A full is Mexico's double-trailer configuration: one tractor pulling two trailers, including double 53-foot sets on approved corridors under NOM-012. Fulls move enormous domestic volume but must split at the border, since U.S. rules do not allow double 53s.
A full is the Mexican doubles configuration: a tractor pulling two trailers connected by a converter dolly. Mexican weights-and-dimensions regulation (NOM-012) permits doubles, including double 53-foot combinations, on designated high-specification highway corridors, subject to weight caps, equipment requirements, and routing rules. The full is a backbone of Mexican domestic linehaul economics: one driver, one power unit, two boxes of freight moving between industrial hubs, and the reason the single-trailer configuration has its own name, sencillo.
The border is where the full's math changes: U.S. federal rules do not allow double-53 combinations, so a full arriving northbound splits into two single moves at the border, each crossing separately with its own documents and its own transfer, and southbound freight can be married into fulls once inside Mexico. This has practical consequences. Pricing: a Mexican carrier's quote per trailer on a corridor where they run fulls reflects shared linehaul costs, part of why certain Mexican legs price better than mileage alone suggests. Planning: two trailers that traveled as one unit can hit the border and clear at different speeds, since each has its own paperwork lottery. Tracking: 'the truck' may legally be two shipments; anchor your visibility to trailer numbers rather than to the tractor. When capacity is tight, understanding which carriers run fulls on your corridor tells you where the efficient trailer capacity actually lives.
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