The Road to Nogales

“The Baluarte Bridge is a factor that now allows shippers to travel east more quickly from Sinaloa,” confirms the Arizona-Mexico Commission’s Dutram, “but it could also facilitate flow towards the West Coast from Central Mexico. For Central Mexican produce destined for the West Coast markets, it makes more sense to bring it up through Nogales.”

The best news, however, is that Dutram says, “Traffic at both Arizona and Texas ports is increasing.” Although he says Texas is growing slightly faster, this could be due to the Lone Star State having “had farther to go; growth of shipments through Texas can also be seen as expansion opportunities for Nogales businesses.”

Moore sums it up this way, “Nogales has the fastest wait times on the border and the easiest access to the West Coast. There’s a concentration of goods, warehouses, available trucks, and logistics services.”

Trucking Regulations & Present Challenges
Recent regulations coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have been affecting transportation on the U.S. side of the border, often slowing deliveries and increasing freight costs.

Then there are the stringent emission standards in California that can make it prohibitive for many transportation companies to modify their trucks or purchase new ones for shipments to the Golden State.

Other challenges include ongoing wrangling about electronic loggers, and the contentious, ongoing battle over hours of service restrictions, which limit the number of consecutive hours a driver can be on the road without taking a break.

Hours of Service Restrictions
“Drivers are limited to driving a maximum of eleven hours after ten consecutive hours off duty, and that cuts into their ability to make money,” explains Garcia. “To enforce the rules, the DOT has set up three cameras at locations in Arizona to monitor driver time on the road. This causes different delivery parameters, especially for Southern California.”

Garcia sees few solutions to the problem. “The only way to combat this is for warehouses to work off their inventory, so drivers can spend their time on the road and less time loading,” he posits. “The turnaround times from produce companies have to be fast, so drivers aren’t on the road longer than allowed.”

Too Few Drivers
Besides the hours of service regulations cutting into potential trucker earnings, finding enough qualified drivers also continues to be a challenge. Insurance companies won’t accept drivers with less than two years’ experience, but the Catch-22 is—how can they gain experience if they can’t be insured to drive?