Dive Brief:
- Ryder System has opened a new warehouse in Laredo, Texas, and expanded its drayage yard in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, with the goal of securing more cross-border freight, the company announced Wednesday.
- The logistics and transportation services company estimates it manages 250,000 freight movements annually across the Mexican border, with about 85% of that volume coming through Laredo, Ryder Mexico VP of Supply Chain Operations Ricardo Alvarez told Trucking Dive in an email. But there is more business to be won amid potential growth in nearshoring.
- Ryder is monitoring nearshoring activity at the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez border as well as the Tijuana-San Diego border for future opportunities. “We will continue to explore investing in other U.S.-Mexico trade ports where we see similar needs and opportunities and where our customers need support,” Alvarez said.
Dive Insight:
Ryder has provided cross-border shipping services for nearly three decades, but the growing trend of nearshoring production in Mexico has fueled a frenzy among carriers seeking to capture market share of the growing cross-border shipping business.
“If you look at the market, truck border crossing activity between the U.S. and Mexico is up more than 20% annually since the pandemic, as more businesses look to nearshoring to diversify their supply chains and shorten lead times,” Alvarez said in a statement announcing the expanded operations.
Markets targeted by Ryder include automotive, industrial manufacturing, high tech, and consumer packaged goods, “which have significant manufacturing facilities in Mexico and where Ryder is very strong,” he said.
The transportation services company’s new 228,000 square-foot Laredo warehouse, about 3 miles from World Trade Bridge on the U.S.-Mexico border, features 102 doors, can accommodate 143 trailers, and operates as part of Ryder System’s supply chain solutions business unit. The expanded yard in Nuevo Laredo, which is part of Ryder Mexico, a subsidiary of Ryder System, increased parking for tractors by 42% and trailers by 39%, Alvarez said.
The Nuevo Laredo expansion increases capacity, which will improve efficiency and customs processing as well as provide better facilities for drivers and administrative employees, Alvarez said.
The goal is to improve door-to-door supply chain solutions for shippers who choose Ryder.
“We have the new capacity at the Mexico yard, we have dedicated power units to perform drayage, and we have our control tower located at the border 24/7 with all the expertise and IT capabilities to provide visibility, as well as the expanded facilities on the U.S. side,” Alvarez said.
