Freight with Canada and Mexico nearly doubled from pandemic low in May 2021
Federal data released in July 2021 showed $108.6 billion of U.S. transborder freight in May, up 93.8% from May 2020 and almost back to 2019 levels, with trucks moving most of it.
In July 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics released its North American transborder freight numbers for May. They showed trade with Canada and Mexico had nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
The headline numbers
Freight moving between the U.S. and its two neighbors totaled $108.6 billion in May 2021, across all modes. That was 93.8% more than in May 2020, when the pandemic had shut down much of North American manufacturing. It was still 1.1% below the $109.8 billion recorded in May 2019.
U.S.-Canada freight was up 77.4% from a year earlier and U.S.-Mexico freight was up 113.5%. Compared with May 2019, Canada trade was down 1.4% and Mexico trade was down 0.7%.
Trucks carried most of it
Trucks moved $68.0 billion, or 62.6% of all transborder freight. That was up 73.6% from May 2020 and 1.4% below May 2019.
By border, trucks carried $30.9 billion on the northern border and $37.1 billion on the southern border. Truck freight with Mexico rose 89.2% from a year earlier, and with Canada it rose 58.0%.
The three busiest truck crossings together handled 43.5% of transborder truck freight:
- Laredo, Texas: $15.9 billion
- Detroit: $8.1 billion
- Port Huron, Michigan: $5.5 billion
The top truck commodities were computers and parts at $12.6 billion, electrical machinery at $10.1 billion, and vehicles and parts at $8.1 billion.
Rail rebounded even faster
Rail moved $15.9 billion, up 190.3% from May 2020, though still 2.2% below May 2019. Laredo was also the busiest rail crossing, at $3.7 billion, followed by Eagle Pass, Texas, and Port Huron.
Motor vehicles and parts were the largest rail commodity at $5.7 billion. That reflected how much of the auto supply chain crosses the borders by train.
What it meant for carriers
For cross-border carriers, the May data confirmed that North American freight had largely bounced back from the spring 2020 collapse. Laredo's lead highlighted how much freight runs through a single gateway, which makes delays there costly.
The numbers are not adjusted for inflation or seasonality, so part of the gain reflected higher prices. Still, the broad recovery across both borders and both main modes pointed to steady demand for cross-border trucking heading into the second half of 2021.