Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Zerio focused on technologizing global supply chain security compliance; Port Houston welcomes new Latin America shipping container service; Tesla auto parts supplier expanding Texas logistics operation; and Korean EV parts maker opens factory in Mexico.
Zerio focused on technologizing global supply chain security compliance
Miguel Olivo, co-founder and CEO of Zerio, said the idea for the company came about when a relative who works for a trucking company had security compliance issues with a load they were moving between Mexico and Texas.
“He said they were having trouble finding paperwork for a container that was stopped at the border,” Olivo told FreightWaves. “He was like, ‘You should really look into this because everybody that we know, down here in the Rio Grande Valley, they still use paperwork for everything.’”
Founded in 2019, Zerio is a cloud-based compliance platform that enables manufacturers, importers, exporters and carriers to implement and manage international supply chain security programs.
Zerio’s software is designed to meet requirements for cross-border freight certifications such as Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) in the U.S., Partners in Protection (PIP) in Canada and the Authorized Economic Operator (OEA) program in Mexico.
C-TPAT serves as sort of a TSA Pre-Check for freight moving across international borders. Carriers and shippers that receive that designation can move more quickly across international lines due to their classification under C-TPAT. PIP and OEA serve as similar designations for cross-border operators in Canada and Mexico.
“This is the first time I heard of the C-TPAT program. I started researching and spending some time with trucking companies in the valley,” Olivo said. “We talked to other friends that are in transportation on both the Mexican side and the American side of the border. Everybody’s telling us C-TPAT is a big deal.”
Zerio’s platform enables real-time visibility by using an integrated set of tools built to streamline compliance, evidence collection, risk management and audits.
Zerio recently received an investment from Matt Silver, the founder and former CEO of Forager. Silver recently launched Cargado, a new venture aimed at creating a seamless platform for U.S.-Mexico cross-border logistics.
Olivo, who has been working in the tech industry since 1998, had recently spent time in Canada and Europe working on other projects. He said he realized that there were security compliance requirements that transporters needed in almost every country.
“It dawned on me that there were these programs that every country had, and because we spent time in Europe and Canada, we realized, ‘Why don’t we just build this sort of global system that manages compliance for these programs?’” Olivo said. “‘We’ll start with the U.S. and Mexico, but this is a global problem.’ Every border, every country has these programs, so we spent months just really reading about what these programs were, how they started, all of this research before we actually built anything.”
Olivo said after talking with trucking companies, cross-border operators and manufacturers, they realized that international compliance is an enterprise level problem.
“This is when we started designing an enterprise-size solution for it,” Olivo said. “We realized this is a global opportunity.”
Zerio’s platform manages C-TPAT, PIP and OEA program requirements, controls and evidence in one place, aimed at reducing time to compliance.
“One of the questions that we asked our prospects is that you guys have been running your security compliance on pencil and paper for 20 years, right? The question is, how are you going to be running it for the next 20, the exact same way?,” Olivo said. “If digitizing security compliance is important to you, than Zerio is a company working on this solution.”
Port Houston welcomes new Latin America shipping container service
Port Houston announced that Zim Integrated Shipping Services’ new line, Gulf Toucan, arrived at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal on Thursday.
The new service is a line from the east coast of South America to the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. It includes eight 2,800 twenty-foot equivalent unit vessels, according to a news release.
Haifa, Israel-based ZIM (NYSE: ZIM) is a global container liner shipping company with operations in more than 90 countries serving approximately 34,000 customers in over 200 ports worldwide. ZIM was founded in 1945.
“We are excited to introduce a brand new Latin American service from the U.S. Gulf owned and operated exclusively by ZIM,” Daniel Sutton, ZIM’s senior vice president of Gulf Pacific, said in a statement. “The ZGT Service continues our ongoing expanded Latin American network and will provide excellent transit times from Houston to the east coast of South America, while also providing service to our Central American, Caribbean and west coast South America customers.”
Tesla auto parts supplier expanding Texas logistics operation
US Farathane recently leased more than 260,000 square feet at the GTX Logistics Park in Georgetown, Texas, according to the Austin Business Journal.
The Detroit-based company designs and manufactures plastic injection-molded components for various industries such as automotive, electronics and the commercial trucking sector.
US Farathane currently has a manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, which opened in 2012. Company officials did not say when they would move into GTX Logistics Park, a 231-acre development that includes a 409,822-square-foot, cross-docked industrial building.
Georgetown is located about 28 miles north of Austin.
Connecticut-based Atlas Holdings acquired US Farathane in April. According to a news release about the acquisition, US Farathane’s customers include Tesla, General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, Honda and Rivian.
Korean EV parts maker opens factory in Mexico
LS e-Mobility Solutions has opened an automotive parts factory in Durango, Mexico, according to The Korea Times.
The plant comes with a production capacity of five million EV relays and four million battery disconnect units annually.
The company said the facility is aimed at being a strategic base for the supply of electric vehicle components for automakers in North America. Officials for TLS e-Mobility Solutions said they hope to achieve sales of $524.85 million at the facility by 2030.
LS e-Mobility Solutions is based in Cheogju-si, South Korea. The company’s customers include Volvo, General Motors, Renault and Stellantis. In addition to Mexico, the company has factories in China and South Korea.
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