Estafeta, a cross-border cargo and courier transporter, has been on a spending spree to start the year.
On Thursday, Estafeta took delivery of 16 Volvo VNR640 heavy-duty trucks for $1.82 million. On Friday, the Mexico City-based company also bought 49 new Freightliner Cascadia trucks at a price of around $9 million.
Officials with Estafeta said the purpose of the new trucks is to expand their fleet with newer, more environmentally friendly vehicles.
“Volvo is a business partner capable of supporting Estafeta’s objectives in this regard,” Estafeta General Director Ingo Babrikowski said during a press conference in Mexico City on Thursday.
The Mexico City-based company is one of the largest courier, express and parcel (CEP) firms in the country. Estafeta has around 3,600 trucks and vehicles.
The Freightliner Cascadia purchase expands Estafeta’s fleet to 515 Freightliner Cascadia vehicles.
“With the acquisition of units such as those offered by Freightliner, Estafeta will continue to bring people together and connect businesses throughout Mexico with high levels of efficiency and security for operators, customers, their shipments and the community,” Babrikowski said.
In addition to trucks, the company has a fleet of six airplanes — four Boeing 737s and two Bombardier CRJ-100s. It operates the planes as part of its cargo charters in Mexico and parts of the United States.
Along with the fleet of heavy-duty trucks and planes, Estafeta has 57 operating centers, 40 warehouses and three logistics hubs.
Today, the company has around 6,700 employees and operates 30.5 million shipments per year and 39,000 pallets per month. It delivers to most of the countries of the world, across five continents, according to its website.
Estafeta was founded in 1979 in Mexico City as a domestic parcel service and express delivery service. The company also has an affiliate based in Houston called Estafeta USA.
Estafeta, along with several other Mexican carriers, has started off the new year with truck purchases to expand their fleets.
In January, Transportes Monroy Schiavon, one of the largest carriers in Mexico, purchased 76 Volvo VNL 630 models. On Feb 19, Grupo HG Transportaciones purchased 10 Freightliner Cascadia trucks.
The recent transactions are a few of the bright spots for Mexico’s domestic truck market, with truck sales declining as much as 38% over the last half of 2019.
While Daimler did not specify where the Cascadia trucks were built, all Freightliners in Mexico are assembled at either its Saltillo or Santiago plant.
Volvo trucks are assembled in the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Virginia, while Volvo engines for North America are assembled in Hagerstown, Maryland.