Cross-border freight continues 24-month streak of year-to-year increases

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

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, truck freight valued at nearly $76 billion was hauled across the borders in February. That is a decrease of more than 2% from January but an increase of nearly 10% compared to February 2022. That is a decrease of more than 2% from January but an increase of nearly 10% compared to February 2022.

The last time trucking cross-border freight experienced a year-to-year decrease was in February 2021. Since then, it has been a two-year streak of increases.

Cross-border freight hauled by trucks across the U.S. northern border dropped by less than 1% compared to January. At the southern border, the value of freight decreased by nearly 4%.

The top three truck commodities at the northern border were computers/parts ($5.6 billion), vehicles/parts ($4.5 billion) and electrical machinery ($2.2 billion). At the Mexican border, top commodities included electrical machinery ($9.6 billion), computers/parts ($8.4 billion) and vehicles/parts ($6.1 billion).

By weight, trucking cross-border freight went down more than 3% compared to January.

Accounting for all modes of transportation, the total value of cross-border freight reached nearly $120 billion in February. That is a decrease of nearly 5% compared to the previous month but an increase of nearly 7% compared to the previous year.

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

By weight, freight crossing the borders went up by more than 3% compared to last February and decreased by more than 8% compared to January.

Four of five modes showed a decrease in freight value in February when compared to the previous month. Vessel freight notched the largest decrease (minus 12.3%), followed by pipeline (minus 8.4%), rail (minus 5.3%) and trucks. Airfreight experienced the only monthly incline with a 0.1% increase. LL