Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the World Trade Bridge has been a cornerstone of North American trade. Since its construction, the bridge has significantly enhanced the speed and efficiency of cross-border commerce.
Kent Richard, interim bridge director for the City of Laredo, sat down with Timothy Dooner and shared insights about Laredo’s thriving logistics industry and ambitious infrastructure plans.
“The greatest contribution of the World Trade Bridge lies in streamlining the...
More than $32.6 million worth of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine has been seized over the past month from commercial shipments at ports of entry in Texas, Michigan and Washington.
Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge found $19.8 million in methamphetamine and $144,500 worth of heroin concealed in a shipment of cucumbers and jalapenos.
CBP officers were checking a tractor-trailer arriving from Mexico at the bridge...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/recent-drug-seizures-at-ports-of-entry-in-3-states-top-32m
In 2023, Mexico supplanted Canada and China as the top source of imports to the U.S.
Throughout 2024, Mexico solidified its place as the top U.S. trading partner, boosted by cross-border commerce for automotive goods, computers, cell phones, oil and fresh produce.
While U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade continues to rise, other major stories include ongoing cargo theft against carriers and truck driver labor disputes in the country, as well as President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
As 2024...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/top-5-us-mexico-trade-stories-of-2024
For the second time in 24 hours, protests on the Mexico side of the World Trade Bridge are disrupting cross-border cargo traffic.
Demonstrators in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, began blocking the roadway that connects the bridge to Laredo, Texas, around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
All northbound cargo trucks from Mexico to the U.S. are being redirected to the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge, according to Laredo authorities. The Colombia Solidarity bridge is about 19 miles east of the World Trade Bridge.
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/protesters-in-mexico-resume-blockade-at-texas-border-bridge
A protest at the Mexico border has caused a major backup at the busiest cargo bridge in the U.S.
Around noon on Tuesday, protestors in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, began blocking the roadway on the Mexico side of the World Trade Bridge that connects to Laredo, Texas.
All northbound cargo trucks carrying goods from Mexico to the U.S. are being blocked at the bridge, said Armando Taboada, assistant director of field operations at the Laredo Field Office.
“There is a protest in the city of Nuevo Laredo …...
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun requiring trucks using international bridge crossings in South Texas to print and display the QR code of their cargo manifests on their windshields.
The QR code requirement is for cargo trucks arriving from Mexico using the eight ports of entry that are administered by the Laredo field office. Those include international bridges in Laredo, Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Hidalgo, Rio Grande City, Progreso and Roma.
Officials for CBP said the QR code...
The city of Laredo, Texas, recently passed an ordinance requiring all trucking companies using the World Trade Bridge to have $100 minimum in their automated vehicle identification (AVI) accounts in order to pay crossing fees.
The ordinance, which was unanimously approved by the city council on July 22, is aimed at ferreting out commercial operators whose empty accounts have resulted in their being forced to turn around on the U.S. side of the international bridge, causing massive delays and...
Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Continental AG announces $90M manufacturing facility in Mexico; 3PL Outerspace opens fulfillment operations in Arizona; South Texas border logistics park announces expansion; and CBP seizes tramadol at Laredo’s World Trade Bridge.
Continental AG announces $90M manufacturing facility in Mexico
German tire and industrial parts manufacturing giant Continental AG announced...
Several Texas-Mexico border infrastructure developments recently received a boost after a new law took effect that speeds up the federal approval process for international cargo bridge projects.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led the policy change effort to reform the presidential permitting process for new and expanded border bridges, with the focus on international crossings in Laredo, Eagle Pass and Brownsville, Texas.
The bill, which sets a maximum 120-day...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/texas-cargo-bridge-projects-could-be-expedited-under-new-law
A shootout between gunmen and Mexican authorities has jammed up commercial traffic through Laredo, Texas, according to officials.
The incident occurred Wednesday night, when gunmen tried to enter the Mexican state of Coahuila along the U.S.-Mexico border. They were confronted by law enforcement agents, according to a statement from the Public Security Secretariat of Coahuila.
After the incident, Mexican authorities set up checkpoints on several federal highways leading north toward Laredo...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/mexico-shootout-slows-texas-border-truck-traffic