In August, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics released a June 2011 report showing that trade across United States borders with Canada and Mexico is on the rise. The increase in the dollar value of US surface trade with its two neighboring countries was by 11 percent, reaching $77.5 billion according to the report.
This report marked a 52.7 percent increase from June of 2009 in the dollar value of surface trade. It showed a 4.6 percent increase over June 2008, the previous high mark according to an article on the Journal of Commerce website.
They also pointed out that the figures in the June report show that international ocean shipping and trade with customers and suppliers in Mexico and Canada have increased, “despite a faltering domestic economy”. They say that “trucking companies such as FedEx Freight, Swift Transportation and Averitt Express are expanding on both sides of the US border as freight flow increases. Canadian companies such as TransForce and Purolator are expanding in the US to capture more cross-border business.”
“The expansion of the COFC product to and from Mexico completes our COFC geographic footprint,” said Richard Stocking, President of Swift Transportation. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics showed that surface trade with Mexico was up 16.6 percent year-over-year in May and 6.5 percent from April.
Averitt Express has shortened transit times between the Southern US and Western Canada with a new service that speeds freight across the border over weekends. “Our customers expressed a need for this type of service, and our operations team built a model that allows us to optimize freight movement from the Southwestern US to Calgary and other points in Western Canada,” said Phil Piece, Averitt Express’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
The Journal of Commerce says that “December and January saw two major cross-border transportation deals, with Canada’s TransForce buying Dynamex and Vitran acquiring Milan Express. Both deals secured a broader US footprint for the Canadian trucking firms.”
In June, 85.5 percent of US trade by dollar value with Canada and Mexico was transported by truck, rail and pipeline. 10.3 percent was transported as ocean freight by ocean shipping vessels, and 4.2 percent was transported by air.
“The value of US exports increased slightly faster than that of imports, rising 11.8 percent year-over-year compared with a 10.3 percent increase for imports. Trucks accounted for 70 percent of that freight by value, or $53.9 billion. Railroads handled $12.5 billion in cross-border trade, and $7.4 billion moved by pipeline.”
About the Author: Nelson R. Cabrera is the Business Development Manager of Lilly & Associates International, a transportation and logistics company specializing in ocean freight and ocean shipping services. For more information, please visit http://www.shiplilly.com/.
Sources:
http://www.joc.com/global-trade/nafta-surface-trade-rises-11-percent
http://www.bts.gov/
http://www.joc.com/intermodal-shipping/swift-expands-cross-border-intermodal-service-mexico
http://www.joc.com/ltl/fedex-freight-expands-mexico