Insights

Eleven questions freight brokers ask again and again about Mexico and Canada freight, answered plainly: where the carriers are, vetting without an MC number, B-1 drivers, customs brokers, the Carta Porte, quoting, insurance, bonded carriers, LTL and hazmat.

Canada freight runs in three directions: within Canada, across the U.S. border, and into and out of Mexico. Each one has its own paperwork, equipment and carrier records, and its own way of being priced in Canadian dollars. Here is the map.

Asset carriers, brokers, 3PLs and forwarders each own a different piece of a Mexico move. What each one does, the eight questions to ask before your first load, and how to tell whether the rate you are quoted sits where the market is.

Canadian carriers are regulated by their home province under the National Safety Code, cross the border under a CBSA carrier code, and hold a USDOT number only if they run into the United States. Here is what to check, and in what order.

A TMS is your system of record. A freight marketplace is where your load meets vetted carriers. Cargado is the marketplace, connected to your TMS, so a Mexico load you save there reaches carriers without re-typing.

Flatbed, step deck, RGN and oversize loads post on Cargado like any other load. What changes on a cross-border project move is everything around the posting: two permit regimes, escorts, travel curfews and a smaller carrier pool.

A customs broker can file the in-bond, but filing is not the same as being liable. The bond that covers the move belongs to a bonded carrier, and CBP holds that carrier to the clock.

CTPAT is held by companies, not drivers. Drivers carry FAST. Your customer's security program decides which legs need a certified carrier, and the company that crosses the trailer is the one whose status counts at the bridge.

B-1 drivers are not a loophole in cross border trucking, they are the carrier base, which is why the freight still moves there. Enforcement removed the operators least-equipped to stay compliant, not the demand.

There is no MC or DOT to run on a Mexican carrier. What U.S. brokers should verify instead: RFC, SICT permit, CAAT, insurance, and identity, step by step.

The two ways freight crosses the U.S.-Mexico border, when each wins, and what transloading vs through-trailer means for cost, claims, security, and qu

Customs broker referrals, cold outreach, one big partner, or a vetted marketplace: how brokers source Mexican carriers, and what makes postings get bids.

Seven criteria for any Mexico freight platform: vetting depth, bilingual operations, border workflow, rate context, network location, pricing, and TMS

A broker's guide to turning nearshoring into covered loads: the metro-by-metro demand map, corridor math, crossing capacity, and the carrier reality.

What a load board is, why boards built for U.S. domestic freight break down in Mexico, and what a purpose-built cross-border marketplace looks like.