Cross-border freight went up in January

Cross-border freight hauled by trucks increased in January compared to the previous month and remains up compared to the previous year.

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, nearly $78 billion worth of trucking freight was hauled across the borders in January. That is an increase of more than 5% from December and an increase of nearly 13% compared to January 2022.

Cross-border freight hauled by trucks across the U.S. northern border rose by 4% compared to December. At the southern border, the value of freight increased by more than 6%.

The top three truck commodities at the northern border were computers/parts ($5.6 billion), vehicles/parts ($4.8 billion) and electrical machinery ($2.3 billion). At the Mexican border, top commodities included electrical machinery ($10 billion), computers/parts ($9 billion) and vehicles/parts ($6.3 billion).

By weight, trucking cross-border freight went up nearly 9% compared to December.

Accounting for all modes of transportation, the total value of cross-border freight reached nearly $126 billion in January. That is an increase of more than 3% compared to the previous month and an increase of nearly 11% compared to the previous year.

Canadian freight is up nearly 2% compared to the previous month, whereas Mexican freight increased by nearly 5%.

By weight, freight crossing the borders went up by more than 3% compared to last January and increased by more than 6% compared to December.

Four of five modes showed an increase in freight value in January. Truck freight notched the largest increase, followed by rail (4.9%), pipeline (2.7%) and vessel (1.6%). Airfreight experienced the only monthly decline with a 6.8% drop. LL