Over the past 24 hours, I’ve heard the term “phantom capacity” enough times that it’s worth addressing directly.

This isn’t meant to call anyone out. I just kept getting the same question — what is phantom capacity, what’s actually happening to capacity in Mexico cross-border right now — and decided it was easier to write down what I’m seeing than to answer it one DM at a time.

The framing has a kernel of truth. Mexico cross-border is messy. Cargo theft is real. C-TPAT and qualified-driver requirements are real. And yes — you can have “capacity” on paper that doesn’t actually show up when you need it.

But “phantom” is the wrong word, and it’s the wrong word in a way that lets the industry off the hook.

Phantom implies sketchy. In trucking, when we say phantom carrier, we usually mean fraud — double-brokered loads, stolen MC numbers, freight that gets picked up and never delivered. That is a real problem in cross-border. But it is not what's actually happening to capacity right now.

What's happening is something more specific and more knowable than ghosts. Three things are unfolding at once. None of them are mysterious.

Cabotage enforcement is shrinking the qualified driver pool

I wrote about this back in Issue #62 — B1 visa drivers are a core part of the North American supply chain, not the enemy. They are the engine of US-Mexico trade, literally and figuratively. The cross-border supply chain that moves close to $800 billion in goods between the two countries every year runs on B1 capacity at the border. Without B1 drivers, you don't have cross-border trucking — you have a parking lot in Laredo and another one in Nuevo Laredo with no way to bridge them.

Look at the carrier base we've onboarded in Laredo and the lean is unmistakable. More than two-thirds of those carriers run majority-B1 fleets. More than 40% run entirely B1 — zero CDL drivers on staff. Only about 8% run an exclusively CDL fleet. The carriers showing up to move Mexico freight are, overwhelmingly, B1-driven operations. That is not a quirk of our network. That is what the cross-border carrier base actually looks like.

Here is the uncomfortable part. A small number of carriers have been running their B1 drivers on purely domestic US loads by picking off freight in the US market. That is cabotage. It is illegal. It always has been. For years the enforcement was loose enough that some operators built parts of their business model around it — and undercut every carrier that played by the rules. Hell, even carrier reps have been known to say “my carrier commits cabotage so I can get them way under market going into San Antonio!”.

That era is ending. Drivers caught running domestic loads have been losing their B1s. The crackdown is not theoretical anymore. The driver still exists. He just cannot legally pull the freight he was illegally pulling a year ago. And good. The few who broke the rules were ruining it for everyone else, and one way or another, the government knows those drivers committed cabotage. They deserve to lose their ability to participate in one of the most lucrative trade lanes in North America. The carriers that knowingly dispatched them deserve the same.

And now there’s a second layer that’s even messier: multiple carriers are reporting that CBP is confiscating / revoking B1 visas at the border without giving a specific justification. In one Laredo ops group chat, the number circulating was 70+ visas revoked over a weekend, with CBP officers saying their system simply shows Department of State notes instructing revocation — no detail, no explanation, just “revoked.”

If that holds, it will show up exactly the way everyone describes “phantom capacity” showing up: bids softening, longer response times, and brokers feeling like trucks just disappeared. Except again — it isn’t phantom. It’s policy, enforcement, and paperwork.

This is not a security story. It is a US enforcement story. And it acts on the qualified driver pool exactly the way "phantom capacity" is supposed to — except it has a name, an agency, and a paper trail.

Carriers are upside down on truck notes and parking equipment

Every cross-border carrier I talked to in Laredo recently is running a smaller fleet than they own. The math is the same one yard to the next: a 20-truck operation now runs 12. The notes were written when used Class 8 sleepers were $70K–$80K in 2022; today the same trucks sell at auction for $20K–$25K. Rates have not moved enough to service the original payment schedule, and refinancing is not on the table when the underlying asset is worth half what it was. The trucks that are paid off keep running. The financed ones get parked, plated, and left to wait.

Parking a truck does not stop the bleeding. Insurance, transponders, ELD subscriptions, plate and FMCSA registration fees — they keep billing whether the truck rolls or not. Fleets are eating those fixed costs to avoid the bigger loss of running a truck below its operating cost.

This is not phantom capacity. This is balance-sheet capacity. The trucks are tagged, titled, and sitting in a row. They will come back when rates move or the notes get refinanced. Until then, they are off the board.

Shippers are coming back to their carriers directly

The same carriers are showing up. They're just bidding less — and on more concentrated freight.

Here is what's driving it. With tariffs being canceled and the cross-border market picking up speed again, shippers are calling their carriers back directly. The phone calls that went to brokers during the uncertain stretch — when shippers wanted optionality and didn't want to commit — are going back to the carriers shippers already know and trust. The freight is coming back. It's just coming back direct.

If you talk to a Mexican carrier with a strong customer book right now, you'll hear it. They aren't bidding on the board the way they were six months ago. They're cherry-picking. They open a load, they look at the rate, they look at the lane, and most of the time they pass — because their trucks are already filling up from inbound calls. The bid that would have come in last fall doesn't come in now, not because the carrier is gone, but because the carrier is full.

The same pattern shows up across our network. The carriers we know are still active. They're still logging in, still opening loads, still here. But they're being selective in a way they weren't a few quarters ago, concentrating their attention on the lanes and customers that work for them.

The cleanest read: carriers are not disengaged. They are full. They are taking direct shipper freight first and only bidding on broker freight when they have leftover capacity. The "shortage" brokers feel is partly just shippers and carriers reconnecting on volume that always belonged in those direct relationships.

So what does this actually mean for shippers and brokers?

If you're a shipper, the lesson is not to hire a security consultant. The lesson is to know the financial state of your carrier base. Which of your contracted carriers are running at break-even? Which ones parked trucks last quarter? When you're competing for capacity, you're competing against direct shipper relationships — not phantoms.

If you're a broker, the question is sharper: how do I become the broker a carrier wants to bid first when the shipper hasn't already called them directly? That is a relationship question, a payment-terms question, and a "do you actually understand my freight" question. It is not solved with another mini-bid or a tighter routing guide.

The deeper point

"Phantom capacity" is a useful term when you don't want to name causes. It implies the squeeze just sort of happened — that capacity evaporated because of forces nobody can see. But the forces are visible. Visa enforcement has names and dates. Truck notes have payment schedules. Carrier behavior in a marketplace has a measurable signature.

The capacity is not a ghost. It is parked, repossessed, or already booked direct by a shipper who picked up the phone. The sooner the industry says that out loud, the sooner anyone can do something about it.

We are going to keep watching it inside Cargado. Carrier behavior in a live marketplace is one of the cleanest signals we have on whether the cross-border market is actually getting tighter or just getting more selective. If you want to see what real cross-border capacity looks like in real time, that is where it is.

This is the fourth post in the Mexico Freight Playbook series. Read Part 1 (why Mexico matters), Part 2 (how to sell it), and Part 3 (operations and execution).

The biggest mistake I see brokers make with Mexico freight?

Overbuilding too early.

They think they need to set up an office in Laredo or hire a team in Monterrey before they move their first load. They hire three people, spend six months "getting ready," and burn through budget before they've made a single dollar.

Don't do that.

Mexico freight doesn't require a big team to start. It requires the right person at the right time. Here's how to think about staffing as you grow.

Stage 1: Getting Started (0-5 Customers)

You don't need anyone dedicated to Mexico yet.

Your existing team can handle this. Pick one person — someone curious, someone who wants to learn — and let them own the early loads. They're not full-time on Mexico. They're just the person who figures it out when Mexico freight comes up.

Even better if you already have someone on your team who speaks Spanish or has ties to Mexico. Maybe they have family there. Maybe they've expressed interest in cross-border before. If you've got that person — even if they're remote, even if they're currently focused on something else — lean into them. That combination of language skills and genuine interest is rare and valuable. Don't overlook it because they're not sitting in your office or because Mexico isn't their official job yet.

That person builds expertise with each shipment. They learn the carriers. They understand the lanes. They learn what details the customs broker needs to get a load across the border and start to build familiarity there. But they're still doing their regular job.

This stage is about learning, not scaling. You're validating that Mexico freight works for your business. You're building relationships with a few carriers. You're getting comfortable with the documents and the process.

What this looks like in practice:

• One person owns Mexico "on the side"

• They handle 1-2 loads per week

• They're quoting 5-10 opportunities per week

• Revenue: $250K-500K annually

Don't hire anyone yet. Don't rent an office. Just learn.

