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US cross-border freight stalled in November

US-Mexico-Canada truck freight gained while rail declined

Cross-border freight stalled in November. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

For all the recent contentious talk of tariffs and trade, the dollar value of cross-border freight moving between the United States, Canada and Mexico in November was unchanged from the previous year.

Cross-border freight totaled $131 billion moved by all modes of transportation, unchanged from November 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

Freight between the U.S. and Canada was valued at $61.8 billion, down 5.2% y/y. Freight moving between the U.S. and Mexico came to $69.1 billion, up 5.1% from November 2023.

It was the 21st straight month Mexico led Canada in freight dollar value.


Mexico and Canada are the number one and number two U.S. trade partners, respectively, ahead of China at number three. 

Trucks moved $82.6 billion of freight, up 0.4%, while railroads accounted for $16.3 billion, off 5.8%.

Maritime vessels moved $9.7 billion of freight, down 6.6%, which included 11.3% less mineral fuels by dollar value.

Pipelines’ share was $7.9 billion, a decrease of 25.2% compared to November 2023, including a decline of 25.2% in mineral fuels by dollar value.


A total of $5.2 billion of freight moved by air, up 7.3% compared to November 2023.

Detroit, Buffalo, and Port Huron, Mich., are the top truck ports for U.S. freight flows with Canada, according to the BTS release. 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 with Canada; Laredo, El Paso, and Eagle Pass, Texas are the leading rail connections. 

The ports of Houston, Arthur, and Texas City, Texas, are the top water port connections for U.S. energy flows on the southern border.

U.S. – Canada and Mexico Freight Breakdown

U.S.-CanadaU.S.-Mexico
Top three truck portsTop three truck ports
Detroit, MI$8.5 billionLaredo, TX$23.9 billion
Port Huron, MI$6.7 billionEl Paso-Ysleta, TX$7.2 billion
Buffalo, NY$5.8 billionOtay Mesa, CA$5.2 billion
Top three truck commoditiesTop three truck commodities
Computers/parts$5.2 billionComputers/parts$14.4 billion
Vehicles/parts$4.3 billionElectrical machinery$11.9 billion
Electrical machinery$2.6 billionVehicles/parts$7.1 billion
Top three rail portsTop three rail ports
Detroit, MI$2.9 billionLaredo, TX$3.9 billion
Port Huron, MI$1.6 billionEagle Pass, TX$2.7 billion
Int’l Falls, MN$0.9 billionEl Paso, TX$0.6 billion
Top three rail commoditiesTop three rail commodities
Vehicles/parts$3.3 billionVehicles/parts$4.4 billion
Mineral fuel$0.7 billionMineral fuels$0.5 billion
Plastics$0.5 billionComputers/parts$0.5 billion
Chart: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Stuart Chirls

Stuart Chirls is a journalist who has covered the full breadth of railroads, intermodal, container shipping, ports, supply chain and logistics for Railway Age, the Journal of Commerce and IANA. He has also staffed at S&P, McGraw-Hill, United Business Media, Advance Media, Tribune Co., The New York Times Co., and worked in supply chain with BASF, the world's largest chemical producer. Reach him at stuartchirls@firecrown.com.