NAFTA freight totals $89.3b in January

January 2015 totals for U.S.-North American Free Trade were higher than the previous year for rail, truck and air transportation, according to figures from the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.    United States North American Free Trade freight totaled $89.3 billion in January 2015, a 1.2 percent increase from January 2014, according to TransBorder Freight Data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
   BTS said in a statement three out of the five transportation modes – rail, truck and air – carried more U.S.-NAFTA freight than in the previous January. The combined value of NAFTA trade by the other two modes – pipeline and vessel – declined in January “due to the reduced unit price of mineral fuel shipments.”
   The value of commodities moving by rail increased 4.8 percent, truck by 3.6 percent and air 1.3 percent. Vessel freight decreased 21.8 percent and pipeline freight decreased by 22.5 percent.
   Trucks remained the most-utilized mode, carrying 62.3 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight – $27.4 billion of the $47.5 billion in imports (57.7 percent) and $28.2 billion of the $41.8 billion in exports (67.6 percent). Rail moves accounted for 14.5 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel with 7.8 percent, pipeline at 6.6 percent, and air at 3.9 percent.
   BTS said freight between the U.S. and Canada totaled $48.1 billion in January 2015, while U.S.-Mexico freight totaled $41.2 billion in the same period. The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada in January 2015 was mineral fuels, and the top commodity between the U.S. and Mexico was electrical machinery.