Cross-border truck freight shatters record high in March

Freight crossing the borders reached all-time highs in March, with cross-border truck freight shattering the previous record set last March.

Nearly $86 billion of freight hauled by trucks crossed national borders in March, setting a new record high for cross-border truck freight. That is a nearly 16% increase from the previous year, when the $73.92 billion of truck freight set a new record. Compared to the previous month, cross-border truck freight by value increased by nearly 24%.

Only two states experienced a decline in cross-border truck freight compared to February: Delaware (minus 11%) and New Mexico (minus 18%). Compared to a year ago, three more states saw a decline in cross-border freight: Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Increases in cross-border truck freight were seen across all top truck freight commodities.

Iron and steel shipments were hot commodities in March. By percentage change, the largest increases include iron/steel (29%), furniture/lamps/prefabricated buildings (26%) and articles of iron/steel (25%).

Accounting for all modes of transportation, cross-border freight hit a record high of nearly $142 billion in March, an 18% increase from the previous record of $120 billion set last November. That is an increase of 26% from the previous month, and a 24% increase compared to March 2021.

In addition to New Mexico, Louisiana is the only state that experienced a monthly decline in overall cross-border freight. Air, rail and vessel cross-border freight all increased significantly by about 32% each.

Cross-border freight top commodities increased across the board, with wood up 35%, vehicle freight rising 31% and mineral fuels/oils/waxes increasing by 26% compared to February. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 99% of pipeline freight between the U.S. and Canada are mineral fuels, primarily oil and gas. Of freight by vessel between the U.S. and Mexico, over 50% are mineral fuel shipments between Gulf of Mexico ports in the U.S. and Mexico. LL