Insights & news

Price every cross-border lane by leg and all-in, and add a cross-border section that settles the crossing, the customs broker on each side, the Incoterms rule, fuel and accessorials by leg, and the documents each party provides. Built from CBP, CBSA, FMCSA, SAT and ICC sources, with a lane template to download.

A U.S.-Mexico truckload changes hands at the border, and so does the coverage. This page maps who carries what on each leg, why Carmack ends at the border on most moves, how declared value works on both sides, and how to document and file a claim.

A Laredo truckload is three legs with up to four companies: a U.S. carrier, a transfer or drayage carrier across the bridge, and a Mexican carrier, with a customs broker on each side. Who is responsible on each leg, why the law splits it, and what to confirm before tender.

Pharr-Reynosa's second span is open now. The World Trade Bridge expansion (2027 to mid-2028), Douglas commercial port (fall 2028), Otay Mesa East (late 2028, cars first) and Colombia's freight-only bridges (2028 to 2030, depending on the source) are next; Green Corridors is 2031; the rest are proposals without dates.

Published guides put U.S.-Mexico full truckload at 2 to 5 business days, with the crossing taking hours to a day once documents are filed. Lane ranges, where the time goes, what the guides say about direction, and how to quote it.

Northbound truck crossings from Mexico fell 4.0% in September 2026 and are flat for the year, while August trade value is up more than 25%. Public southbound truck counts show Laredo and El Paso up about 3.5% for the quarter and most smaller Texas bridges down.

One page, kept current, with the dates U.S. brokers and shippers need for Mexico customs paperwork: the electronic Manifestación de Valor (MVE) by customs regime, the rule for foreign importers without an e.firma, and the five-stage VUCEM-to-VUTCE permit migration.

What border time is made of on a northbound produce load, dated CBP waits at Pharr, Nogales and Laredo, and how to quote door-to-door transit.

Mexican carriers usually insure the truck, not the load. What their liability is worth on a reefer of produce, whether a U.S. cargo policy reaches Mexico, and how brokers and shippers cover the gap.

Mexican packhouses often keep drivers off the dock. Why they do it, what shipper load and count means for a claim, and the records a broker collects instead.

A Mexican-leg claim does not run on Carmack. The liability cap, who you claim against at the border, the produce evidence that holds, and what to set up first.

Section 232 by product, the 10% Section 301 tariff, USMCA review dates, antidumping cases and Mexico's tariff decrees, dated and sourced.

Where Mexico's furniture and building materials freight ships from, what tariffs, ISPM-15 and the liability cap add, and how dry van rates moved.

Servers, switchgear and transformers moving north from Mexico. Where they ship from, carrier liability, oversize permits, tariffs and how rates moved.

Where Mexico's paper and packaging freight ships from, what ISPM-15, Lacey Act, Section 301 and Carta Porte add, and how dry van rates moved this year.