As U.S.-Mexico trade continues to expand, Ryder System has opened a 228,000-square-foot logistics warehouse and cross-dock facility in Laredo, Texas.
The warehouse is about 3 miles from the World Trade Bridge and includes 102 truck dock doors and parking spaces for 143 trailers.
Just across the border in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Ryder is expanding a drayage yard in its logistics operation. This will improve facilitation of the transfer of freight across the World Trade Bridge to U.S. drivers, officials said.
Ryder (NYSE: R) is a Miami-based leasing, fleet management, transportation and supply chain solutions provider.
“Truck border crossing activity between the U.S. and Mexico is up more than 20% annually since the pandemic, as more businesses look to nearshoring to diversify their supply chains and shorten lead times,” Ricardo Alvarez, vice president of supply chain operations for Ryder Mexico, said in a news release. “With Mexico, you put what you need on a truck and it can be in a final-mile distribution center within days, not months.”
In 2023, more than 7.35 million commercial trucks crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Laredo ranked as the No. 1 border crossing in the U.S. for commercial trucks, processing 2.93 million vehicles last year.
Ryder Mexico manages more than 250,000 freight movements annually across the Mexican border, supporting customers in the automotive, industrial, technology and consumer packaged goods industries. The company also operates about 5 million square feet of multiclient and dedicated warehouse and yard space across Mexico.
Ryder officials said the new facility in Laredo is located within a 6-mile radius of Ryder’s existing operations in the city, which allows for overflow and pooling of labor and resources for added flexibility.
“As our customers’ needs evolve, we can seamlessly transition them into dedicated warehouses and offer a flexible mix of transportation solutions, including integrated dedicated fleets with professional drivers,” Frank Bateman, Ryder’s vice president of supply chain operations, said in a statement.
Ryder is the latest company to expand or open new facilities in Laredo. In September, 3PL giant C.H. Robinson opened one of the largest distribution facilities on the Mexico border in recent years in the city.
Truckload broker RXO opened a $30 million, 127,000-square-foot facility in Laredo in April. In May, Pennsylvania-based carrier PGT Trucking began construction of a 7.7-acre trucking terminal that is scheduled to open later this year.
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