Texas Border Business
LAREDO, Texas – C.H. Robinson announced the opening of a new facility that speeds up trade across the Mexico border, at a time when a growing number of companies are nearshoring to diversify their supply chains. The new facility is one of the largest of its kind in Laredo, the nation’s No. 1 port.
C.H. Robinson employs bilingual experts across nine offices in Mexico and along the U.S. southern border. The new 400,000 square foot facility will expand Laredo’s strong freight logistics and trucking employment sector and is Located in Northwest Laredo between the World Trade and Laredo Colombia Solidarity International bridges.
“The Port of Laredo handled $268 billion in trade with Mexico last year, up 20% from 2021,” said Luca Winters, General Manager of C.H. Robinson’s Laredo facility and 10-year Laredo resident. “This year, Laredo became the busiest port in the nation, surpassing all other ocean, air and land ports. And there’s been a 20% increase in northbound truck loads crossing Laredo in the first half of this year. As businesses look to this community to support their cross-border shipping, C.H. Robinson is proud to help Laredo solidify its leadership in global trade.”
It typically takes three trucks to bring a shipment through Laredo. A Mexico trucking firm brings the trailer to the border, a Mexico transfer company takes it across, then the freight is unloaded and reloaded onto a U.S. trucking firm’s trailer. The new C.H. Robinson facility is significantly larger than most, has more loading docks than most and has loading docks on both sides, so freight can be immediately unloaded when it arrives.
“C.H. Robinson manages more than 1 million trucking, rail, ocean and air shipments a year in this region and has been continually growing here in tandem with the region’s growth,” said Mike Burkhart, C.H. Robinson’s Vice President for Mexico. “We meticulously designed our newest facility to give global companies the greater scale, speed and service they need as they move more of their interests to Mexico.”
The Port of Laredo is near several manufacturing centers in and around San Antonio and Mexico, including the robust automotive industry in Monterrey. By tonnage and value, auto parts are the No. 1 product traveling through the port.
In Mexico and along the U.S. southern border, C.H. Robinson:
- Accounts for 1 in 10 of all truckload border crossings into the United States.
- Manages more than 1.5 million sq. ft. of space, including 660,000 sq. ft. across three facilities in Laredo.
- Offers direct trucking between Mexico and the United States, as well as 230 loading docks and room for 700 trailers in Laredo for fast transfer of freight from Mexico trucking firms to U.S. trucking firms.
- Handles 170,000 U.S. Customs entries a year.
- Provides freight shippers with real-time data on clearance through U.S. Customs and 40 other U.S. agencies, as well as the benefits of C.H. Robinson’s proprietary U.S. Customs Analytics tool. It tracks a shipper’s exposure to tariffs and duties down to the SKU level, surfaces opportunities for duty recovery and reveals potential savings in their supply chain.
C.H. Robinson is a Fortune 200 company that manages global supply chains for more than 100,000 customers. To learn more about C.H. Robinson, go to chrobinson.com.
About C.H. Robinson
C.H. Robinson solves logistics problems for companies across the globe and across industries, from the simple to the most complex. With $30 billion in freight under management and 20 million shipments annually, we are one of the world’s largest logistics platforms. Our global suite of services accelerates trade to seamlessly deliver the products and goods that drive the world’s economy. With the combination of our multimodal transportation management system and expertise, we use our information advantage to deliver smarter solutions for our 100,000 customers and 96,000 contract carriers. Our technology is built by and for supply chain experts to bring faster, more meaningful improvements to our customers’ businesses. As a responsible global citizen, we are also proud to contribute millions of dollars to support causes that matter to our company, our Foundation and our employees. For more information, visit us at www.chrobinson.com (Nasdaq: CHRW).
