Food & beverage freight

Food and beverage freight is one of the highest-volume categories on the Cargado marketplace, and one of the most varied. Postings range from candy and confectionery to dairy in aseptic tetrapak cartons, non-alcoholic beverages and juice, beer and tequila under permit, and frozen or refrigerated foods moving in both directions across the border.

What the posting data shows

• Candy and confectionery is a standout: El Paso is one of the busiest single markets for it, and chocolate and sweetener loads recur around Toluca and Cuautitlan Izcalli.
• Dairy in tetrapak is a signature Mexican flow: shelf-stable milk posted as leche tetrapak moves steadily out of Aguascalientes, Irapuato, Torreon, and Xalapa.
• Beverages (juice, raw juice materials, and non-alcoholic drinks) cluster around Cuautitlan Izcalli and Mexico City, while Guadalajara anchors tequila and spirits volume.
• Frozen and refrigerated foods appear across the network, from fresh beef at Ciudad Juarez and El Paso to frozen chicken at Laredo and refrigerated foodstuffs into Ontario and Quebec.

Equipment: reefer and food-grade dry van

Temperature-controlled loads run in reefers, but a large share of food and beverage freight is shelf-stable and moves in dry vans, with a catch. Food shippers commonly require food-grade trailers: clean, odor-neutral equipment with no history of hauling contaminating commodities, often with washout documentation. Carriers accustomed to food work know the standard; postings should state the requirement up front.

Crossing the border with food

Northbound food under FDA jurisdiction requires FDA prior notice filed before arrival, on top of the standard customs documents; there are exceptions, including meat, poultry, and egg products under exclusive USDA jurisdiction, so confirm with the customs broker which requirements apply. Alcoholic beverages add permit requirements: beer postings in the data explicitly flag them. Timing matters too: border paperwork should be confirmed current before dispatch, so food loads are typically dispatched with the crossing already coordinated between the customs brokers on both sides. The Mexico 101 guides walk through the document flow step by step.

A three-country category

Food and beverage is also one of the most genuinely three-country freight types on the marketplace. Mexican foodstuffs post consistently into Toronto and Montreal, frozen foods move through western Canadian markets, and refrigerated goods flow into Ontario: long lanes where a single carrier relationship can cover the entire move. Browse the lanes pages to see corridor-level activity from deep-Mexico origins to Canadian destinations.

Industry guides

Where this freight ships from, what the border adds to its cost, and how carrier bids moved out of its markets:

• How to move packaged food and beverages between Mexico and the U.S.
• Tequila and mezcal freight, from the CRT certificate to the excise refund
• How to move frozen, dairy and meat across the U.S.-Mexico border by reefer

Tariff and trade rule changes are tracked on Mexico-U.S. tariffs and trade rules.

On the Cargado network

How food and beverage moves on the network

Food and beverage is three groups of freight, grouped by us from unstructured descriptions, and they split by trailer. Frozen and refrigerated food is mostly posted for reefer. Packaged and dry food is mostly posted for dry van, and so are beverages. Each group is posted in all seven directions: Mexico to the U.S., the U.S. to Mexico, Canada to the U.S., the U.S. to Canada, and within Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

The split decides who bids. Two loads a shipper calls food can need two pools, one reefer and one dry van. Carriers do not declare a product, so there is no food carrier list; the trailer on the posting is what reaches the right one.

Food-grade is the requirement to know. Shippers post food-grade trailer requests in every direction, and dry van and reefer both carry it as a spec. On a border load, brokers can flag agency inspections, FDA, USDA, CBP Agriculture and the tequila certificate of origin among them; the flag informs the carrier and certifies no one. Temperature is set on the load, and carriers declare no range.

Food and beverage by group

• Frozen and refrigerated food: reefer, in seven directions.
• Packaged and dry food: dry van, in seven directions.
• Beverages: dry van, in seven directions.
• Food-grade: requested in every direction; a spec on both dry van and reefer.
• Inspections a broker can flag: FDA, USDA, CBP Agriculture, tequila certificate of origin.
• Temperature: set on the load; carriers declare no range.

How to reach food and beverage capacity on Cargado

Pick the group first, because it picks the trailer and the pool. Frozen or refrigerated: post reefer, set the temperature with a continuous run, tick food-grade. Packaged food or beverages: post dry van, tick food-grade, and give the pallet count and weight, since cases of beverage run heavy. On a border load, flag the inspections that apply and, for tequila, the certificate of origin, and require C-TPAT if your customer's program asks. A distribution load that stays inside Mexico goes to Mexican carriers only. The carriers notified match the lane, not the product; the suggested list shows whether each came by saved lane, service area or a posted truck.

At a glance

Freight posted on Cargado

• Frozen and refrigerated food is posted in seven directions, and most loads are posted for reefer.
• Packaged and dry food is posted in seven directions, and most loads are posted for dry van.
• Beverages are posted in seven directions, and most loads are posted for dry van.
• Shippers post loads from Mexico to the U.S. that ask for a food-grade trailer.
• Shippers post food-grade trailer requests in every direction, including the U.S. to Mexico, Canada to the U.S., and within Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

Carriers declare it

• Brokers can flag agency inspections such as FDA, USDA and the tequila certificate of origin on a crossing.

How the marketplace works

• The commodity grouping is Cargado's own classification of unstructured commodity descriptions, not a platform field.
• Carriers do not declare food or beverage as a specialty; the groups come from posting descriptions, not a carrier field.
• Brokers set the temperature on the load with a continuous run; carriers do not declare temperature ranges.
• Suggested carriers are ranked on open truck, saved search, service area and recent bids, and the broker sees the reason for each.

More questions

Do frozen and dry food use the same carriers?

Not necessarily. Frozen and refrigerated food is mostly posted for reefer, and dry food mostly for dry van. Carriers are not sorted by product, so a carrier with both trailer types can bid on either. Post the trailer you need.

Can I require a food-grade trailer?

Yes. Shippers post food-grade trailer requests in every direction, and dry van and reefer both offer it as a spec on the load. Put it on the posting up front so carriers price the trailer you need.

Do beverages move to and from Canada on Cargado?

Yes. Beverages are posted from Canada to the U.S., from the U.S. to Canada and within Canada, mostly for dry van. Loads within Canada go only to Canadian carriers.