transportation modes – truck, rail, pipeline, and vessel – carried more U.S. freight with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico by value in 2014 than in 2013 as the overall value of freight on all modes rose 4.5 percent in current dollars to $1.2 trillion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) (Figure 1 and Table 1).
In 2014 compared to 2013, the value of commodities moving by pipeline grew the most, 12.5 percent, despite a decline in cost per unit of petroleum products, due to the increased volume of freight. Truck increased 4.5 percent, rail increased 1.5 percent, vessel increased 0.2 percent, and air decreased 0.2 percent.
Figure 2: North American Freight by Mode, 2014
(billions of current dollars)
Freight by Mode
Trucks carried 59.9 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight and were the most heavily
utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks
accounted for $348.7 billion of the $640.2 billion of imports (54.5 percent)
and $365.9 billion of the $552.5 billion of exports (66.2 percent) (Table 1).
Rail remained the second largest mode, moving 14.9 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 8.7 percent; pipeline, 7.9 percent and air, 3.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.7 percent of the total U.S.-NAFTA freight flows (Figure 2, Table 1).
Although trucks carry almost three-fifths of U.S.-NAFTA freight, 59.9 percent in 2014, its share has decreased by 3.7 percentage points from 2004, the first year of BTS data for all modes. During the last decade, pipeline’s percentage share rose 2.5 points while vessel rose 2.2 points (Table 1). 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. See North American Transborder Freight Data for historic data.
Freight with Canada
From 2013 to 2014, total U.S.-Canada freight rose 3.8 percent. Trucks
carried 53.8 percent of the $658.2 billion of freight to and from Canada,
followed by rail, 15.8 percent; pipeline, 13.5 percent; vessel, 5.9 percent;
and air, 4.3 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail
and pipeline carried 83.1 percent of the total U.S.-Canada freight flows
(Table 2).
Although trucks carry more than half of U.S.-Canada freight, 53.8 percent
in 2014, its share of total freight has decreased by 6.6 percentage points
from 2004, the first year of BTS data for all modes. Truck’s share
of imports decreased 8.8 percentage points from 2004, while pipeline’s
percent share of imports rose 8.4 points and vessel exports rose 4.0 points
(Table 2).
Michigan led all states in freight with Canada in 2014 with $74.2 billion. Of the top 10 states for U.S.-Canada freight in 2014, Texas had the highest percent change over 2013, a 19.2 percent increase (Table 3).
The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada in 2014 was mineral fuels at $148.1 billion with $88.7 billion or 59.9 percent moved by pipelines. The next highest commodity category transported by a single mode in U.S.-Canada freight was vehicles and vehicle parts (other than railway vehicles and parts) with $66.9 billion in freight moved by trucks (Table 6).
Freight with Mexico
From 2013 to 2014, total U.S.-Mexico freight rose 5.5 percent. Trucks
carried 67.5 percent of the $534.5 billion of freight to and from Mexico,
followed by rail, 13.8 percent; vessel, 12.2 percent; air, 2.9 percent;
and pipeline, 0.9 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck,
rail and pipeline carried 82.2 percent of the total U.S.-Mexico freight
flows (Table 4).
Although trucks carry roughly two-thirds of U.S.-Mexico freight, 67.5 percent in 2014. its share of total freight decreased by 1.6 percentage points from 2004, the first year of BTS data for all modes. Truck’s share of exports decreased 4.6 percentage points from 2004 while vessel’s percentage share of exports rose 4.5 points (Table 4).
Texas led all states in freight with Mexico in 2014 with $192.8 billion. Of the top 10 states for U.S.-Mexico freight in 2014, Indiana had the highest percent change over 2013, a 27.4 percent increase (Table 5).
The top commodity transported between the U.S. and Mexico in 2014 was electrical machinery at $96.6 billion with $88.4 billion or 91.5 percent moved by trucks. The next highest commodity category transported by a single mode in U.S.-Mexico freight was computers with $76.4 billion in freight moved by truck (Table 7).
Reporting Notes
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 for surface modes since 1995 and
all modes since 2004. 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 adjusted for inflation. Additional
summary data adjusted for inflation and exchange rates can be found on
the BTS website under
TransBorder Indexed Freight Flow Data. The BLS indexes used in the adjustments for inflation and exchange rates
may be revised in each of the three months after original publication.
For more information, see
TransBorder Press Releases for previous press releases and summary tables. See
TransBorder Freight Data for data from previous months, and more state, port, or commodity data.
BTS has scheduled the release of January TransBorder numbers for March 31.
