TEXAS border town Laredo (pop 235,809) has a mayor who wants to remodel and expand the World Trade International Bridge, speeding up wait times for the 12,000 trucks crossing the US-Mexico border every day.
Speaking to the Congress of the Mexican Confederation of Associations of Customs Agents (CAREM) in Merida, Mexico, Mayor Pete Saenz said: 'A truck can be processed in less than a minute; they can already identify the load that is there. This will eliminate 20 to 30 per cent of the traffic, speeding up and making the crossing fluid. Those boxes will go through a Z-portal, which are x-ray inspections.'
Mayor Saenz saw improvements at Laredo's World International Trade Bridge that would include a paved lane for empty tractor-trailers to run directly from the bridge under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) lane, a trusted shipper programme, reported New York's FreightWaves.
Other improvements include using Z-portal technology, similar to x-ray machines, used to make quick reviews of trucks.
Trucks coming into the US from Mexico sometimes waited up to four hours on the line between the checkpoint and customs, not counting the time it took to get through the checkpoint in Mexico.
The FAST lane project at Laredo's World International Trade Bridge will eventually expand to four lanes, but will begin with one lane. Construction of the lane began in May at a cost of around US$10 million.
The total value of goods that crossed through Port Laredo was $234.7 billion in 2018, an increase of nine per cent over 2017, according to data from the US Census Bureau. The number of trucks that crossed the border in both directions was almost 4.6 million.
'This is the real NAFTA, as we call it, NAFTA that will now be called the [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement],' Saenz said.
Mayor Saenz also discussed expanding the World International Trade Bridge facility from eight to 16 lanes in the future and having joint custom inspections between Mexican and US officials for goods being transported by rail.
Founded in 1938, CAREM represents the professional interests of customs brokers throughout Mexico. CAREM represents more than 800 customs agents working in maritime, air cargo, trucking and logistics, belonging to 38 different associations.
Also attending was Mayor Enrique Rivas, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, (pop 373,725) is the sister city of Laredo, Texas, just across the US-Mexico border.
'Nuevo Laredo is the commercial leader in Mexico,' Mayor Rivas said. 'That's why, together with Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, we talked about the customs advantages of Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, the port of 'Los Dos Laredo?s' at the 80th Congress of CAREM.'
WORLD SHIPPING
Speaking to the Congress of the Mexican Confederation of Associations of Customs Agents (CAREM) in Merida, Mexico, Mayor Pete Saenz said: 'A truck can be processed in less than a minute; they can already identify the load that is there. This will eliminate 20 to 30 per cent of the traffic, speeding up and making the crossing fluid. Those boxes will go through a Z-portal, which are x-ray inspections.'
Mayor Saenz saw improvements at Laredo's World International Trade Bridge that would include a paved lane for empty tractor-trailers to run directly from the bridge under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) lane, a trusted shipper programme, reported New York's FreightWaves.
Other improvements include using Z-portal technology, similar to x-ray machines, used to make quick reviews of trucks.
Trucks coming into the US from Mexico sometimes waited up to four hours on the line between the checkpoint and customs, not counting the time it took to get through the checkpoint in Mexico.
The FAST lane project at Laredo's World International Trade Bridge will eventually expand to four lanes, but will begin with one lane. Construction of the lane began in May at a cost of around US$10 million.
The total value of goods that crossed through Port Laredo was $234.7 billion in 2018, an increase of nine per cent over 2017, according to data from the US Census Bureau. The number of trucks that crossed the border in both directions was almost 4.6 million.
'This is the real NAFTA, as we call it, NAFTA that will now be called the [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement],' Saenz said.
Mayor Saenz also discussed expanding the World International Trade Bridge facility from eight to 16 lanes in the future and having joint custom inspections between Mexican and US officials for goods being transported by rail.
Founded in 1938, CAREM represents the professional interests of customs brokers throughout Mexico. CAREM represents more than 800 customs agents working in maritime, air cargo, trucking and logistics, belonging to 38 different associations.
Also attending was Mayor Enrique Rivas, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, (pop 373,725) is the sister city of Laredo, Texas, just across the US-Mexico border.
'Nuevo Laredo is the commercial leader in Mexico,' Mayor Rivas said. 'That's why, together with Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, we talked about the customs advantages of Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, the port of 'Los Dos Laredo?s' at the 80th Congress of CAREM.'
WORLD SHIPPING