William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Aug 23, 2012 10:00AM EDT
U.S. shippers importing goods from Mexico say they are looking for new transportation options as truckload capacity along the border gets tighter.
"We’ve had to diversify to get sustainable capacity,” said Sonney Jones, division director of transportation in Dallas for flooring manufacturer Dal-Tile.
“That’s meant using more rail boxcars in some shorter lanes," such as Monterrey, Mexico to Dallas, "as a replacement for intermodal or truck capacity,” Jones said.
The peak shipping season could further squeeze available truck capacity, said Troy Ryley, director of transportation and distribution at Transplace Mexico.
As more goods are shipped directly from China to Mexico, fewer shipments are routed through U.S. ports, which means fewer trucks heading south to Mexico.
“That dynamic creates a significant issue for shippers,” Ryley said, “especially as there’s going to be a real push soon in retail as the peak shipping season hits.
The value of goods shipped by truck across the U.S.-Mexican border hit an all-time high in May, increasing 17.1 percent year-over-year to $29.1 billion.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wbcassidy_joc.