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Trucks Transported 59% of U.S.-NAFTA Trade in February

Trucks carried 59.1% of the $88.4 billion of freight moved in February 2013 between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico.

by Staff
May 3, 2013
1 min to read


Trucks carried 59.1% of the $88.4 billion of freight moved in February 2013 between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico.

Trucks were followed by rail at 15%, vessels at 9.7%, pipelines at 7.7% and air at 3.6%, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.1 percent of the total NAFTA freight flows.

BTS, a part of the Department’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that in February, for freight flows with Canada, trucks carried 54.4% of the $48.9 billion, followed by rail at 17%, pipelines at 13.3%, vessels at 5.3% and air at 4.4%. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 84.7% of the total U.S.-Canada freight flows.

For freight flows with Mexico in February, trucks carried 64.8% of the $39.6 billion, followed by vessels at 15.2%, rail at 13.2%, air at 2.8% and pipelines at 0.8%. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 78.8% of the total U.S.-Mexico freight flows.

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The value of goods moving between the U.S. and its NAFTA partners by all modes of transportation decreased by 1% from February 2012 and rose 61.8% from February 2009, the lowest February during the last recession.

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