Table 1. Modal Shares of U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows
Freight by All Modes
(millions of current dollars)
| Mode | 2004 | 2013 | 2014 |
Percent Change
2004-2014 |
Percent Change
2013-2014 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Modes | Imports | 411,771 | 613,082 | 640,220 | 55.5 | 4.4 |
| Exports | 299,877 | 527,689 | 552,451 | 84.2 | 4.7 | |
| Total | 711,647 | 1,140,770 | 1,192,671 | 67.6 | 4.5 |
| Mode | Share of Total by Mode (percent of total value) |
Percentage Point Change
2004-2014 |
Percentage Point Change
2013-2014 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
| All Surface Modes | Imports | 85.6 | 83.4 | 84.5 | -1.1 | 1.1 |
| Exports | 82.4 | 81.7 | 80.6 | -1.8 | -1.1 | |
| Total | 84.3 | 82.6 | 82.7 | -1.6 | 0.1 | |
| Truck | Imports | 57.7 | 53.1 | 54.5 | -3.3 | 1.4 |
| Exports | 71.8 | 67.9 | 66.2 | -5.5 | -1.7 | |
| Total | 63.6 | 59.9 | 59.9 | -3.7 | 0.0 | |
| Rail | Imports | 19.0 | 18.5 | 17.7 | -1.3 | -0.8 |
| Exports | 10.1 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 1.6 | -0.1 | |
| Total | 15.2 | 15.4 | 14.9 | -0.3 | -0.5 | |
| Pipeline | Imports | 8.9 | 11.8 | 12.3 | 3.4 | 0.5 |
| Exports | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 0.6 | |
| Total | 5.4 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 2.5 | 0.6 | |
| Vessel | Imports | 8.6 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 0.6 | -1.2 |
| Exports | 3.5 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 4.6 | 0.5 | |
| Total | 6.5 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 2.2 | -0.4 | |
| Air | Imports | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 0.0 | -0.2 |
| Exports | 6.7 | 4.8 | 4.6 | -2.1 | -0.2 | |
| Total | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.7 | -0.8 | -0.2 | |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
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 the TransBorder web page: http://transborder.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html
The percentage of modal share for all surface modes equals the sum of the share of the truck, rail and pipeline modes.
Table 2. Modal Shares of U.S.-Canada Freight Flows
Trade by All Modes
(millions of current dollars)
| Mode | 2004 | 2013 | 2014 |
Percent Change
2004-2014 |
Percent Change
2013-2014 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Modes | Imports | 255,928 | 332,553 | 346,063 | 35.2 | 4.1 |
| Exports | 189,101 | 301,610 | 312,125 | 65.1 | 3.5 | |
| Total | 445,029 | 634,162 | 658,188 | 47.9 | 3.8 |
| Mode | Share of Total by Mode (percent of total value) |
Percentage Point Change
2004-2014 |
Percentage Point Change
2013-2014 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
| All Surface Modes | Imports | 88.9 | 85.4 | 85.9 | -3.0 | 0.5 |
| Exports | 81.5 | 82.7 | 80.1 | -1.4 | -2.6 | |
| Total | 85.8 | 84.1 | 83.1 | -2.6 | -1.0 | |
| Truck | Imports | 51.9 | 42.3 | 43.1 | -8.8 | 0.8 |
| Exports | 71.9 | 68.9 | 65.6 | -6.2 | -3.3 | |
| Total | 60.4 | 54.9 | 53.8 | -6.6 | -1.1 | |
| Rail | Imports | 22.6 | 21.5 | 20.0 | -2.6 | -1.4 |
| Exports | 8.8 | 11.3 | 11.1 | 2.4 | -0.1 | |
| Total | 16.8 | 16.7 | 15.8 | -0.9 | -0.8 | |
| Pipeline | Imports | 14.4 | 21.7 | 22.8 | 8.4 | 1.1 |
| Exports | 0.8 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 0.8 | |
| Total | 8.6 | 12.6 | 13.5 | 4.9 | 1.0 | |
| Vessel | Imports | 4.2 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 1.8 | -1.0 |
| Exports | 1.6 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 4.0 | 1.4 | |
| Total | 3.1 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 2.7 | 0.1 | |
| Air | Imports | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Exports | 7.5 | 5.9 | 5.4 | -2.1 | -0.5 | |
| Total | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.3 | -0.8 | -0.3 | |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
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 the TransBorder web page: http://transborder.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html
The percentage of modal share for all surface modes equals the sum of the share of the truck, rail and pipeline modes.