Stage 2: Building Momentum (5+ Customers with Weekly Volume)

Now it's time to lean in — but still not full-time.

Once you have five or more customers giving you volume on a weekly basis, someone needs to devote real time to Mexico. Not necessarily full-time, but meaningful time.

This is the person who starts asking every account manager: "Hey, does your customer have any Mexico freight?"

They're proactively selling Mexico to your existing book. They're the internal expert that sales reps bring onto calls when Mexico comes up. They're building the pipeline.

Here's how the team dynamic works: your account managers keep owning the customer relationship. They win the freight. They get the tenders. They build the loads. But when something needs to happen at the border or in Mexico — talking to the customs broker, coordinating with facilities, troubleshooting an issue — your Mexico person handles it. Everyone on the floor starts to trust them for that piece. The AMs stay focused on the customer. Your Mexico person stays focused on making Mexico work.

The key shift at this stage: Mexico goes from reactive ("we handle it when it comes up") to proactive ("we're actively looking for it").

What this looks like in practice:

• One person spending 50%+ of their time on Mexico

• They're selling, quoting, and coordinating

• 35-105 loads per week

• Quoting 100-300 opportunities per week

• Revenue: $1M-2M annually

You might be tempted to hire someone dedicated at this point. Resist the urge until you hit Stage 3.

Stage 3: Operations Investment (Daily Volume from Several Customers)

This is the inflection point. Make a real hire.

When you have daily volume from several customers, you need an operations person who is fluent in Spanish. Their job is to:

• Talk to the customs brokers and facilities in Mexico

• Coordinate with your U.S. ops team and account managers

• Make sure freight moves smoothly

This person doesn't need to be in Mexico. They can be anywhere. But they need to speak Spanish fluently and understand cross-border operations.

Your U.S. account managers stay focused on the customer relationship. Your Spanish-speaking ops person handles the Mexico-side coordination. They work together.

This is when Mexico becomes a real business unit, not a side project.

What this looks like in practice:

• 2-5 dedicated ops people (Spanish-speaking) — today, most Mexico ops people can handle about 10 loads per day because of how manual the process is. That's improving, but plan accordingly.

• Sales support from existing team or partial dedicated sales time

• 175-525 loads per week

• Quoting 500-1,500 opportunities per week

• Revenue: $4M-6M annually

• Clear SOPs documented

• Team of 5-10 people touching Mexico in some capacity

Stage 4: Full Department (700+ Loads/Week)

Now you're building a real department.

At 700+ loads per week, Mexico is a meaningful part of your P&L. You're ready for:

• Dedicated sales headcount — people whose entire job is selling Mexico

• Office presence in Laredo — where the carriers are, where the action is

• Multiple ops people — covering different shifts, different regions, different customers

• Potentially an office in Monterrey or Mexico City — for carrier development and customer service

This is when you think about Mexico as its own functional department within the brokerage, not just a service line.

What this looks like in practice:

• 700-1,750+ loads per week

• Quoting 2,000+ opportunities per week

• Revenue: $10M+ annually

• Full team with dedicated sales, ops, and potentially carrier development

• Office presence at border and/or in Mexico

But don't jump to Stage 4 until you've earned it. Most brokers stall out because they overbuild too early, not because they underinvest.

The First Hire: What to Look For

When you're ready to make your first dedicated Mexico hire (Stage 3), here's what matters:

Must-Haves

Fluent Spanish — Not conversational, fluent. They need to negotiate with carriers, troubleshoot with customs brokers, and resolve issues at facilities. This is non-negotiable.

Operations mindset — Your first hire is ops, not sales. You need someone who can coordinate the chaos, not someone who's going to close deals and then hand off a mess.

Problem-solving ability — Cross-border freight goes sideways. Documents get delayed. Trucks get held. You need someone who stays calm and figures it out.

Logistics experience — They need to understand freight. Period. Eventually they need to understand cross-border freight specifically, but at minimum they should know how loads move, how carriers operate, and how to troubleshoot when things go wrong. You can't teach urgency and instinct.

Nice-to-Haves

Border city connections — If they know carriers or customs brokers in Laredo already, that's a head start.

Bilingual email and documentation skills — Can they write professional emails in Spanish? Can they review Spanish-language documents and catch errors?

Red Flags

"I've done a little bit of Mexico" — Vague experience is often no experience. Press on specifics.

Can't explain the crossing process — If they've actually worked cross-border, they can walk you through how freight moves. If they can't, they haven't.

Only wants to sell — Your first hire needs to do everything. If they only want to be in sales, they're not the right fit for Stage 3.

Uses Google Translate — If they're copying and pasting into Google Translate to communicate with carriers or customs brokers, they're not fluent. You need someone who can think and respond in Spanish naturally, especially when things go sideways.

Where to Hire

For Your First Ops Hire

Laredo, TX — This is the obvious answer. More cross-border freight goes through Laredo than any other port. If you want someone who knows the market, knows the carriers, and can be on the ground, Laredo is the place.

El Paso, TX — Second busiest crossing. Strong talent pool, especially for automotive-related freight.

McAllen / Brownsville, TX — Smaller markets but growing. Good options if you're focused on specific corridors.

Remote (anywhere) — If they're fluent in Spanish and can work U.S. hours, they can be anywhere. The phone calls and emails work the same whether they're in Laredo or Chicago.

For Your Mexico Office (Stage 4)

Monterrey — Industrial hub. If your freight is automotive, manufacturing, or general cargo from northern Mexico, this is the logical location.

Mexico City — Good for corporate relationships and southern Mexico freight. Less about operations, more about customer development.

Guadalajara — Tequila, electronics, food & beverage. If your book is heavy in these verticals, Guadalajara makes sense.

Don't open a Mexico office until you're doing 500+ loads per week and you're going down there every other week anyway. The office should formalize what you're already doing, not create new activity.

The First Year Playbook

Here's what a realistic first year looks like:

Quarter 1: Foundation

• Audit your existing book for border city freight

• Identify 10-20 target accounts with likely Mexico freight

• Move your first loads (aim for profitability by load 2-3)

• Build relationships with 2-3 reliable carriers

• Target: 5-10 loads/month

Quarter 2: Traction

• Establish consistent lanes with repeat customers

• Expand carrier relationships based on lane needs

• Start training a second person on Mexico basics

• Target: 20-30 loads/month

Quarter 3: Process

• Document your SOPs

• Systematize carrier selection by lane

• Build quoting confidence on key corridors

• Target: 50+ loads/month

Quarter 4: Scale

• Evaluate dedicated headcount needs

• Consider presence in Laredo (if volume warrants)

• Expand into adjacent services (expedited, open deck, reefer)

• Target: 100+ loads/month

By the end of year one, you should know whether Mexico is a real business line for you or a nice-to-have. If you're at 100+ loads per month, it's real. Time to invest.

The "I Need Someone in Mexico" Trap

I hear this constantly: "We can't do Mexico until we have someone on the ground there."

This is wrong.

You don't need someone in Mexico to start. You don't need someone in Mexico to scale to $2M in revenue. You might not even need someone in Mexico at $5M.

Here's the progression:

1. Start remote — Your first Mexico person can be anywhere. Spanish fluency matters more than location.

2. Add Laredo before Mexico — If you need a physical presence, start at the border. That's where the carriers are, where the customs brokers are, where the crossings happen. Laredo is the center of gravity.

3. Add Mexico when you're already there constantly — When you find yourself flying to Monterrey every month, when you're meeting with carriers and customers regularly, when the relationships demand physical presence — then you open an office.

The office in Mexico should formalize relationships you've already built, not create new ones from scratch.

Integrating Mexico into Your Existing Sales Team

One of the challenges at Stage 2 and 3 is getting your existing sales team to actually bring up Mexico with their customers.

Here's what works:

Name the Commodities

Don't send a generic email saying "we do Mexico now." List the specific industries and commodities that signal Mexico freight:

• Automotive parts

• Appliances

• Electronics

• Tequila

• Paper products

• Furniture

• Food ingredients

When you name those commodities, salespeople self-identify. They go, "Oh, I have a customer that ships automotive parts" or "My customer is a supplier for that company." That's your pipeline.

Join Their Calls

Get your Mexico person on customer calls as the expert. The sales rep stays on the account, keeps the relationship, gets their commission. Your Mexico person does the heavy lifting on the cross-border piece.

