WASHINGTON — An Aug. 25 bulletin from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) showed improvement in the North American freight industry in June after drop-offs in April and May. Data in the DOT release was not seasonally adjusted or adjusted for inflation.
According to the bulletin, transborder freight between the U.S., Canada and Mexico rebounded in June with $82.1 billion in freight moved across all modes of transportation, a 46.3% improvement over May and up 41.2% from April. Even with these signs of improvement, June’s transborder freight value was down 20.9% compared to June 2019.
Total transborder freight between the U.S. and Canada was up 31.8% from May, but down 23.1% from June 2019. Freight movement between the U.S. and Mexico was up 64% from May and down 18.7% from June 2019.
Trucks moved $56.5 billion in freight across the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders during June, accounting for 68.8% of all transborder freight for the month, with totals of $31 billion and $25.4 billion, respectively. Compared to May, U.S.-Mexico freight increased by 58.5% but was down 12.9% from June 2019. U.S.-Canada freight rose 30% from May but was down 15.2% from June 2019.
According to the DOT bulletin, the three busiest truck border ports, accounting for 44.9% of all transborder truck freight, were Laredo, Texas ($12.5 billion; Detroit ($7.9 billion); and Ysleta, Texas ($4.9 billion). The top three truck commodities (49.5% of total transborder truck freight) included computers and parts ($11.6 billion), electrical machinery ($9 billion) and vehicles and parts ($7.3 billion).
Other modes of transborder freight movement during June included rail ($11.3 billion), vessel ($3.8 billion), air ($3.4 billion) and pipeline ($2.8 billion).
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