Table 3. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by All Modes of Transportation
Ranked by 2014 Value
(millions of current dollars)
| State | 2013 | 2014 |
Percent Change
2013 -2014 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Rank | Value | Rank | ||
| Michigan | 74,870 | 1 | 74,249 | 1 | -0.8 |
| Illinois | 60,109 | 2 | 67,086 | 2 | 11.6 |
| Texas | 40,741 | 4 | 48,551 | 3 | 19.2 |
| California | 45,262 | 3 | 46,129 | 4 | 1.9 |
| Ohio | 37,372 | 5 | 37,785 | 5 | 1.1 |
| New York | 36,260 | 6 | 34,168 | 6 | -5.8 |
| Washington | 23,565 | 7 | 25,264 | 7 | 7.2 |
| Pennsylvania | 23,227 | 8 | 24,707 | 8 | 6.4 |
| Indiana | 19,606 | 9 | 20,338 | 9 | 3.7 |
| Minnesota | 19,181 | 10 | 19,346 | 10 | 0.9 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
NOTE: Percent change based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 4. Modal Shares of U.S.-Mexico Freight Flows
Trade by All Modes
(millions of current dollars)
| Mode | 2004 | 2013 | 2014 |
Percent Change
2004-2014 |
Percent Change
2013-2014 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Modes | Imports | 155,843 | 280,529 | 294,157 | 88.8 | 4.9 |
| Exports | 110,775 | 226,079 | 240,326 | 116.9 | 6.3 | |
| Total | 266,618 | 506,608 | 534,484 | 100.5 | 5.5 |
| Mode | Share of Total by Mode (percent of total value) |
Percentage Point Change
2004-2014 |
Percentage Point Change
2013-2014 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
| All Surface Modes | Imports | 80.3 | 81.0 | 82.9 | 2.6 | 1.9 |
| Exports | 84.0 | 80.4 | 81.3 | -2.7 | 0.9 | |
| Total | 81.8 | 80.8 | 82.2 | 0.4 | 1.4 | |
| Truck | Imports | 67.3 | 65.9 | 67.9 | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Exports | 71.6 | 66.5 | 67.0 | -4.6 | 0.5 | |
| Total | 69.1 | 66.2 | 67.5 | -1.6 | 1.3 | |
| Rail | Imports | 13.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Exports | 12.3 | 12.3 | 12.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Total | 12.7 | 13.8 | 13.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | |
| Pipeline | Imports | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Exports | 0.1 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | |
| Total | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.2 | |
| Vessel | Imports | 15.9 | 14.3 | 13.0 | -2.9 | -1.4 |
| Exports | 6.7 | 12.0 | 11.3 | 4.5 | -0.7 | |
| Total | 12.1 | 13.3 | 12.2 | 0.1 | -1.1 | |
| Air | Imports | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Exports | 5.4 | 3.4 | 3.6 | -1.8 | 0.2 | |
| Total | 3.6 | 3.0 | 2.9 | -0.6 | 0.0 | |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
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 the TransBorder web page: http://transborder.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html
The percentage of modal share for all surface modes equals the sum of the share of the truck, rail and pipeline modes.
Table 5. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by All Modes of Transportation
Ranked by 2014 Value
(millions of current dollars)
| State | 2013 | 2014 |
Percent Change
2013 -2014 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Rank | Value | Rank | ||
| Texas | 195,585 | 1 | 192,761 | 1 | -1.4 |
| California | 60,154 | 2 | 66,669 | 2 | 10.8 |
| Michigan | 52,430 | 3 | 53,283 | 3 | 1.6 |
| Illinois | 18,993 | 4 | 21,272 | 4 | 12.0 |
| Arizona | 14,106 | 5 | 15,943 | 5 | 13.0 |
| Ohio | 12,633 | 6 | 13,797 | 6 | 9.2 |
| Tennessee | 10,010 | 8 | 11,486 | 7 | 14.7 |
| Louisiana | 11,093 | 7 | 10,612 | 8 | -4.3 |
| Indiana | 7,968 | 9 | 10,153 | 9 | 27.4 |
| Georgia | 7,886 | 10 | 9,049 | 10 | 14.7 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
NOTE: Percent change based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 6. Top Commodity Transported between the U.S. and Canada for Each Mode of Transportation, 2014
(millions of current dollars)
| Mode | Commodities | Exports | Imports | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Modes | Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes | 32,745 | 115,341 | 148,086 |
| Truck | Vehicles Other than Railway | 37,306 | 29,637 | 66,943 |
| Rail | Vehicles Other than Railway | 11,116 | 26,238 | 37,354 |
| Pipeline | Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes | 10,157 | 78,590 | 88,746 |
| Vessel | Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes | 15,257 | 17,407 | 32,664 |
| Air | Computer Related Machinery and Parts | 3,969 | 1,771 | 5,740 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
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 the TransBorder web page: http://transborder.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html
Table 7. Top Commodity Transported between the U.S. and Mexico for Each Mode of Transportation, 2014
(millions of current dollars)
| Mode | Commodities | Exports | Imports | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Modes | Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts | 38,355 | 58,219 | 96,574 |
| Truck | Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts | 34,169 | 54,239 | 88,408 |
| Rail | Vehicles Other than Railway | 6,624 | 32,382 | 39,007 |
| Pipeline | Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes | 4,781 | 205 | 4,986 |
| Vessel | Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes | 16,109 | 29,221 | 45,330 |
| Air | Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts | 3,081 | 2,212 | 5,293 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data, http://transborder.bts.gov/transborder/ as of Feb 2015.
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 the TransBorder web page: http://transborder.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html