This reduces risk for the sales rep. They're not worried about looking dumb or promising something they can't deliver. They have backup.

Do 80% of the Work

Quote it for them. Cover it for them. Handle the carrier communication. Make it easy.

The sales rep gets paid on freight they never could have closed alone. You build the Mexico book. The customer gets someone who actually understands their cross-border headache. Everyone wins.

Track and Celebrate

Make Mexico wins visible. Share them in team meetings. Recognize the sales reps who bring Mexico opportunities. Create healthy competition.

The more Mexico wins people see, the more they'll look for them.

The Org Chart at Scale

When you're at Stage 4 (700+ loads/week), here's what a Mexico org chart might look like:

Mexico Director / VP

• Owns P&L for Mexico business line

• Reports to head of sales or COO

• Sets strategy, manages team, handles key customer relationships

Sales (2-4 people)

• Dedicated Mexico hunters and farmers

• May be split by region (West Coast vs. Texas/Gulf vs. Midwest)

• Focused on new logo acquisition and account growth

Operations (3-5 people)

• Spanish-speaking ops coordinators

• Handle day-to-day execution

• May be split by shift (early for Mexico pickups, late for U.S. deliveries)

Carrier Development (1-2 people)

• Build and maintain carrier relationships

• May be based in Laredo or Monterrey

• Source capacity for new lanes

This is a $10M+ business line with real infrastructure. But you don't build this on day one. You earn your way here.

What Scale Actually Looks Like

Here's a reference framework:

For a top 25 broker, 700-1,750 loads per week is where Mexico becomes a meaningful part of your story. Below that, it's a nice add-on. Above that, it's a competitive moat.

The Bottom Line

Building a Mexico team is about matching investment to volume. Don't overbuild early. Don't underbuild when you have momentum.

The progression is clear:

1. Start with one curious person who learns the ropes on the side

2. Lean in with dedicated time when you have 5+ weekly customers

3. Hire a Spanish-speaking ops person when you have daily volume

4. Build a department when you're at 700+ loads per week

Every stage should feel earned. You're not hiring ahead of demand — you're hiring to handle demand you've already created.

That's how you build a Mexico operation that scales profitably.

That's the Mexico Freight Playbook — four parts covering why Mexico matters, how to sell it, how to execute it, and how to build the team. If you made it through all four, you know more about Mexico freight than 95% of brokers out there.

Now go find the freight.

Questions about building your Mexico team? Drop me a note. I love talking about this stuff.

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This is the third post in the Mexico Freight Playbook series. Read Part 1 (why Mexico matters) and Part 2 (how to sell it).

You've found the freight. You've closed the customer. Now you need to actually move it.

This is where a lot of brokers get nervous. Cross-border feels complicated — multiple carriers, customs brokers, border crossings, documents with Spanish names. It looks like chaos.

But here's the thing: it's the same thing every day. It's very repetitive. Once you understand the pattern, you just keep doing it over and over.

This post is the operations playbook — everything you need to execute Mexico freight reliably.

How the Freight Actually Moves

Let's start with the basics. A cross-border shipment involves multiple parties:

• Mexican carrier — moves freight from origin to the border

• Transfer driver — crosses the border (usually a B1 visa holder)

• U.S. carrier — delivers from border to destination

• Customs brokers — on both sides of the border

That sounds like a lot. But in practice, you're usually working with one carrier who coordinates all of it. They have their Mexican partner, their transfer drivers, and their U.S. operations. Your job is to give them the freight and make sure the paperwork is in order.

Door-to-Door vs. Transload

There are two ways freight crosses the border:

Door-to-door: The freight stays on the same U.S. trailer the entire time. A Mexican partner carrier picks up the trailer in Mexico, brings it to the border, a transfer driver crosses it, and then a U.S. driver delivers it. Same trailer, no touching the freight.

Transload: The freight gets unloaded at the border and reloaded onto a different trailer. This is sometimes cheaper, but you're breaking the seal and touching the freight.

Most of the time, door-to-door is what you want. It's cleaner, less risk, better for your customer's peace of mind. The trailer never opens until it reaches the final destination.

When does transload make sense? Usually when there's a significant cost savings, when the freight isn't sensitive to handling, or when the customer specifically requests it. But if you're just starting out, default to door-to-door.

B1 Drivers: The Backbone of Cross-Border Capacity

About 60-70% of cross-border capacity at the southern border involves B1 visa drivers. These are Mexican nationals with business visas that allow them to drive commercially in the U.S. They're employed by U.S. carriers but based at the border — typically in cities like Nuevo Laredo.

Here's how it works: A Mexican partner carrier handles the interior Mexico portion — picking up in Monterrey or Guadalajara and bringing the trailer to the border. Then a B1 driver takes over. That same driver crosses the border and delivers all the way to Chicago, Dallas, or wherever the freight is going.

So the B1 driver isn't doing the Mexico interior pickup. They're doing the crossing and the entire U.S. leg. It's often the same driver from Nuevo Laredo who crosses your freight week after week — they know the route, they know the crossing, they know the drill.

I mentioned this in Part 2, but it's worth repeating: if your customer won't allow B1 drivers on northbound moves, they're dramatically limiting their carrier options. Most carriers at the southern border employ B1 drivers, not CDL holders. Don't let them shoot themselves in the foot.

Understanding the Carrier Structure

Most carriers you'll work with are U.S.-based trucking companies with DOT numbers and MC numbers. They have cargo insurance in the U.S. They send their trailers into Mexico with partner carriers.

If you went to a border crossing right now, you'd see Schneider trailers, Werner trailers, J.B. Hunt trailers. American equipment, Mexican tractors pulling it.

These aren't shady operations. These are legitimate companies that have built relationships with Mexican trucking companies over years. They trust each other because they need each other.

Most of these carriers are CTPAT certified — Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. It's a federal security program that requires higher standards for freight crossing the border. The same protocols that prevent contraband from entering the U.S. keep your customer's freight safe.

When a customer asks, "How do I know my freight is secure in Mexico?" — that's your answer. These carriers operate under stricter security requirements than most domestic U.S. carriers.

The Golden Rule of Mexico Operations

Do not pick up a load until you know who the customs broker is.

I cannot stress this enough. If you pick up freight without a confirmed customs broker at the border, you will end up with a trailer stuck in Mexico. Your carrier will be angry. Your customer will be angry. Everyone will be angry.

Always confirm the customs broker before the truck loads. Always.

And here's the critical detail: make sure it's a customs broker physically at the border crossing — not someone in Houston or LA. If the broker isn't at the port where the freight is crossing, something's wrong. Dig in before that truck loads.

The Documents: What They Are and Who Handles Them

Cross-border freight involves more paperwork than domestic. But here's the good news: you're not creating any of these documents. Your job as the broker is to make sure the right information flows to the right people at the right time.

Your Job as the Broker (Quick Summary)

Before we dive into each document, here's the bottom line on what you're responsible for:

1. Get carrier info to the shipper early — so they can generate the Carta Porte

2. Confirm who the customs broker is — and that they're physically at the crossing

3. Make sure commercial docs reach the customs broker — commercial invoice, packing list

4. Verify everything is filed before the truck moves — Entry, e-manifest, Carta Porte

5. Confirm, confirm, confirm — your job is coordination, not creation

Now let's break down each document:

CCP / Carta Porte (Complemento Carta Porte)

If you've only worked domestic U.S. freight, the Carta Porte is going to feel like a bill of lading on steroids. It's a legal document required for any freight moving on Mexican roads — but it's also integrated with Mexico's digital tax system (CFDI), which means it does a lot more than track cargo.

The Carta Porte includes detailed information about the goods being transported: origin, destination, quantity, type, value of the cargo, the vehicle being used, the planned route, and transportation cost. Authorities at Mexican highway checkpoints can scan the QR code to verify the shipment is legitimate.

Here's what makes it complicated: there's the physical Carta Porte document (which the driver carries), and then there's the Complemento Carta Porte — a digital extension that gets filed with the CFDI (Mexico's electronic invoicing system). Both are required.

Why does Mexico require all this? Ultimately, it's about tax collection and supply chain transparency. The detailed documentation prevents businesses from underreporting or evading taxes. It also helps fight illicit transportation practices — if a truck is stopped and the Carta Porte doesn't match what's on board, there are serious penalties.

