Cross-Border Freight: What Owner-Operators Need to Know Before Running US-Mexico Loads

Amy Chavez

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April 1, 2026

Cross-border freight sounds like big money. And it can be; if you know what you’re doing.

In this episode of This Week in Trucking, we sit down with Hector, a cross-border freight specialist with over 13 years of experience in US-Mexico operations, safety, compliance, and dispatch. He lives on the border. He crosses it for a living. And he doesn’t sugarcoat what it takes.

If you’re an owner-operator or small carrier wondering whether running cross-border loads between the US and Mexico makes financial sense for your trucking business, this conversation lays it all out.

Episode Highlights

Does Cross-Border Freight Actually Make Financial Sense?

“It makes sense, yes — for the people who know what they’re doing.” — Hector

Hector’s answer isn’t a blanket yes or no. It depends on your equipment, your experience, and your level of preparation.

If you’ve never worked cross-border operations before, his advice is clear: stay away until you learn. Mexico is different. The infrastructure is different. The systems are different. The risks are different.

But for carriers who understand the complexity, the money is real.

The Most Profitable Cross-Border Opportunity

“Door to door. Pick up at the shipper in Mexico, deliver straight to the receiver in the US. No dropping the trailer at the border. That’s great money.” — Hector

Direct shipper, door-to-door cross-border loads are where the margins are strongest.

No middleman. No freight brokers taking a cut. You pick up in Mexico, cross the border with the same driver, and deliver in the US.

But to run these loads, you need to be C-TPAT compliant and your drivers need FAST cards. Without those, you can’t do seamless border crossings — and the opportunity disappears.

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The Biggest Mistake Carriers Make Entering Cross-Border

“The biggest mistake is to assume that this is easy.” — Hector

New carriers hear about strong rates and jump in without preparation.

They don’t understand the documentation. They don’t know the border process. They don’t realize that Mexico uses a completely different customs system than the US and Canada.

Hector’s advice to anyone wanting to enter cross-border freight: go work for a company that’s already doing it. Learn with them. Then go on your own.

The “cross-border experts” who’ve never actually crossed the border? They’re the ones who get carriers into trouble.

Documentation That Gets You Fined or Delayed at the Border

“Something is going to happen at the border all the time. You need to be prepared.” — Hector

Missing paperwork is the fastest way to get stuck.

The documentation that causes the most problems at the border: missing permits, passport issues, FDA approval gaps, product count mismatches, and incomplete customs filings.

In Mexico, carriers use a different manifest system than the US. If you show up with US paperwork expecting it to work the same way, you’re going to have a bad day.

And if your truck breaks down inside the bridge? That’s a whole other level of expensive.

Hidden Costs Most Carriers Don’t Plan For

“Your US insurance doesn’t work in Mexico. They don’t think about that.” — Hector

The cost that catches most new cross-border carriers off guard: Mexican truck insurance.

Your US policy does not cover you south of the border. You need separate Mexican insurance, and if you show up without it, you’re exposed — legally and financially.

Other costs carriers underestimate: customs agent fees, border delay time, compliance documentation, and the general complexity of operating in a country with different infrastructure. Mexico doesn’t have the same truck stop network. The roads aren’t the same. You need to understand how to navigate it.

Rate Negotiation Works Differently in Mexico

“In Mexico, we don’t work rate per mile. We work flat rates per destination.” — Hector

If you’re used to negotiating rate per mile or cost per mile in the US, cross-border is a different game.

Mexico uses flat rates based on destination complexity. Running to Monterrey is different from running to southern Mexico. The further south, the more complex — and the higher the rate should be.

Carriers who don’t understand this end up lowballing their offers and losing money on lanes that should be profitable.

What Separates Profitable Cross-Border Carriers from Struggling Ones

“Systems. If you have systems in place, you know your costs, and you know how to sell your company — you’re going to make money.” — Hector

It’s not about chasing loads. It’s about:

Having compliance systems in place Knowing your true operating costs Building direct shipper relationships Understanding both US and Mexican regulations Having a strong customs agent relationship

The carriers who rely entirely on load boards and dispatchers without understanding the business themselves are the ones who struggle.

