U.S. Cross-Border Rail Trade With Canada Continues to Climb

JOC Staff | Mar 29, 2013 12:30PM EDT

U.S. cross-border trade by rail with Canada

Cross-border trade by rail between the United States and Canada has been on the rise for the past eight months, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

U.S. rail exports to Canada jumped 5.6 percent to $2.43 billion from $2.3 billion in January 2012, although they were down almost 9 percent from the level seen in December 2012. For the full year of 2012, exports were up 11.8 percent by value over 2011.

U.S. rail imports also increased year-over-year in January 2013, rising 4.2 percent to $5.82 billion, but volume as measured by value fell .5 percent or $87 million month-to-month. The value of imports by rail from Canada rose 7.4 percent year-over-year in 2012.

Truck trade between the U.S. and Canada also increased in January after declining in December. U.S. exports by truck rose over 2 percent year-over-year and 6.6 percent month-to-month to $15.77 billion in January. In 2012 the value of exports by truck grew 3.8 percent over 2011.

The value of imports by truck from Canada rose 2.8 percent in January over the same month in 2012 to $11.29 billion; this was 11.5 percent or $1.16 billion higher than the level seen in December 2012. The value of imports by truck rose 2.5 percent year-over-year in 2012.

BTS noted in a press release last week: “The top commodity category overall transported between the U.S. and Canada by surface modes of transportation in 2012 was vehicles and vehicle parts (other than railway vehicles and parts) with $107.4 billion in trade. U.S.-Canada trade of this commodity group was split roughly even between exports and imports, reflecting the interdependency of automotive plants on both sides of the border.”

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Teamsters Sue to Block Cross-Border Mexican Trucks Program

The Teamsters union has filed suit in an attempt to block the Department of Transportation from opening the U.S. border to what it termed “dangerous” Mexican trucks through DOT’s cross-border pilot program.

“Congress has repeatedly and overwhelmingly set tough safety conditions for any cross-border trucking program, and this one clearly doesn’t meet those conditions,” Teamsters General President James Hoffa said in a statement.

Although the program has cleared the first Mexican carrier to come into the United States, Transportes Olympic, some Mexican trucking companies are waiting for more certainty for opportunities under the program, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

The Teamsters, along with the groups Public Citizen and the Sierra Club, challenged the program in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

It claimed that the pilot program set by DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:

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Mexican Trucking Companies Waiting for Certainty in Cross-Border Program

Most Mexican trucking companies are not willing to make the long-term investments to participate in the latest cross-border pilot program with the United States, in part because of uncertainties over the program’s future, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Companies are reluctant to invest in technology to meet tougher U.S. pollution controls, Jose Refugio Munoz, CEO of the Mexican trucking association Camara Nacional del Autotransporte de Carga, known as or Canacar, told Bloomberg.

The current 18-month pilot program followed a prior similar pilot program, which wan 2007 to 2009 before it was canceled after President Obama took office.

The Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration resumed the program after Mexico said it would put more than $2 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods in protest of the suspended program, first outlined under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

FMCSA last month issued the first permit to a Mexican trucking company, Transportes Olympic, and a lone truck from that carrier remains the only cleared truck for U.S. entry under the program.

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CrossBorder Trucking with Mexico – DOT ‘Assumes’ it is Safe

I have been writing about this for a while, explaining that if the Department of Transportation (DOT) head and Obama succeed in opening the border more American jobs will go away, and the safety we NOW have on interstate highways will diminish greatly. The U.S. DOT head – Ray LaHood obviously “assumes” that travels into Mexico are safe – as he always says here at the DOT we are all about safety.

Obviously, Ray LaHood has missed all the memos saying otherwise. Here is part of the warning issued in April by the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs: The Mexican government makes a considerable effort to protect U.S. citizens and other visitors to major tourist destinations. Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico generally do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major trafficking routes. Nevertheless, crime and violence are serious problems and can occur anywhere. While most victims of violence are Mexican citizens associated with criminal activity, the security situation poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well.

I highly doubt that many U.S. truck drivers will be ONLY delivering into the resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico. Mexico is having trouble securing their own country, how can Obama and Ray LaHood guarantee it is safe to let American truck drivers into Mexico? Tourist and vacationers normally don’t carry millions of dollars worth of merchandise with them – truck drivers do.

DOT is all about safety – really? Here is more on the travel warning issued in April: Carjacking and highway robbery are serious problems in many parts of the border region and U.S. citizens have been murdered in such incidents. Most victims who complied with carjackers at these checkpoints have reported that they were not physically harmed. Incidents have occurred during the day and at night, and carjackers have used a variety of techniques, including bumping moving vehicles to force them to stop and running vehicles off the road at high speed. There are some indications that criminals have particularly targeted newer and larger vehicles with U.S. license plates, especially dark-colored SUVs. However, victims’ vehicles have included those with both Mexican and American registration and vary in type from late model SUVs and pick-up trucks to old sedans. If you make frequent visits to border cities, you should vary your route and park in well-lighted, guarded and paid parking lots. Exercise caution when entering or exiting vehicles.

It is obvious that the U.S. DOT is NOT all about safety when they expect truck drivers to haul millions of dollars worth of merchandise into Mexico – when travelers are being killed for their vehicles or what little money they have with them. What about the truck drivers, Ray LaHood? Can you guarantee the safety of American truck drivers in Mexico? What about trucks coming into the U.S. can you yourself guarantee the safety of Americans traveling U.S. Highways?

From the Latin American Herald Tribune:
Two armored trucks, known as “monsters,” outfitted with 2.5-centimeter (one-inch) steel plates, two other partially completed trucks and 23 tractor-trailers awaiting modification were found in the garage. The vehicles, which are used for patrols and smuggling drugs into the United States, have air conditioning, armored diesel engines and steel plates to protect occupants, the 4th Military Region said.

The armored trucks, which can only be taken out with 20 mm anti-tank grenades, are being used in the war between the Gulf cartel and Los Zetas for control of the border region, the army said. Armored trucks have been found in several Mexican states, including Zacatecas, Jalisco and Tamaulipas. A total of 109 armored trucks have been seized from drug traffickers in Tamaulipas.

Sources:
Travel Warning U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs
Army Seizes Armored Vehicles in Northern Mexico

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