Freight moves between U.S., neighbors up 13.5 percent

Trucks carried 62 percent of goods transported to Mexico and Canada in July, according to figures released Tuesday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.    Freight moves between the United States and Canada or Mexico by all modes of transportation were up 13.5 percent year-over-year in July, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
   Moves by truck, the most-used mode, accounted for $62.7 billion worth of freight, up 11.2 percent over July 2017. Rail moved $14.4 billion in freight, up 6.8 percent compared to a year ago, the BTS figures released Tuesday showed.
   Truck freight made up 62 percent of all freight moved in July between the United States and Canada or Mexico. U.S.-to-Canada moves by truck totaled $27.8 billion. Truck moves from the United States to Mexico were valued at $34.9 billion, BTS said.
   BTS said two of the three busiest truck ports, responsible for 46 percent of total truck freight, in July are in Texas: Laredo and El Paso. Detroit was sandwiched in between at No. 2.
   The top three truck commodities in July were computers and parts, valued at $12.7 billion; electrical machinery at $10.1 billion; and motor vehicles and parts at $9.2 billion.
   Rail moved $7.7 billion worth of freight in July from the United States to Canada. U.S-to-Mexico rail moves were valued at $6.6 billion. While U.S.-to-Canada rail moves were up 10.9 percent over July 2017, U.S.-to-Mexico moves were down 2.3 percent, BTS said.
   Laredo also was the busiest U.S. rail border port, followed by Port Huron, Mich., and Eagle Pass, Texas.
   BTS said the top three rail commodities were motor vehicle and parts, valued at $6.1 billion; mineral fuels at $1.2 billion; and plastics at $900 million.
   In total, $102.2 billion worth of freight moved by all modes of transportation from the United States to other North American countries in July, according to BTS.
   Total freight moved by vessel in July from the United States to either Mexico or Canada was valued at $9 billion. The air freight total was $3.7 billion.
   Of freight by vessel, $3.8 billion worth, or 63 percent, consisted of mineral fuels, primarily oil and gas shipments between Gulf of Mexico ports in the United States and Mexico, with more than half of those shipments going through Texas ports, BTS said.