For a deeper dive on what the Carta Porte is, why Mexico requires it, and how it's evolved, I wrote about it here: A Carta Porte Deep Dive.

Who creates it: The shipper in Mexico (or their logistics team) generates it before the truck loads

🚨 Your job as the broker:

• As soon as you book a carrier, collect: carrier company name, MC number, truck number, trailer number, driver name

• Send this info to the shipper or their logistics contact immediately

• Confirm the Carta Porte has been generated before the truck arrives at origin

• If any info is wrong (different truck, different driver), alert the shipper — they need to regenerate it

Without an accurate Carta Porte, the truck cannot legally move in Mexico. This is on you to coordinate.

DODA (Documento de Operación para Despacho Aduanero)

This is the customs clearance document that authorizes the freight to cross the border. It's generated by the customs broker after all duties and taxes are paid.

Who creates it: The customs broker

🚨 Your job as the broker:

• Before pickup, confirm the customs broker's name and contact info (they must be at the physical crossing)

• Verify the shipper has sent commercial invoice and packing list to the customs broker

• Confirm duties/taxes are paid and DODA is ready before the truck arrives at the border

If the DODA isn't ready, your trailer sits at the border. Confirm this is handled before the truck loads.

Entry (U.S. Customs Entry)

This is the U.S. Customs filing for freight entering the United States. It includes classification, valuation, and country of origin for duty calculation.

Who creates it: The U.S. customs broker (usually hired by the shipper or receiver)

🚨 Your job as the broker:

• Ask your customer: "Who is your U.S. customs broker?" Get the contact info.

• Confirm the Entry has been filed before the truck reaches the crossing

• If you don't know whether it's been filed, call the customs broker directly

No Entry = no crossing. This is your customer's responsibility, but you need to verify it's done.

Manifesto (Manifest)

The border crossing manifest that lists what's on the truck. It's filed electronically with CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) before the truck crosses.

Who creates it: The carrier files the e-manifest with CBP

🚨 Your job as the broker:

• When the truck is approaching the border, confirm with your carrier that they've filed the e-manifest

• If they haven't, escalate immediately — this is a blocking issue

No manifest = no crossing. Your carrier handles this, but you need to confirm it's done.

BOL (Bill of Lading)

You know this one — the standard shipping document that travels with the freight. Same as domestic.

Who creates it: The shipper

🚨 Your job as the broker:

• Confirm the BOL is accurate (addresses, weight, commodity description)

• Verify the driver has the BOL before leaving origin

Same as domestic — nothing new here.

Packing List / Commercial Invoice

Not unique to Mexico, but critical for customs clearance. The commercial invoice shows the value of goods; the packing list details what's in each box/pallet.

Who creates it: The shipper

🚨 Your job as the broker:

• Before pickup, confirm the shipper has sent commercial invoice and packing list to the customs broker

• If the customs broker says they're missing documents, get your shipper on the phone immediately

• These docs need to reach the customs broker BEFORE the freight arrives at the border — not after

No commercial invoice = no customs clearance = trailer stuck. This is the most common documentation failure. Stay on top of it.

The Document Flow in Practice

Here's how it all comes together:

Northbound (Mexico → U.S.)

1. Shipper creates Carta Porte, BOL, commercial invoice, packing list

2. Mexican customs broker creates export documentation

3. U.S. customs broker files Entry

4. Carrier files e-manifest with CBP

5. Truck crosses with Carta Porte, DODA, Entry, Manifesto, BOL

Southbound (U.S. → Mexico)

1. U.S. shipper creates BOL, commercial invoice, packing list

2. You drop trailer at customs broker yard in Laredo (or other border city)

3. Mexican customs broker prepares DODA and import documents

4. When docs are ready, transfer carrier crosses with your carrier's CAAT/CAT codes

5. Mexican carrier picks up and delivers to final destination

The key insight: you're not creating any of these documents. You're making sure the right information flows to the people who do create them, and confirming everything is in place before the truck moves.

What's in a Mexico Rate

When you see an "all-in" rate from a carrier, here's what's actually in there:

• Mexico line haul — origin to border

• Transfer fee — crossing the border

• U.S. line haul — border to destination

• Fuel — sometimes broken out, sometimes not

The carrier you're paying keeps the U.S. portion and the transfer fee. They pay their Mexican partner carrier for the Mexico portion.

Understanding this breakdown matters when you're troubleshooting rates or negotiating. If a lane is expensive, is it the Mexico side or the U.S. side that's driving the cost? Knowing the components helps you have smarter conversations.

Direction Matters — A Lot

Mexico rates vary dramatically by direction. Southbound and northbound on the same lane can differ by 30-50%.

Northbound is often more expensive because it requires dual customs clearance (Mexico export plus U.S. import) plus Carta Porte documentation. If your customer ships both ways, the rate difference is an opportunity — and a conversation worth having.

Weekend Dynamics

Unlike U.S. domestic where weekend freight sometimes goes cheaper, Mexico freight is more expensive on weekends.

Carriers do a lot of their pickups on Friday to cross over the weekend, so leftover capacity on Saturday/Sunday doesn't translate to lower rates. If you're quoting weekend freight, build in cushion.

Key Corridors and Crossings

Not all border crossings are created equal:

Laredo — The big one. Handles more truck crossings than any other port. Gateway to Monterrey, the Bajío, Guadalajara, Mexico City. If you're moving freight to or from central Mexico, it's probably crossing here.

El Paso / Juarez — Second busiest. Feeds Chihuahua and sometimes points further south. Strong for automotive and manufacturing.

Tijuana / Otay Mesa — West Coast gateway. Heavy electronics, furniture, produce. If your freight is going to or from Southern California, this is likely your crossing.

Nogales — Produce capital. If it's fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico, it probably came through here.

Brownsville / Matamoros — Growing, especially for automotive. Serves the eastern Gulf corridor.

McAllen / Pharr — Another strong produce crossing, plus general manufacturing.

When you're quoting, make sure you understand which crossing makes sense for the lane. A shipment from Guadalajara to Chicago goes through Laredo. A shipment from Tijuana to Phoenix goes through Otay Mesa. The crossing affects the rate and the transit time.

Border Crossing Timeline

Expect 1-3 days for crossing. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower.

Your customer should be able to tell you what's normal for their freight. If they say it typically takes 8 days to cross? Something's wrong. That's not normal. Dig in.

Crossing time depends on:

• Documentation — Is everything in order? Missing paperwork = delays.

• Inspections — Random inspections happen. CTPAT-certified carriers get inspected less.

• Volume — Holiday weekends and month-end can see longer lines.

• The crossing itself — Laredo is busiest, but also most efficient. Smaller crossings can be faster or slower depending on the day.

Set expectations with your customer based on the specific lane. Don't promise next-day crossing if you haven't confirmed the corridor can support it.

Detention and Drop Trailers

Trailer Detention at the Border

$50-150/day after free time (usually 2-3 days). This is the main accessorial you'll deal with in cross-border.

If documentation is delayed, your trailer sits. If customs pulls the shipment for inspection, your trailer sits. Build this into your customer conversations upfront so there are no surprises.

Driver Detention at Facilities

The old conventional wisdom was that Mexican facilities wouldn't pay detention until 5-6+ hours. That's changing. Many facilities now offer 4 hours free, and it's becoming increasingly common to match the U.S. standard of 2 hours.

There's no hours of service enforcement in Mexico, so the detention math works differently than you're used to. But don't assume facilities will let drivers sit all day without compensation — ask about their policy.

Drop Trailer = Happy Carriers

Pro tip: Carriers strongly prefer drop trailer if they'll be loading at that facility consistently.

If you can negotiate drop trailer with your customer, your carriers will love you for it — and you'll have better capacity options. This is especially true for repeat lanes. A carrier who can drop and go is a carrier who wants your freight.

Cargo Liability: The Big Difference

This is one of the most important things to understand about Mexico freight: Mexican carriers carry essentially no cargo insurance.

In the U.S., if a carrier damages or loses your freight, you can file a claim against their cargo insurance. In Mexico, the carrier's liability is minimal — literally pennies on the dollar based on weight, not value.

So who insures the freight? Almost always the shipper or receiver. This is standard practice.

Before you move freight for a customer, ask: "Is this freight insured on your end?" They'll say yes. If they seem confused, that's a red flag worth investigating.

