North American Transborder Freight declined 0.9% in August 2024 from August 2023

Oct 23, 2024

The statistics in this release do not reflect changes in tonnage moved.

Total Transborder Freight by Border in August 2024, Compared to August 2023:

Transborder freight between the U.S. and North American countries Canada and Mexico:

Total transborder freight: $136.7 billion of transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation, down 0.9% compared to August 2023
Freight between the U.S. and Canada: $ 63.0 billion, down 6.4% from August 2023
Freight between the U.S. and Mexico: $73.8 billion, up 4.2% from August 2023
- Mexico continued to lead Canada in freight dollar value for the last 18 months.
Trucks moved $90.7 billion of freight, up 3.3% compared to August 2023
Railways moved $16.9 billion of freight, down 4.3% compared to August 2023
Vessels moved $9.8 billion of freight, down 17.2% compared to August 2023
- Vessels moved 19.6% less mineral fuels.
Pipelines moved $8.9 billion of freight, down 9.0% compared to August 2023
Air moved $4.7 billion of freight, down 8.8% compared to August 2023

Bar chart showing North American freight by mode in August 2023 and 2024

Total Transborder Freight by Border and Mode:

U.S.-Canada (both directions) (Dollars in Billions)		U.S.-Mexico (both directions) (Dollars in Billions)
Truck	$36.0	Truck	$54.7
Pipeline	$8.3	Rail	$8.3
Rail	$8.7	Vessel	$6.3
Vessel	$3.5	Air	$1.8
Air	$2.9	Pipeline	$0.6

Detroit, Port Huron, and Buffalo are the top truck ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada, while Laredo, El Paso, and Otay Mesa are the top truck ports with Mexico. Detroit, Port Huron, and International Falls are the top rail connection ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada, while Laredo, Eagle Pass, and El Paso are the top rail connection ports with Mexico. Chicago, Port Huron, and Minneapolis are the top pipeline connection regions for U.S. energy freight flows with Canada. El Paso, Hidalgo, and Laredo are the top pipeline connection regions with Mexico. Port of Boston, Arthur, and Portland are the top water port connections for U.S. energy flows with Canada. Port of Houston, Arthur, and Texas City are the top water port connections for U.S. energy flows on the Southern border.

U.S. – Canada and Mexico Freight Breakdown

U.S.-Canada Trade Breakdown		U.S.-Mexico Trade Breakdown
Top three truck ports		Top three truck ports
Detroit, MI	$9.4 billion	Laredo, TX	$25.4 billion
Port Huron, MI	$6.8 billion	El Paso-Ysleta, TX	$7.5 billion
Buffalo, NY	$6.3 billion	Otay Mesa, CA	$5.6 billion
Top three truck commodities		Top three truck commodities
Computers/parts	$6.1 billion	Computers/parts	$14.0 billion
Vehicles/parts	$4.9 billion	Electrical machinery	$12.0 billion
Electrical machinery	$2.6 billion	Vehicles/parts	$7.8 billion
Top three rail ports		Top three rail ports
Detroit, MI	$2.7 billion	Laredo, TX	$4.3 billion
Port Huron, MI	$1.8 billion	Eagle Pass, TX	$2.5 billion
Buffalo, NY	$1.0 billion	Nogales, AZ	$0.6 billion
Top three rail commodities		Top three rail commodities
Vehicles/parts	$3.7 billion	Vehicles/parts	$4.1 billion
Mineral fuel	$0.7 billion	Computers/parts	$0.6 billion
Plastics	$0.6 billion	Mineral fuel	$0.5 billion

Reporting Notes

All monetary values are in current US dollars and are not adjusted for inflation or seasonality. For previous statistical releases and summary tables, see transborder releases. See transborder freight data for data from previous months, and additional state, port, and commodity data. BTS has scheduled the next release of transborder numbers for Friday, November 15, 2024.