North American transborder freight carried by railroads declined in January from the same month the previous year even as shipments hauled by trucks increased by double digits.
Overall transborder freight totaled $134.4 billion in January, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said, an increase of 8.2% from January 2024.
Railroads moved $15.2 billion of that, down 2.7% y/y, while trucks accounted for $87.6 billion, up 10.2%.
While January historically is a slack period for most freight, those issues were magnified for Canadian railroads CN (NYSE: CNI) and CPKC (NYSE: CP), which struggled with dwell times moving intermodal containers out of the busy western ports.
At the same time, truck volumes improved at both borders as logistics planners looked to stay ahead of looming U.S. tariffs.
Among other modes tracked by BTS, pipelines moved $10.4 billion of freight, up 7%; vessels moved $8.2 billion, down 18.3%; and $6.1 billion moved by air, up 48.3%.
Freight moving between the United States and Canada totaled $64.8 billion, up 8.6% from January 2024. Freight between the U.S. and Mexico was $69.6 billion, up 7.9%.
U.S.-Canada (both directions)(Dollars in Billions)U.S.-Mexico (both directions)(Dollars in Billions)Truck$35.6Truck$52Pipeline$9.6Rail$7.4Rail$7.8Vessel$5.3Vessel$2.9Air$2.1Air$4Pipeline$0.8Charts: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan, and Buffalo, New York, are the top truck ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada, while Laredo and El Paso, Texas, and Otay Mesa, California, are the top truck ports with Mexico. Detroit, Port Huron and International Falls, Minnesota, are the top rail connection ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada, while Laredo, El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, are the top rail connection ports with Mexico.
U.S.-Canada Trade BreakdownU.S.-Mexico Trade Breakdown
Top three rail US-Canada rail portsTop three US-Mexico rail portsDetroit$2.2 billionLaredo, TX$3.7 billionPort Huron, MI$1.8 billionEagle Pass, TX$2.1 billionInt’l Falls, MN$1 billionNogales, AZ$0.7 billion
Breakdown of transborder trade
Top three truck portsTop three truck portsDetroit$8.6 billionLaredo, TX$23.2 billionPort Huron, MI$7.3 billionEl Paso-Ysleta, TX$7.7 billionBuffalo, NY$6.3 billionOtay Mesa, CA$4.9 billionTop three truck commoditiesTop three truck commoditiesComputers/parts$5.5 billionComputers/parts$13 billionVehicles/parts$4.6 billionElectrical machinery$11.4 billionPrecious metals$2.4 billionVehicles/parts$6.7 billionTop three rail commoditiesTop three rail commoditiesVehicles/parts$2.6 billionVehicles/parts$3.6 billionMineral fuel$0.8 billionBeverages/spirits$0.7 billionPlastics$0.6 billionComputer machinery$0.5 billion
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Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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