Truck growth paces U.S.-NAFTA freight in August, reports BTS

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that U.S. trade with its North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico increased 4.4 percent from August 2013 to August 2014 at $100.6 billion.

BTS said that U.S.-NAFTA trade has been up for compared to the same month of the previous year for seven straight months and has been above $100 billion for six straight months.

BTS said that commodities moving by vessel increased by 11.7 percent, and pipeline was up 6.8 percent, which was followed by rail, truck, and air at 3.4 percent, 3.3 percent, and 2.3 percent, respectively. 

Truck freight contributed $1.9 billion to the $4.2 billion increase in August, with rail next at $514 million. BTS said truck freight was due mainly to growth in truck freight with Mexico, and added that trucks moved 59.6 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight in August, with $31.2 billion in exports and $28.8 billion in exports.