This doesn't change much operationally — you're still vetting carriers, you're still managing the shipment — but it explains why Mexican facilities are so strict about security protocols, advance notice requirements, and driver verification. Everyone knows the insurance situation, so prevention is everything.

Tracking Requirements

Most Mexico freight doesn't require anything unusual — your standard tracking updates are fine.

The exception: High-risk, high-value freight (electronics, pharmaceuticals, tequila, automotive components worth serious money). For these shipments, customers may require:

• Tracking every 2 hours

• GPS monitoring

• Security escorts

If your customer asks for 2-hour tracking updates on standard freight, that's their prerogative, but it's not the norm. Have a conversation about what's actually necessary versus what's adding operational overhead for no reason.

Common Operational Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Mistake 1: Picking Up Without Confirming the Customs Broker

I said it before, I'll say it again. This is the #1 mistake that kills loads. Confirm the broker before the truck loads. Every time.

Mistake 2: Not Getting Carrier Info to the Shipper Early Enough

The Carta Porte requires carrier details — company name, truck number, trailer number, driver info. If you don't get this to the shipper in time, they can't generate the Carta Porte, and the truck can't legally move.

Build this into your booking process. As soon as you confirm a carrier, get their info to the shipper.

Mistake 3: Assuming the Crossing Will Be Fast

Hope is not a strategy. Build buffer into your transit times, especially when you're new to a lane. Tell your customer 3-5 days for crossing until you have data that says otherwise.

Mistake 4: Forgetting About the Commercial Invoice

No commercial invoice = no customs clearance = trailer stuck at the border. Make sure your customer sends it to the customs broker before the freight arrives.

Mistake 5: Not Asking About Insurance

Don't assume. Ask your customer directly: "Is this freight insured on your end?" Document the answer. Protect yourself.

Your First Load Checklist

Here's a simple checklist for your first few Mexico loads:

Before Booking:

[ ] Confirm origin and destination (full addresses)
[ ] Confirm border crossing city
[ ] Confirm commodity and trailer type
[ ] Confirm weight and cargo value
[ ] Confirm who handles customs (shipper's broker? your broker?)
[ ] Get customs broker contact info

After Booking:

[ ] Send carrier info to shipper for Carta Porte
[ ] Confirm commercial invoice and packing list are with the broker
[ ] Confirm Entry is filed (northbound)
[ ] Confirm e-manifest is filed

During Transit:

[ ] Track pickup confirmation
[ ] Track arrival at border
[ ] Track crossing confirmation
[ ] Track delivery confirmation

After Delivery:

[ ] Get POD
[ ] Note any issues for next time
[ ] Document what worked for this lane

This becomes second nature after a few loads. But for your first few, use the checklist. Don't trust your memory.

The Bottom Line

Mexico operations aren't complicated — they're different. There's a learning curve, but it's not steep.

The keys:

1. Confirm the customs broker before you pick up. Every time.

2. Get carrier info to the shipper early so they can generate the Carta Porte.

3. Build buffer into crossing times until you know the lane.

4. Understand liability — the shipper insures the freight, not the carrier.

5. Document everything — what works, what doesn't, who your reliable carriers are.

After a few loads, you'll see the pattern. It's the same thing every day. The same documents. The same process. The same players.

And that's when Mexico freight becomes just another part of your business — except with better margins.

Next in this series: Part 4 — Building the Team (when to hire, who to hire, and how to scale your Mexico operation)

Have questions about Mexico operations? Drop me a note. I love talking about this stuff.

This is the second post in the Mexico Freight Playbook series. Read Part 1 here.

In Part 1, I covered why Mexico matters, how to build the team, and what scale looks like. This post is the sales playbook — how to actually find the freight, get into accounts, and close the business.

I've done hundreds of Mexico 101 sessions with brokers over the years. This is everything I tell them.

"Where Do I Even Find Mexico Freight? I Don't Speak Spanish. Can I Use Google Translate?"

I get some version of this question in almost every Mexico 101 session I do. Let me unpack it.

First, the Spanish thing: you don't need to speak Spanish to sell Mexico freight. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to sales reps that are like: "I'm using Google Translate to call shippers in Mexico and emailing them."

Please don't do that.

Here's the thing — you're not selling to shippers in Mexico. You're selling to shippers in the United States who happen to have freight going to or coming from Mexico. Big difference.

The transportation manager in Mexico City or Monterrey or Aguascalientes gets cold-called every single day by Mexican trucking companies. They have salespeople walking into their facility constantly saying "I have trucks, give me your freight." Everyone knows that the Honda plant in Guadalajara ships freight to the U.S. They're getting calls all day about it.

But Brett at the Tier 2 automotive supplier in Mount Juliet, Tennessee? The guy whose main job is managing U.S. distribution and the Mexico stuff is just this headache he inherited? Nobody is calling him about Mexico. Nobody.

Brett doesn't know how cross-border works. He doesn't speak Spanish either. He doesn't have time to figure it out. But he's got two trucks a day coming from his supplier in Aguascalientes and he's paying way too much because he doesn't know any better.

Be the person who solves Brett's problem. That's your unfair advantage.

You don't need Spanish to talk to Brett. You need to understand cross-border freight well enough to explain it simply. That's it.

Now, where do you find the Bretts? Where do you find the freight? That's what this entire playbook is about. Let's get into it.

Start With Your Existing Book

The easiest place to start is freight you're already moving. When it comes to your existing book, you want to do three things:

1. Check for Border City Freight and Pitch the Conversion

Go into your TMS right now and pull every load that picks up or delivers in a border city: Laredo, El Paso, McAllen, Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Nogales, Pharr.

If it's delivering to Laredo (or any border city except San Diego), it's almost certainly going across the border. Those "J&J Forwarding" deliveries in Laredo? That freight is going to Mexico. You just don't know it yet.

Here's the conversation:

"I noticed this load delivers to a forwarder in Laredo. I can take this all the way into Mexico for you — door-to-door, no one touches the freight at the border, better visibility, less risk of damage. Who can I talk to about your cross-border freight?"

That's an instant conversation opener with a warm lead. Nothing beats a warm lead.

And if they don't handle the Mexico piece themselves, ask who does. They'll usually give you that contact, and now you've got another warm lead:

"I work with so-and-so on the U.S. side. We move four or five loads a week from Ohio to El Paso. We want to provide service on the Mexico side and take this direct for you."

Here's a real example of what this conversion looks like.

I got a call from a guy I used to work with who'd moved to a CPG company bringing temp-controlled food product out of Mexico — guacamole, specifically — into their distribution centers in the Midwest.

He said: "We have no idea when our freight is actually going to show up. We don't know when it's going to get to the border. We don't know when it's going to cross. We just get it in Laredo and try to pick it up from there, and half the time we've got a truck pre-arranged that ends up sitting at the border because the load didn't cross in time."

The problem? Their co-packer in Mexico was handling the transportation. Freight was moving from the co-packer's facility to the border, and the shipper had no visibility, no control, and no ability to plan.

I told him: go back to your co-packer and tell them you're going to pick it up from their facility. You take over the move from origin in Mexico all the way to your warehouse.

Once they did that, the detention charges disappeared. The border delays went away. They had complete visibility from the moment the truck left Mexico to when it rolled into their dock. They cut the risk, cut the cost, and completely controlled their supply chain.

This is one of the most underrated conversations you can have with a customer: "Do you actually control your cross-border moves, or is someone else handing it off to you at the border?"

If the answer is the latter — if there's a co-packer, a supplier, or a forwarder making those arrangements — that's your opening. Step in. Take over the full move. Give them visibility they've never had.

2. Compare Your Book to Target Industries

Look at your customer list and compare it to the industries that over-index in Mexico freight: automotive, electronics, appliances, furniture, retail, food & beverage, industrial components, apparel. If your customers fall into these categories, they almost certainly have Mexico freight — they just haven't told you about it.

3. Ask Your Customers

This sounds obvious, but most brokers don't do it: tell your customers you can service their Mexico lanes and ask them for it.

If you don't tell them you can do it, and if you don't market it, they won't tell you about it. They assume you're a domestic-only shop. You have to put it out there.

Send an email. Mention it on your next call. Add it to your email signature. Whatever it takes to get the word out that you handle cross-border.

Walk the Store, Read the Labels

This sounds old school because it is. But it works.