Cash Flow Gets Complicated When You’re Crossing Borders

Cross-border freight comes with delays, paperwork, and longer payment cycles. Bridge complications, customs holds, and rejected documentation can all slow down your operation — and your income.

When you’re waiting weeks to get paid on loads you’ve already hauled, the gap between expenses and revenue gets dangerous fast. That’s especially true when you’re covering fuel, Mexican insurance, customs fees, and maintenance across two countries.

That’s where freight factoring comes in. A factoring company like Bobtail lets you turn unpaid invoices into immediate working capital — same-day pay on loads you’ve already delivered. No loans. No debt. Just your money, faster.

Cash flow predictability = operational control.

Get same-day pay with Bobtail’s freight factoring →

Talk to our team about your operation →

Hector’s One-Truck Answer: Cross-Border or Stay Domestic?

“You can make your money domestic. But if you have the skills — cross-border, the opportunity is there.” — Hector

Hector doesn’t push everyone toward cross-border. If you’re a US CDL driver who’s never been to Mexico, doesn’t know the infrastructure, and doesn’t have the compliance in place, stay domestic and build your trucking business there.

But if you have the experience, the preparation, and the willingness to learn the complexity? The lanes are there. And they pay.

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions: FMCSA Compliance for Trucking Companies in 2026

Is cross-border freight between the US and Mexico profitable for small carriers?

It can be highly profitable, especially for door-to-door direct shipper loads. But it requires experience, proper documentation, and compliance with both US and Mexican regulations.

Does my US truck insurance cover me in Mexico?

No. US truck insurance does not cover operations in Mexico. You need separate Mexican insurance — and not having it is one of the most common and costly mistakes new cross-border carriers make.

How are rates different in Mexico vs. the US?

Mexico doesn’t use rate per mile. Rates are typically flat per destination, and the complexity of the route determines the price. Southern Mexico commands higher rates than northern routes near the border.

What’s the biggest mistake carriers make when entering cross-border freight?

Jumping in without experience or preparation. Hector recommends working for an established cross-border company first to learn the documentation, border process, and compliance requirements before going independent.

What is C-TPAT and why does it matter for cross-border trucking?

C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) is a US Customs and Border Protection program. Being C-TPAT compliant allows for faster border crossings and access to more profitable door-to-door cross-border loads.

What is a FAST card and do I need one?

A FAST (Free and Secure Trade) card is a trusted traveler card for commercial drivers crossing the US-Mexico or US-Canada border. You need one for seamless border crossings on direct shipper loads.

Is it harder to cross goods between the US and Mexico than between the US and Canada?

Yes. The US and Canada share reciprocal customs systems, while Mexico uses a completely different system. This makes US-Mexico crossings more complex and documentation-intensive.

What systems do profitable cross-border carriers use?

Hector recommends a TMS for dispatch and communication, compliance management tools, a strong customs agent relationship, and a reliable factoring company to manage working capital and cash flow.

How can I prepare for cross-border operations in the next 90 days?

Get compliant for Mexico, secure all required documentation, obtain Mexican truck insurance, get your FAST card, establish a customs agent relationship, and — most importantly — learn from someone who’s already doing it before your first solo run.

How can owner-operators improve cash flow while staying compliant?

Compliance costs money — insurance, ELDs, maintenance, legal fees — and brokers can take 30–60 days to pay. Bobtail’s financial tools let you turn unpaid invoices into same-day working capital so compliance costs don’t stall your operation.

How can carriers stay updated?

Subscribe to This Week in Trucking’s FREE newsletter for weekly insights on fuel prices, market updates, and interviews with successful carriers who share real strategies that work. Subscribe here.

What is freight factoring, and how does it help owner-operators?

