Cross-border less-than-truckload carrier Averitt has undertaken a major expansion of its distribution and fulfillment center in San Antonio.
The expansion was spurred by the nearshoring movement of companies shifting production and manufacturing to Mexico to be closer to the U.S., officials said.
“We’re really just beginning to see the effects of nearshoring on cross-border trucking,” Ed Habe, vice president of Mexico sales for Averitt in San Antonio, told FreightWaves. “We’re really about two years away from the real nearshoring boom in Mexico, when we’ll see a lot more factories come online.”
Averitt is a transportation and logistics provider headquartered in Cookeville, Tennessee. The company has more than 5,700 tractors and 13,000 trailers, with 85 locations across the country. Averitt’s team consists of more than 8,000 associates.
Across Texas, Averitt has more than 800,000 square feet of distribution and fulfillment warehousing, including facilities in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Laredo, El Paso, Harlingen, Del Rio and Tyler.
Nearshoring — the relocation of production and manufacturing operations from one country to another to be closer to end consumers — has been fueling manufacturing growth across Mexico as shippers look for supply chains that are closer, cheaper and more favorable to doing business with the U.S.
With 28 international bridges connecting Texas to Mexico, the Lone Star State and especially cities along the I-35 corridor stand to benefit from nearshoring in Mexico, according to officials.
San Antonio is located between Laredo and Austin, along the I-35 corridor. The city is about 160 miles from the Mexican border in Laredo.
Averitt’s San Antonio facility provides services such as truckload and LTL, as well as distribution and portside container drayage from a nearby Union Pacific railyard.
Related: Evans Transportation launches cross-border service amid trade boom
Averitt opened its existing San Antonio facility in 2001. When it opened, the facility included about 17,000 square feet of space, with 38 dock doors for trucks.
The expansion will add an 85,000-square-foot distribution and fulfillment warehouse, as well as scale up the facility’s cross-dock to 80 doors. Averitt is also adding a new maintenance facility, a driver convenience center with laundry and work out rooms, and a drive through fueling station at the site.
“The warehouse construction is coming along nicely,” David Parrish, Averitt’s service center director in San Antonio, told FreightWaves. “The new warehouse will have state-of-the-art insulation and cooling fans, and LED lights, which will be brighter and more efficient for cost savings.”
Averitt is also reconstructing the San Antonio service center’s parking lot and gate, which is aimed at helping trucks flow through the property more efficiently, Parrish said.
“The way we are redoing the parking lot will help traffic move in a sort of circle around the warehouse and dock,” Parrish said.
Once completed, Averitt’s San Antonio service center will be able to accommodate about 30 drivers and 50 associates. The expansion is scheduled to be completed sometime around October.
Averitt officials said the revamped center will provide quick access to I-35 as well as several other major freeways in San Antonio, and will allow the company to enhance freight transportation service for shippers from Mexico to the U.S. and vice versa.
Habe said the company is already hearing from shippers that need additional cross-border services from Mexico to the U.S.
“We’re hearing from shippers in the U.S. and Mexico that need service,” Habe said. “The demand is there for cross-border. The automotive industry is one of the biggest for cross-border freight, but we are seeing growth in other manufacturing, such as aerospace, machinery and equipment, medical equipment, and electronics.”