Borderlands Mexico is a weekly summary of developments in the world of US-Mexico cross-border shipping and trade. This week: Cross-border boom meets growing security risks. Mexico set a new record for foreign direct investment in the quarter with nearly $41 billion in the fourth quarter. And La Bonanza Avocados thrives in a logistics center in Pharr.
Cross-border boom meets with increasing security risks
NEW ORLEANS – Cross-border shipping volumes between the U.S. and Mexico continue to grow, but infrastructure gaps, increased cargo theft and tightening compliance requirements are creating a more complex operating environment for shippers, according to industry experts at the Trimble Insight 2025 technology conference.
Monday’s panel discussion, “Cross-Border Evolution: Technology, Infrastructure and the Future of US-Mexico Transportation,” featured Mark Vickers, EVP and Head of International Logistics Insurance at Reliance Partners, and Ricardo Malacara, Director of Sales at Overhaul. The session was moderated by FreightWaves cross-border reporter Noi Mahoney.
The Trimble Insight Technology Conference, held Sunday through Tuesday, included 1,260 attendees and featured more than 200 informational sessions and product demonstrations.
Vickers and Malacara said the current U.S.-Mexico trade boom has been years in the making — accelerated by global shocks.
“We had several things happening all at once, and it ended up being kind of a perfect storm,” Vickers said, referring to the USMCA, the Covid-era congestion at the Port of Los Angeles and the U.S.-China trade war. As Asian imports increased on the West Coast, many shippers diverted cargo through Manzanillo, then Guadalajara and then Laredo to reach U.S. markets, he added.
Malakara said the tariff environment continues to push production south.
“Countries that … have a high tariff may find it cheaper to just set up a factory in Mexico and start shipping from Mexico,” he said. Laredo alone could see 6 to 7 percent more traffic this year, he added.
The main issue was the liability gap and lack of legal parity between the U.S. and Mexico — a pitfall that Vickers says many first-time border operators overlook.
“In Mexico, the law is the wild south, where there are almost no laws,” he said. Under current UMA-based formulas, Mexican carriers are responsible for only about $2,000 on a typical 40,000-pound load. If you’re increasing your footprint in Mexico and don’t know it, you shouldn’t be in Mexico.
Vickers said brokers should be prepared to provide cargo insurance, refuse documents, and proactively notify shippers of coverage risks.
Vickers also noted that carrier review is no longer optional. Unlike the U.S., he said, “there is no FMCSA in Mexico,” and brokers who unknowingly tender transportation to cartel-affiliated carriers could face legal action.
Overhaul sees two types of customers: “those who have been robbed and those who are going to be robbed,” Malakara said. He described a dramatic escalation in criminal tactics.
“Criminal organizations are ready. They are professionals … they even have inside information,” he said. “We’ve seen fake military checkpoints, and they’re going to check your cargo and see what cargo you need to find.”
Roughly 80 to 85 percent of robberies, overhaul routes in Mexico involve violence, Malacara said.
As Mexico continues to see more hijackings than the road, Malacara warned that US-style fraud — double brokering, TMS hacks, stolen DOT identities — is quickly spreading south.
“Those bad guys are learning from the bad guys in the U.S. … You’re going to start seeing these double brokering scenarios” and cyber heists targeting cross-border networks, Vickers said.
Malakara said the biggest mistake among newcomers is failing to plan routes and ignoring real-time danger signals.
“They stop where they’re not supposed to stop… the next thing you know, the shipment is gone,” he said. Overhaul uses artificial intelligence-based risk scoring, driver compliance checks and coordination with Mexican federal authorities to route shipments from hotspots.
“We know where the areas with low cell phone coverage are. We meet with the federal government every Friday to tell them where the hot spots are,” he said.
Looking ahead, both experts said traffic flows will continue to grow faster than the infrastructure that supports them.
“Cross-border operations will continue to grow. Cargo theft will continue to grow,” Malakara said. “Problems don’t go away.”
Vickers noted that by renegotiating the USMCA, the United States is “tightening the screws on origin compliance” and making documentation more important than ever.
Despite the growing risks, Vickers said the trade relationship remains viable: “I’ll go all out in Mexico right now.”
Mexico recorded a new record of foreign direct investment in the quarter with nearly 41 billion dollars in the fourth quarter.
Mexico ended the fourth quarter with a historic increase in foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting nearly $41 billion in new capital, the highest quarterly foreign direct investment total in the country’s history.
That figure represents a 15 percent increase from 2024, driven largely by a jump in new investments, from $2 billion to $6.5 billion as companies accelerate nearshore development and industrial expansion.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the investments reflected stronger-than-expected investor confidence despite global economic pressures and new tariff regimes.
Mexico also reported continued growth in exports during the quarter, which emphasizes the country’s growing role in North American production and supply chains. Cumulative foreign direct investment will grow by nearly 70 percent between 2018 and 2025, reinforcing Mexico’s long-term momentum as a global investment destination, Ebrard added.
La Bonanza Avocado is located in the logistics center in Farr
La Bonanza Avocados has begun construction on a new 110,000-square-foot refrigerated distribution center in Farr, Texas, according to Texas Border Business.
Local leaders said the project would boost agricultural trade between the Mexican state of Michoacán and the United States
The facility will have more than 30 loading docks and extensive office space that will serve as a major connection point for Mexican avocado producers entering the U.S. market.
La Bonanza President Gabriel Villasenor called the project a “strategic point to connect our fields with new markets”, emphasizing the company’s commitment to sustainable growth and cross-border cooperation.
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