Freight factoring (also called accounts receivable factoring or invoice factoring) is when a factoring company purchases your unpaid invoices and pays you immediately — typically within 24 hours. This gives owner-operators and small carriers the working capital they need to cover fuel, maintenance, and compliance costs without waiting 30–60 days for freight brokers to pay.

How do I find the most profitable lanes for my equipment type?

This Week in Trucking’s FREE newsletter breaks down the hottest freight markets by equipment type every Monday — plus broker alerts so you know which lanes are paying and which players to avoid.

Full Transcript

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cross-border experts.

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They never cross the cross the border. They never they they leaving us 100% of the time. They don’t know how, how the border looks, how, how to be inside the breaches,

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Welcome to this week in tracking. I’m. Today we’re joined by actor that he is a cross-border freight specialist with over 13 years of experience in the US, Mexico operations, safety, compliance and dispatch.

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If you’ve ever wondered if running cross-border freight is actually worth it for an independent carrier, this conversation is for you.

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But before we get into it, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an update. And you never miss conversations like the one we’re about to have with actor Edward. Thank you so much for joining me today.

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Unknown
Please tell us for an owner operator running under their own authority, does cross-border freight between us and Mexico actually make financial sense right now?

00:00:53:11 – 00:00:56:03
Unknown
Depends on what you, what your notes do.

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Depends on your equipment, the prints, and depends on your,

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level of expertise. You never,

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work on cross-border thing. Oh, wait. Stay away. Because Mexico is different. So you need to understand that you need to have the experience to to,

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to travel Mexico in a semi from.

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It’s not the same as us. So it makes sense. Yes. For the people who knows what they’re going.

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And for the people who may not know you, can you tell us a bit about who you are, what you do and what your day to day work looks like?

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live right, right on the border.

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So I’m a border guy.

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my job is to cross, goods from Mexico to us and to us to to Mexico on their regular basis. I have been doing a little lot of motion and airfreight,

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just recently. So, I label myself as, Passport Nation. Not a broker, not a I’m not a broker. I’m a transportation.

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You have a need some transportation. It’s patient. It cross border. I’m European.

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What would you say in your experience, are the most profitable opportunities in cross-border freight right now, today,

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or to your direct, direct, direct customers? If you have a customers you land customer, let them load door to door. That means you pick up on the cheaper in Mexico somewhere in Mexico, and you deliver straight to the receiver in us and you don’t drop that.

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Unknown
That trailer on the border is the same driver from the pickup, the library. That’s a great that’s that’s great money right there. But you need to be GDPR compliance and you need to have, drivers with fast carts. So, yeah, in order to do that, you need to be compliant with the law. So yeah, that’s a great opportunity.

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There’s great money over there. There’s no, middleman. There’s no brokers. You go directly to the cheaper in Mexico. You want to have a great chances to do a great, great business.

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And what would you say are the biggest mistakes small carriers make when trying to enter these cross-border operations?

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They are not prepared. They don’t have the they lack of education, the like, the data, the lack of knowledge.

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Somebody tell you that there’s there’s big box and in transportation and you have some savings. So you you get a truck. I mean, you don’t know nothing about the industry. And you need to understand the industry before to come here. So, that’s the biggest mistake.

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Biggest mistake is to assume that this is not it’s not easy.

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I mean, the easy part is to pick up

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goods in one place and go in delivery in another place. That sounds easy, but right now

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it’s complicated because we have, we have double broker. We have, have we have a scams, we have,

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identity theft. We have a lot of stuff happening, and you don’t have the knowledge you want to graduate.

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So,

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And what would you say before accepting your first load as a cross-border,

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carrier? What must you have in place so you can operate correctly?

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You need to have the right authority in Mexico. The right place. It’s all the information you need. You need to have the right of the right thing. You as the right place.

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You need to have your MSI number. You need to have do your duty to Mexico. You need to have your number, your number, and also you need to have in us we use the bomb. Mexico card birth. So that’s different. Us yeah we use a c a manifests in Mexico we use border. So it’s completely different when someone approach to me and say, hey, I want to go into the cross border game.

