Cross-border freight by trucks increased in May, nearing all-time high

Numbers for cross-border freight improved in May for both trucking and across all modes.

By value, cross-border freight hauled by trucks improved by 3% in May compared with April. Year-to-year, North American trucking freight is up 20.7% to $82.1 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

In trade with Canada, truck cross-border freight value increased by nearly 3% compared with April and is up nearly 19% compared with last May. Mexican truck freight increased by 3.2% compared to the previous month and is up 22.5% compared to May 2021.

Three of five modes experienced an increase in freight value compared with April: Pipeline (9%), vessel (7%) and trucking. Airfreight went down by 6%, whereas rail dipped slightly by 0.2%.

Accounting for freight weight, trucking cross-border freight went up 0.5% compared to this time last year. Compared to April, North American freight weight hauled by trucks went up 1.2% to more than 24 billion pounds.

Canadian trucking freight by weight is up by 10% compared with April’s numbers. However, Mexican truck freight went down by 6% when accounting for freight weight in pounds.

When accounting for all freight transportation modes, cross-border freight went up 3% in May when compared with April. Compared with May 2021, North American freight is up by 28% to more than $139 billion.

The record for cross-border freight by value was set in March at nearly $142 billion.

Canadian freight jumped by 30% compared to last year and increased by 3% compared with April. Mexican freight is up 26% over the last 12 months and increased by 3% over the last month.

By weight, cross-border freight across all modes is up 4% compared with April and up 6% compared with a year ago. Canadian freight by weight is up 8% compared with a year ago and increased by the same amount when compared with the previous month. Mexican freight is 4% from a year ago. However, Mexican freight weight dipped by 1.5% compared with April. LL