CIITR Research Brief Series 2009: Northbound Freight Traffic Trends at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Recent changes in the global economy have resulted in significant decline in global trade and freight movement, so there is a growing interest in the United States to identify trends in foreign trade and freight movement across U.S. borders. Researchers limited the project to five land ports of entry (Laredo, Hidalgo, and El Paso in Texas; Nogales in Arizona; and Otay Mesa Station in California) and focused on both rail and truck transport, the two major freight shipment modes. Researchers performed the following four types of analyses to assess the temporal and spatial variations, and possible trends in northbound freight flows across the U.S.-Mexico border: -- Changes in freight flow by mode. After comparing the numbers of loaded and empty trucks and rail cars, researchers found that trucks are significantly more important than rail in transporting freight at all five ports. -- Changes in freight flow by commodities. Researchers found that manufactured goods, followed by food and agricultural products, are the two most important commodity groups imported from Mexico. -- Changes in freight flow by port and destination state. The seasonal and year-by-year variations of these origin-destination type flow patterns are difficult to capture, so the analysis is only approximate. -- Changes in wait time of commercial vehicles. Increased wait times were observed at all gateways, with some reduction in 2007 at three ports of entry.