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I always, guys, you know what was this on to a company that they already do doing, they are doing cross border police with them and learn.

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Once you learn, you can go, will you by yourself and trying to do it. But you need someone who code to. It’s not easy I know, I know a bunch of

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cross-border experts.

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They never cross the cross the border. They never they they leaving us 100% of the time. They don’t know how, how the border looks, how, how to be inside the breaches,

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the problems that that you face and the and, how to fix anything, on the Mexican side. So unique experience for sure.

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talking about being,

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in the actual border, what would you say is the documentation that makes most delays or they can get you find.

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Anything? Yes. Anything. If you miss anything that you need, you need you have to order. You want to have a real problem and you’ll have your paperwork. You have your your you don’t have your passport there. There’s something off. You’ll have it’s problems. You’ll have the FDA approval. Anything can happen. The problem is

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something is going to happen at the border all the time.

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You need to be prepared. You need to be prepared.

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That’s why I keep,

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I still have drugs. Because

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You can get a,

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truck broken down inside the breach, and that’s a problem. So anything can happen.

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Unknown
And it does seem like an even more high level stress type of place to be in.

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I mean, for someone that lives at the border day to day does the same. I mean, you get used to in

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Would you say rate per mile is truly better in cross-border freight? Or does the complexity that it brings actually cancel out how much better the rates could be?

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No, that depends on the person who’s negotiating that that land.

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It’s not about going to Mexico. It’s about who’s who is doing what. And the problem is if you if you don’t if you don’t understand the complexity, you’re going to lowball your offer. You’re not saying like, hey, I can do it at $2 a month and then Mexico, we don’t work as, rate their mouth. We work. That’s going to Mexico.

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It is some more complex to go to this, you know, the Mexico and go to Monterrey. It’s more complex to go. So south Mexico than going to the north. So yeah it is if.

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Unknown
Then how would you say how important it is to have a strong dispatcher when running cross-border loads.

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You’ll need you need the phone dispatcher what you need to to have it’s it’s the compliance, expert team.

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Unknown
Someone who knows what documents you need to cross the border. That’s what to me. And a strong relationship with your with your customs agent.

00:08:08:18 – 00:08:11:01
Unknown
Yeah. Because my next question is,

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what are the risks or what are the things that people should plan for when running cross border like customs holds rejected paperwork delays?

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Unknown
Customs delay? I mean, the paperwork isn’t ready yet. Rejection on the on the, on the product. Rejection on on the on the block mailing miscount or overall arch of product. I mean, if you say you are, you’re going to cross under 100 boxes and they find out you have 101, that’s going to be a problem because it’s not the same thing.

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Unknown
So results there’s always something happening in the border because it is the complexity is it’s way more easy to cross goods between Mexico and Canada than cross good between Mexico and using. And that’s why because Canada, in USA, they have the same system is reciprocate the same system. Mexico and USA they have different system. So as a problem.

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Unknown
And then for someone who’s already almost ready to start cross border freight, in your experience, what is a cost that most people don’t really take into account before going into this market?

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Unknown
don’t make you get are going to work where insurance is not. You don’t have to you need to have it in Mexico so they don’t think about that.

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Unknown
They fall with the load and they later find out. And then now they need to get the car insurance. So,

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how does actually compliance affect a carrier safety score?

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In the U.S. and in Mexico. What’s the difference there?

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There’s no safety scoring in Mexico.

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But it’s different.

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Unknown
I mean, it’s completely different Mexico from us on the on the carrier side. So

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you need to understand the complexity to be compliant in US

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as the Mexican carrier.

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Unknown
There’s there is there’s no such thing as CSRs. CSA is awesome. Mexico emits

00:10:20:00 – 00:10:28:12
Unknown
and then in your experience and what you see from day to day, what separates a carrier who makes money from a carrier who’s always struggling

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systems.

