Cross-border freight dips in September

Cross-border freight hauled by trucks decreased in September compared to the previous month but remains up compared to the previous year.

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, nearly $82 billion worth of trucking freight was hauled across the borders in September. That is a decrease of more than 2% from August but an increase of more than 19% compared to September 2021.

Cross-border freight hauled by trucks across the U.S. northern border dropped by nearly 2% compared to August. At the southern border, the value of freight decreased by nearly 3%.

The top three truck commodities at the northern border are computers/parts ($5.6 billion), vehicles/parts ($4.7 billion) and electrical machinery ($2.4 billion). At the Mexican border, top commodities include electrical machinery ($10.9 billion), computers/parts ($10.8 billion) and vehicles/parts ($6.4 billion).

By weight, trucking cross-border freight went down nearly 13% compared to August.

Accounting for all modes of transportation, the total value of cross-border freight reached nearly $134 billion in September. That is a decrease of nearly 5% compared to the previous month, but an increase of nearly 23% compared to the previous year.

Canadian freight is down 5% compared to the previous month, whereas Mexican freight decreased by more than 4%.

By weight, freight crossing the borders went up by 1% compared to last September but decreased by more than 9% compared to August.

All modes except for air experienced a decrease in freight in September. Vessel freight experienced the largest decrease at 18%, followed by pipeline (minus 11.6%) and rail (minus 5.5%). LL