Resins, film, and molded plastics flow both directions across the border — raw material south to Mexican plants, finished plastic goods north — almost entirely in dry vans.
Plastics and packaging move almost entirely in standard 53-foot dry vans — palletized, in gaylords, or in bulk bags — with food-grade trailer requirements for film and resin destined for food applications.
Finished-plastics postings concentrate in Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico City, and Monterrey, while southbound resin flows post out of Houston and Green Bay.
Plastics are one of the quiet giants of cross-border freight. The Cargado marketplace sees the category from both ends of the supply chain: raw plastic resins, granules, and totes moving south from U.S. petrochemical hubs to Mexican manufacturers, and finished goods — molded parts, film, foam, plastic sheets, and packaging — moving back north.
Much of this freight exists because of Mexico's manufacturing programs: plants operating under IMMEX import resin and film duty-deferred, convert it, and export the finished product. That structure creates dependable round-trip freight — raw material in, finished goods out — which is exactly the kind of balanced flow carriers price aggressively.
Plastics are light, clean, and forgiving: the overwhelming majority moves palletized, in gaylords, or in bulk bags inside standard dry vans. The main nuances are trailer condition for food-grade film and resin, load securement for tall stacked rolls, and cube — plastic freight often cubes out a trailer before it weighs out. Postings that state the packaging format (totes, big bags over pallets, floor-loaded rolls) get more accurate bids.
For brokers, the balanced north-south structure is the strategic angle: a carrier delivering resin into central Mexico wants a finished-plastics load back out, and postings that acknowledge that round-trip reality — with realistic timing between the legs — consistently attract stronger commitments than one-way asks on the same corridors.
Explore resin and plastics corridors on the lanes pages, or start with the Mexico 101 guides if cross-border freight is new territory.
When the plastic is destined for food packaging — film, bottles, food-contact resin — shippers typically require food-grade trailers: clean, odor-neutral, and without contamination from prior loads. Standard industrial resin and molded parts are less strict. State the requirement in the posting so carriers bid with the right equipment the first time.
Because plastics span everything from floor-loaded film rolls to bulk bags of granules, carriers cannot price a posting labeled only general cargo. Naming the product and packaging format — resin totes, big bags over pallets, palletized film — tells the carrier what securement and trailer condition the load needs, which directly translates into more bids at better rates.
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