Go to a grocery store, Home Depot, Lowe's — any retailer. Look at the labels. "Made in Mexico" or "Hecho en México" means there's freight moving.

And don't just look at the finished product — think about the packaging materials too. Those caps on your water bottle? Extremely high chance they were produced in Ensenada, BCN. The plastic components, the cardboard, the shrink wrap — all of that is freight.

Trace it back: Who's the manufacturer? Where's their U.S. distribution? Who's handling their transportation? Who makes their packaging?

That's a great story to start a conversation: "Hey, I was at the grocery store. I saw you guys make your stuff in Mexico. Can I help you ship it?"

I've used that line multiple times. It actually works.

Target Industries That Over-Index

Some industries are loaded with Mexico freight:

• Automotive — Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers especially

• Electronics — Assembly operations throughout the Bajío

• Appliances — Major brands manufacture in Mexico

• Furniture and home goods — Growing fast due to China tariffs

• Retail — Private label and store brand products

• Food & Beverage — Produce, packaged goods, ingredients

• Industrial components and machinery — Motors, gears, electrical components

• Apparel and textiles — Another China-shift beneficiary

If you have customers in these categories, they have Mexico freight. They might just not know you can help with it.

A lot of the time they assume you don't do cross-border, so they don't tell you about it. You have to ask.

The RFP Bypass

Here's the best part about Mexico freight: it's almost never on their standard RFP.

Every salesperson has gotten the "we just ran our RFP two months ago" objection. You set a reminder for 10 months from now and move on.

With Mexico, you don't have to wait. When they hit you with that objection, you pivot:

"I totally understand. What about Mexico? That's usually not on the RFP. Who handles that for you?"

Nine times out of ten, they say something like: "Oh, we basically just give all that to Landstar" or "Swift handles it, but honestly we're not super happy with them."

And now you're in a conversation that can close this week — not in 10 months.

I did this with a Fortune 100 shipper right after Arrive acquired Forager. The sales rep had been trying to get a meeting for months. They kept saying no. Finally he said "we just bought Forager, we can do cross-border" and they took the call.

I was on a call with that shipper two weeks after the acquisition closed. We got consistent freight from them, then expanded into their domestic U.S. business. They became a major account.

The ability to get in outside of an RFP cycle when you have something unique and niche to offer — I've seen it work multiple times.

How to Find the Bretts

I introduced you to Brett earlier — the Tier 2 supplier in Tennessee that nobody's calling about Mexico freight. Now let's talk about how to actually find these people.

Do some research before you reach out. Go to their website. A lot of companies list their facilities right on their website, which is really cool. You can see they have a plant in Guanajuato or Querétaro.

Then your outreach is direct and specific:

"I see you have a manufacturing facility in Querétaro and distribution in the United States. We provide cross-border services — we can give you capacity to export from Mexico to the U.S. Let me know when you have time to talk."

Be short and sweet. That's what customers are looking for.

Here's a pro tip: Google "Nissan Sentra suppliers" and you'll find one of those pictures of a car with all the different logos pointing off it — that's a feeding frenzy. Every one of those suppliers is receiving parts from or shipping parts to Mexico.

Even better — pull up Google Maps around a major OEM facility. The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga has an entire industrial park surrounding it: Gestamp, Yanfeng, Grupo Antolin, Faurecia, Schnellecke — all Tier 1 suppliers receiving components from Mexico every day. Nobody is cold-calling those companies about Mexico freight.

Land and Expand

Mexico freight is stickier than domestic, and it opens doors to everything else.

When you talk to a shipper, their biggest problem is not usually going to be cross-border. They're gonna say it's something like tracking or capacity or rates. But when you ask them about Mexico, they'll go: "Oh, well, yeah, I mean it's like 10% of our freight spend. So it's not a huge amount of our business, but it's a huge headache."

That 10% is a major pain point. They might not offer it up to you — you have to pull at it. But when you solve that problem, you've got a customer for life.

Here's why Mexico freight is so sticky: your customers might be transactional on their domestic U.S. freight, testing you out with spot loads here and there. But when it comes to cross-border, they're a lot more consistent with who they're going to work with because it's got a whole operational aspect to it. They're expecting consistency. They're going to give you more consistent freight because that freight needs to move consistently.

Once you prove you can do it, they stick with you. That makes it sticky revenue. Then you grow into their domestic freight, their Canadian freight, everything else.

Target Mid-Sized, Not Enterprise

Go after the medium-sized accounts, not the enterprise logos.

Everyone's calling Coke and Heineken and Home Depot. Literally everybody. The lesser-known companies — the Tier 2 suppliers, the regional manufacturers — are going to be your best customers because nobody else is sprinting after their Mexico freight.

The bigger brokers have their hands full with the larger enterprise accounts, and they're very comfortable with them. They don't want to spend time where you're going to be focusing.

And here's the thing about furniture, home goods, apparel, and textiles right now: because of the tariffs on China, these industries are growing fast in Mexico. A lot of those manufacturers are small now, but they can grow to mid-sized. If you can get in with a smaller manufacturer while demand is high, as they're looking for a reliable partner, you can grow with them.

You can go from shipping 10 loads a month to 100 loads a month because now they've bought a new facility, they have more people, they can start producing more to meet the demand. Get in early.

Overcoming Sales Rep Hesitation

Here's something I hear constantly: "My sales reps are timid to expose their customers because they just don't know."

They're scared to bring up Mexico because they don't understand the mechanics. They're worried they'll look dumb or promise something they can't deliver.

The fix is simple: you need your Mexico person on those customer calls. Not buried in carrier communication all day — on the calls, selling.

When I was at Coyote, I'd send an email to the entire sales floor. Not a generic "we do Mexico now" announcement — I'd list the specific industries and commodities that signal Mexico freight. Automotive parts, appliances, electronics, tequila, paper products.

When you name those commodities, salespeople self-identify. They go, "Oh, I have a customer that ships automotive parts" or "My customer is a supplier for that company." That's your pipeline.

Then I'd get on the call with them as the Mexico expert. And every time, I could say, "I know exactly who's going to take this freight. I can name three carriers right now." That credibility came from having covered the freight myself.

Do 80% of the work for the sales rep. They still get paid their commission on freight they never could have closed alone. You build the Mexico book. The customer finally has someone who actually understands their cross-border headache. Everyone wins.

The Discovery Call: What Questions to Ask

When you're talking to your customer and finding out about their Mexico freight, you want to discover where they have problems — without asking them directly, "Where's your problem?"

Because customers, as we all know, are perfect. They're not going to just tell you they have a problem.

Find Out What Drives Their Decision

The key coaching advice I give: figure out whether it's price, service, or complexity that drives their decision-making.

If it's price: They're shopping rates. You need to show value beyond the number — the complexity premium is justified, and you can explain why.

If it's service: They've been burned before. Loads showing up late. No visibility. Communication breakdowns. This is your sweet spot — service wins in cross-border.

If it's complexity: They don't understand how it works and they're scared of it. They need a partner who can walk them through it and make it feel simple.

Are They Stuck With a Big Player Who Puts Them Last?

Here's a question that opens doors: "Who's handling your Mexico freight right now?"

A lot of customers are relying on the same big player — one of the mega-brokers who treats their Mexico volume as an afterthought. Their freight gets put last. They're not a priority.

When you hear that, you've found your angle. You can be the partner who actually prioritizes their cross-border business, who picks up the phone, who knows their lanes.

Questions That Reveal Pain

Ask questions like:

• Are you losing visibility on the Mexico side?

• Are you losing visibility at the border waiting to cross?

• Are you having delays with border paperwork?

• Once you have paperwork, are you delayed crossing and getting to final delivery?

• Do you actually control your cross-border moves, or is someone else handing it off to you at the border?

These questions help you discover problems you can solve. Then when you provide a rate, you can say:

"Based on our conversations, I know you're having trouble with visibility at the border. We'll be able to provide you with that visibility. Here's the rate. Let me know when we can pick up."

That's capitalizing on the complexity. The whole cross-border sale is service, 100%. It's not just moving freight — it's a service that you need to execute on to have success.

Quoting Like a Pro

Q: How do I price this stuff? I have no idea what the rates should be.

You need seven pieces of information to give a real rate — not a guess, not a range, a real rate:

1. Origin and destination

2. Border crossing city (Laredo, El Paso, etc.)

3. Commodity — Never post FAK (Freight All Kinds). Carriers won't move it because they need specifics for CTPAT compliance.

