(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on December 2, 2009.)
The value of freight moved by rail, truck and pipeline between the United States and Canada and Mexico in September totaled $57.3 billion, down 20.2 percent compared with September 2008’s total value, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
Railed export value fell 28.3 percent to $4.4 billion and railed import value dropped 22.9 percent to $7.3 billion. Trucked export and import values declined 12.9 percent to $24.1 billion, and 16.2 percent to $23.9 billion, respectively.
The value of export freight railed between the United States and Canada plunged 30.8 percent to $2.7 billion while imported freight value plummeted 30.2 percent to $5.4 billion. The value of export freight railed between the United States and Mexico fell 24.6 percent to $1.8 billion while imported freight value declined 2.5 percent to $1.9 billion.