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Unknown
You have systems in place. If you know, you know what you’re doing and you understand your your cost and you know how to sell

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and your company sold yourself,

00:10:42:13 – 00:10:59:15
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and and so, so your, your trucks, you’re going to make money. If you don’t you don’t have that the skills you’re going to be that. And I mean you’re relying on the load more so when a good dispatchers dispatchers don’t bill companies owners North.

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Unknown
Do you have any suggestions for systems or technologies that you see are actually working for people.

00:11:05:20 – 00:11:10:13
Unknown
Yeah I mean I use a lot of Bob I that it’s this but

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Unknown
a system

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Unknown
ems they use that approximate in the Mason teammates that use yeah. To complete some tasks.

00:11:20:06 – 00:11:21:20
Unknown
And obviously

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EMS for dispatch and communication skills.

00:11:24:23 – 00:11:27:18
Unknown
That would yield and a good factor in company.

00:11:27:22 – 00:11:38:06
Unknown
And if a one truck carrier in the US wanted to prepare for cross-border operations in the next 90 days, they’re ready to start. What steps

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should they take first? What is the first thing they need to get ready?

00:11:41:19 – 00:12:07:20
Unknown
I mean, they’re they they need to be compliant, ready to Mexico. They need to have all the documentation that they need, and they need to understand that they need to, be able to, prepare across the border because that’s, that’s the Europol. You don’t have the to port. You’re going to get your trailer seized by, Mexican police and that will be expensive.

00:12:07:22 – 00:12:19:12
Unknown
And lastly, actor, if you personally owned one truck today, just about to enter cross-border rate, would you do it or would you stay domestic?

00:12:19:14 – 00:12:33:03
Unknown
okay, so abandoned at the fence at the front. You out. How many problems are you ready to face. Do you need to go to Mexico? Do you need really. No need to go do cross-border is.

00:12:33:05 – 00:12:34:04
Unknown
I mean

00:12:34:06 – 00:12:42:06
Unknown
you can make your money the match the. Do your money domestic. But if you have the skills.

00:12:42:08 – 00:12:46:12
Unknown
Will cross border I mean the plants. That depends on your on your needs.

00:12:46:14 – 00:12:48:06
Unknown
I will save your, if your

00:12:48:11 – 00:12:54:14
Unknown
u.s the messed CDL driver that doesn’t know Mexico, it’s near

00:12:54:16 – 00:12:57:12
Unknown
got actually but doesn’t have the same infrastructure.

00:12:57:12 – 00:13:03:19
Unknown
They don’t have truck stops. They don’t have and it’s not the same. You need to understand up navigate

00:13:03:21 – 00:13:19:02
Unknown
Well thank you so so much. Check there. That was an amazing conversation that this is me also diving into for the first time to what cross-border operations actually kind of look like. Thank you for breaking down.

00:13:19:04 – 00:13:43:13
Unknown
More practically, what is, what goes on on cross-border freight? And like you just said, cross-border free can open doors to stronger rates. Possibly, but it depends on the complexity. You want to overtake if you are happy being, running domestic, maybe you should stay domestic, because this could come with delays, paperwork, payment cycles, bridge complications.

00:13:43:15 – 00:13:59:08
Unknown
That’s where cash flow comes into, and to speak is something we talked to our audience frequently is that if you’re running loads and waiting weeks to get paid, factoring can be a financial tool to keep your business moving without slowing down operations,

00:13:59:10 – 00:14:21:23
Unknown
And if there’s anything else you would like to tell us, before we leave, we have a Nielsen Mexico. Trust us. Welcome to Mexico. I mean we’re, we’re open to business for for anyone, but, prepare yourself first. Prepare yourself first for the drivers. It is it is a challenge for a U.S. driver is a challenge to come to Mexico.

00:14:22:00 – 00:14:28:04
Unknown
It is not a is. It is not impossible, but it is a challenge. So be prepared all the time

00:14:28:06 – 00:14:42:13
Unknown
Thank you so much for everyone for watching. Thank you again, actor for joining me. Everyone remember to subscribe if you have not. And I’ll leave actor’s LinkedIn in the bio of the description of this video. Thank you and receive.

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