4. Trailer type

5. Weight

6. Cargo value

7. Who handles the crossing — If this is unknown, STOP. Clarify before quoting.

A note on B1 drivers: If your customer (or you) won't allow a B1 driver to do the northbound crossing, you're dramatically limiting the carrier base. Most carriers at the southern border employ B1 drivers, not CDL drivers. Don't shoot yourself in the foot — or let your customer shoot themselves in the foot — by restricting this capacity unnecessarily.

When a customer asks "what's the rate for Mexico?", the correct answer is: "I need seven pieces of information to give you a real rate." Then walk them through the list.

Margin Expectations

Domestic freight averages maybe $150-200 margin per load. Cross-border Mexico, especially northbound, averages $500 a load. Open deck: $1,750-2,000.

The margins are two to three times higher than domestic. Don't be afraid to price accordingly.

A good sweet spot is around 20%. There are opportunities where you can go a lot higher than that — the more specific the freight, the more problems you're solving, the more you can charge. But don't go below 15%. Mexico freight commands a complexity premium, and it's justified.

If the customer pushes back on rate, explain the value: customs coordination, carrier vetting, tracking, security. You're not just moving freight — you're managing a multi-party operation across two countries.

Direction Matters

Mexico rates vary dramatically by direction. Southbound and northbound on the same lane can differ by 30-50%.

Northbound is often more expensive because it requires dual customs clearance (Mexico export plus U.S. import) plus Carta Porte documentation. If your customer ships both ways, the rate difference is an opportunity.

Handling Objections

Here are the five objections I hear most often — and how to handle them:

"Freight gets stolen in Mexico."

In my entire career brokering Mexico freight, I can count the theft incidents on one hand. It happens less frequently than in the U.S. domestic market.

Guy Fieri's tequila got stolen in the U.S., not Mexico. Most tequila that ships out of Guadalajara runs with security escorts. They know exactly where those drivers are supposed to go. They have security protocols.

The freight that gets targeted is high-risk, high-value: tequila, electronics, pharmaceuticals. And those shippers know it — they have protocols in place. Regular freight? The risk is overstated.

"The border is chaos."

It looks chaotic at first. There's a lot going on — maybe 12 people on every email. Somebody is always getting blamed for something.

But reality is the same 12 people are on every email and they're always doing the same thing over and over again. It's a lot of repeatable tasks. Once you understand the pattern, you just keep doing it.

You'll start to see a rhythm and a system. You just have to learn it as you start to operate it.

"I need someone in Mexico."

No, you don't. Not to start. If anything, add someone at the border (Laredo) before you add someone in Mexico. That's where the carriers are, where the customs brokers are, where the action is.

When you find yourself going down to Laredo every week, that's when you hire someone there.

"It's all about price."

Relationships and reliability win every single day. Shippers will be more flexible on pricing as long as it's within reason — more flexible than you see on domestic freight.

You can win freight without having the cheapest rate. Service matters more in cross-border.

"What about liability?"

This is one of the most common concerns, especially for first-time Mexico shippers.

Mexican carriers carry essentially no cargo insurance — the carrier's liability is minimal. So who insures the freight? Almost always the shipper or receiver. This is standard practice.

Before you move freight for a customer, ask: "Is this freight insured on your end?" They'll say yes. If they seem confused, that's a red flag worth investigating.

This doesn't change much operationally. You're still vetting carriers, still managing the shipment. But the insurance situation explains why facilities are strict about security protocols — everyone knows prevention is everything.

RFP Season Timing

If you do want to play the RFP game, cross-border RFPs follow a predictable calendar:

• September–October: RFPs go out

• November–December: Responses due

• December–January: Awards announced

• February: Freight starts moving

But here's the thing — and I said this earlier — you don't have to wait for RFP season with Mexico freight. Most shippers handle their cross-border outside their standard bid process. That means you can get in any time of year.

So yes, if there's an RFP, go after it. But don't let the calendar stop you from prospecting year-round. The RFP bypass is one of the biggest advantages of selling Mexico.

The Bottom Line

Selling Mexico freight isn't that different from selling any other freight. You're solving problems for customers. You're building relationships. You're demonstrating expertise.

The difference is that fewer people are doing it, which means less competition. The margins are higher. And once you win the business, it's stickier than domestic.

Start with your existing book. Ask every customer with border freight if you can take it all the way. Target the U.S. contacts, not the Mexican ones. Get in outside the RFP cycle with your Mexico wedge.

The freight is hiding in your book. Go find it.

Next in this series: Part 3 — The Operations Playbook (how the freight actually moves, pricing components, documents, and execution)

Have questions about selling Mexico freight? Drop me a note. I love talking about this stuff.

This is the first post in the Mexico Freight Playbook series.

I got into Mexico freight by accident. I was working carrier sales at a large brokerage, covering loads, building relationships with carriers — and I kept gravitating toward the cross-border stuff because nobody else wanted to touch it. The margins were great. The freight was interesting. And I was one of the only people on a floor of hundreds who understood how it worked.

One day the COO walked over to my desk and said, "Your new job is to go grow the Mexico business." So I flew to Laredo, met with a customs broker, won our first real cross-border customer, and started building relationships with carriers up and down the border.

When I got back, I sent an email to the entire sales floor about what I'd learned — the margin opportunity, the industries, the lanes. Within days, sales reps were reaching out: "I have a customer with Mexico freight. Can you hop on a call with me?" So I started jumping on customer calls as the Mexico expert. And every time, I could say, "I know exactly who's going to take this freight. I can name three carriers right now." That credibility came from having covered the freight myself.

That was the beginning. I went on to build Mexico operations at two different companies and train dozens of sales teams on how to actually win this business.

But back in 2015, selling and moving Mexico freight felt like operating in a different decade. We were using Nextels to communicate with carriers in Mexico. Updates were fuzzy, handoffs were manual, and a "simple" border move could turn into a 20-text-message logistics exercise just to understand where the trailer was and who had it.

That experience is why I built Cargado. Mexico freight isn't inherently impossible — it's just been underserved by modern workflow and modern market data. We're building the marketplace and infrastructure layer so brokers can reliably find capacity, run clean execution across multiple legs, and price with confidence using real carrier bids.

This is the guide I wish I'd had when I started. Let's go deep.

Why Mexico, Why Now?

Q: Why should I care about Mexico freight when I've got plenty of domestic business?

Here's the thing: trade with Mexico and Canada continues to increase while trade with China decreases. Nearshoring isn't a trend — it's a structural shift in how North American supply chains work. Manufacturing is moving closer to end consumers, and Mexico is the biggest beneficiary.

But here's what really matters for your business:

The margin opportunity is substantial. Cross-border freight consistently pays more than domestic — and it's not close. Open deck in particular is one of the most lucrative segments in all of freight brokerage right now.

I've seen brokers go from zero Mexico experience to running profitable operations within 36 hours of their first load. The freight is there. The margin is there. The question is whether you're going to capture it.

Finding Shippers with Mexico Freight

Q: How do I actually find shippers that have Mexico freight?

Three methods that work:

Method 1: Check Your Existing Book

Go into your TMS right now and pull every load that picks up or delivers in a border city: Laredo, El Paso, McAllen, Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Nogales.

If it's picking up or delivering in Laredo (or any border city except San Diego), it's almost certainly going across the border. Those "J&J Forwarding" deliveries in Laredo? That freight is going to Mexico. You just don't know it yet.

Call your customer: "I noticed this load delivers to a forwarder in Laredo. Can I take this all the way into Mexico for you? Door-to-door, no one touches the freight at the border, better visibility, less risk of damage."

That's an instant conversation opener.

Here's a real example of what this looks like in practice. I got a call from a guy I used to work with in a previous job. He'd moved into a role at a CPG company that was bringing temp-controlled food product out of Mexico — guacamole, specifically — into their distribution centers in the Midwest. And he said, "We have no idea when our freight is actually going to show up. We don't know when it's going to cross. We just get it in Laredo and try to pick it up from there, and half the time we've got a truck pre-arranged that ends up sitting at the border because the load didn't cross in time."

The problem? Their copacker in Mexico was handling the transportation. Freight was moving from the copacker's facility to the border, and the shipper had no visibility, no control, and no ability to plan.

