Truck crossings into the United States from Canada and Mexico fell by 4.2 percent from 2000 to 2001, the first annual decline since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994,
according to new border crossing data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Total truck crossings into the United States dropped from 11.6 million in 2000 to 11.1 million in 2001. The decreases were similar in magnitude on both U.S. borders. Truck crossings from Canada fell from more than 7 million in 2000 to 6.8 million in 2001, or 3.8 percent. Those crossings into the United States from Mexico fell from more than 4.5 million in 2000 to 4.3 million in 2001, or 4.9 percent.
This information is based on data collected by the U.S. Customs Service and represents the number of truck crossings, not unique vehicles.
The three steepest percentage drops were in Michigan, the leading state of entry on the Canadian border; Texas, the leading state of entry on the Mexican border; and Washington. Other states reported lesser declines and two states had increases. On the U.S.-Canada border, incoming truck crossing volumes fell more than 7 percent at Detroit and Blaine, Wash., two of the top 10 ports nationwide. Incoming truck traffic processed at El Paso and Brownsville, Texas, decreased by the largest percentages on the U.S-Mexico border.
Declines at certain border ports seemed to have been linked to heightened security following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001, as well as to a downturn in the U.S. economy. Truck entries into the U.S. dropped by more than 8 percent in September 2001 from September 2000.
More intense scrutiny of conveyances, cargo, and people entering the U.S. slowed truck crossings at the busiest and most congested points in September 2001 and may have redirected some traffic through smaller ports. Among the top 5 ports for incoming truck crossings in 2001, Detroit, Buffalo-Niagara, N.Y., and Otay Mesa, Calif., all had their largest monthly percentage declines from 2000 levels in September 2001.