NAFTA FREIGHT FLOW

NAFTA Freight Flow Values Slip in May

Thursday, August 06, 2015

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report

The value of monthly freight flows between the U.S. and its NAFTA partners slipped 0.7 percent from April to May to $92.7 billion, according to statistics released July 30 by the Department of Transportation. In addition, the value of total U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico was down 10.8 percent from May 2014, and the DOT said a recession in Canada likely contributed to this double-digit decrease. All modes of transportation carried less freight than a year earlier, and large decreases in the values of NAFTA trade by pipeline and vessel were due to the reduced unit price of mineral fuel shipments.
Percentage changes in the value of monthly U.S. freight flows by mode of transportation from May 2014 to May 2015 include the following.

	Total		Canada		Mexico
	Imports	Exports	Imports	Exports	Imports	Exports
Truck	-5.0	-6.6	-10.4	-9.4	-1.0	-3.0
Rail	-5.8	-10.0	-12.6	-13.4	+5.6	-5.8
Vessel	-30.0	-12.4	-22.2	+9.8	-34.7	-23.5
Pipeline	-46.3	-41.1	-46.6	-46.0	+49.7	-28.8
Air	-3.8	-1.3	+0.6	-8.7	-10.5	+13.9