I told him: go back to your copacker and tell them you're going to pick it up from their facility. You take over the move from origin in Mexico all the way to your warehouse. Once they did that, the detention charges disappeared. The border delays went away. They had complete visibility from the moment the truck left Mexico to when it rolled into their dock. They cut the risk, cut the cost, and completely controlled their supply chain.

This is one of the most underrated conversations you can have with a customer: "Do you actually control your cross-border moves, or is someone else handing it off to you at the border?" If the answer is the latter — if there's a copacker, a supplier, or a forwarder making those arrangements — that's your opening. Step in. Take over the full move. Give them visibility they've never had. That's how you win sticky, recurring freight.

Method 2: Walk the Store, Read the Labels

This sounds old school because it is. Walk through Home Depot, Lowe's, or any retailer. Read the labels. "Made in Mexico" or "Hecho en México" means there's freight moving.

Now trace it back: Who's the manufacturer? Where's their U.S. distribution? Who's handling their transportation? That's your target.

Method 3: Target the Right Industries

Some industries are loaded with Mexico freight:

• Automotive — Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers especially

• Appliances — Major brands manufacture in Mexico

• Electronics — Assembly operations throughout the Bajío

• Furniture — Growing manufacturing base

• Food & Beverage — Produce, packaged goods, ingredients

• Retail — Private label and store brand products

If you have customers in these categories, they have Mexico freight. They might just not know you can help with it.

Here's a pro tip I've shared with dozens of sales teams: don't just go after the big OEM. Go after their supplier base. Google "Nissan Sentra suppliers" and you'll find one of those pictures of a car with all the different logos pointing off it — that's a feeding frenzy. Every one of those suppliers is receiving parts from or shipping parts to Mexico.

Even better — pull up Google Maps around a major OEM facility. The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga has an entire industrial park surrounding it: Gestamp, Yanfeng, Grupo Antolin, Faurecia, Schnellecke — all Tier 1 suppliers receiving components from Mexico every day. Nobody is cold-calling those companies about Mexico freight. I had a customer like that outside Nashville — a Tier 2 supplier for Nissan making seat frames. Two trucks a day, and I kept them for years because nobody else knew they existed.

Your Mexico Expert Is in the Wrong Seat

If you have someone on your team who knows Mexico freight — who's been covering loads, talking to carriers, sending WhatsApp messages all day — and that's all they're doing, you are wasting your most valuable resource.

I lived this. The credibility I built from covering Mexico freight is what made me effective on customer calls. But the value was on the sales side — helping reps close deals they couldn't close on their own. That's what grew the business, not the WhatsApp threads.

Your Mexico person shouldn't be buried in carrier communication all day. They should be on customer calls with your sales reps, selling Mexico as a service. Get a Spanish-speaking operations person to handle the carrier communication, the customs broker coordination, the pickup scheduling. Let your Mexico expert do what only they can do: walk into a customer conversation and instantly demonstrate that your company knows how to move freight across the border.

And if that person has never been in a "sales" role — don't let that hold you back. They don't need to be a closer. They're an expert. They understand the details — the lanes, the carriers, the border process, the pricing dynamics. They'll ask the right questions because they've lived it. And any shipper with Mexico freight will look right past whether someone has traditional sales experience the moment that person starts talking about how customs clearance actually works or which carriers run the Monterrey-to-Laredo corridor every day. Expertise is the sale.

Once you're on those calls, do 80% of the work for the sales rep. They still get paid their commission on freight they never could have closed alone. You build the Mexico book. The customer finally has someone who actually understands their cross-border headache. Everyone wins.

Here's how you get the pipeline moving: send an email to your entire sales floor. Not a generic "we do Mexico now" announcement — list the specific industries and commodities that signal Mexico freight. Automotive parts, appliances, electronics, tequila, paper products. When you name those commodities, salespeople self-identify. They go, "Oh, I have a customer that ships automotive parts" or "My customer is a supplier for that company." That's your pipeline.

And go after the medium-sized accounts, not the enterprise logos. Everyone's calling Coke and Heineken and Home Depot. Literally everybody. The lesser-known companies — the Tier 2 suppliers, the regional manufacturers — are going to be your best customers because nobody else is sprinting after their Mexico freight.

Building the Team

Q: Do I need to hire people for Mexico?

Not at first. And definitely not before you have real volume.

The biggest mistake I see is people thinking they need to set up an office in Laredo or hire a team in Monterrey before they move their first load. Don't overbuild. Here's how to think about staffing as you grow:

Stage 1: Getting Started (0-5 Customers)

You don't need anyone dedicated to Mexico yet. Your existing team can handle this.

Pick one person — someone curious, someone who wants to learn — and let them own the early loads. They're not full-time on Mexico. They're just the person who figures it out when Mexico freight comes up.

That person builds expertise with each shipment. They learn the carriers. They understand the lanes. They know which customs brokers are reliable. But they're still doing their regular job.

Stage 2: Building Momentum (5+ Customers with Weekly Volume)

Once you have five or more customers giving you volume on a weekly basis, it's time to lean in.

Now you want someone devoting real time — not necessarily full-time, but meaningful time — to selling Mexico to your other customers. This is the person who starts asking every account manager: "Hey, does your customer have any Mexico freight?"

They're still not dedicated full-time. But Mexico is now a real part of their job, not just something they handle when it comes up.

Stage 3: Operations Investment (Daily Volume from Several Customers)

This is the inflection point where you need to make a real hire.

When you have daily volume from several customers, you'll need an operations person who is fluent in Spanish. Their job is to talk to the customs brokers and facilities in Mexico, coordinate with your U.S. ops team and account managers, and make sure freight moves smoothly.

Here's how I sourced this talent in the past: I walked the sales floor and found the Spanish speakers. That's it. I went up to them and said, "You and you — come with me. This will be way more interesting than what you're doing right now." If their family's from Mexico, they're usually excited about the opportunity. It feels personal to them.

They don't need experience with Mexico freight. They don't need to know what a DODA is or how a border crossing works. They just need to be fluent in Spanish. You'll teach them the freight side. What you can't teach is the language or culture.

This person doesn't need to be in Mexico. They can be anywhere. But they need to speak Spanish fluently, and you need to position this little team as a centralized shared resource for your entire sales floor — not as an individual contributor buried in one book of business. Every rep at your company should know: when Mexico freight comes up, call this team.

Your U.S. account managers stay focused on the customer relationship. Your Spanish-speaking ops person handles the Mexico-side coordination. They work together.

Stage 4: Full Department

Once you're running serious volume on a daily basis, you're building a real department. Now you might consider:

• Dedicated sales headcount for Mexico

• An office presence in Laredo or Monterrey

• Multiple ops people covering different shifts or regions

But don't jump to Stage 4 until you've earned it. Most brokers stall out because they overbuild too early, not because they underinvest.

The First Year Playbook

Q: What should my first year look like?

Quarter 1: Foundation

• Audit your existing book for border city freight

• Identify 10-20 target accounts with likely Mexico freight

• Move your first loads (aim for profitability by load 2-3)

• Source carriers through Cargado — you need dozens, not two or three, and the platform gets you there fast. But don't stop at the screen. Get yourself to Laredo and spend time with those carriers in person. Until you've been to Laredo, you don't know what you're missing.

Quarter 2: Traction

• Establish consistent lanes with repeat customers

• Expand carrier relationships based on lane needs

• Start training a second person on Mexico basics

• Target: 20-30 loads per month

Quarter 3: Process

• Document your SOPs

• Systematize carrier selection by lane

• Build quoting confidence on key corridors

• Target: 50+ loads per month

Quarter 4: Scale

• Evaluate dedicated headcount needs

• Consider office presence in Laredo (if volume warrants)

• Expand into adjacent services (expedited, open deck, reefer)

• Target: 100+ loads per month

What Scale Actually Looks Like

Q: I'm at a top 25 broker. What's "serious" Mexico volume?

Here's how I'd frame it:

A good ops rep can handle 5-10 cross-border loads per day. That math drives your team size at every stage:

The top brokers are moving upwards of 1,000 loads per day cross-border. At 250+ daily loads, Mexico becomes a meaningful part of your story and you have a real functional department — including an office in Mexico. Below that, it's a growing business unit. Above that, it's a competitive moat.

The Bottom Line

The margin opportunity is real. The competitive moat is real. The growth trajectory is real.

The only question is whether you're going to capture it or watch someone else do it.

I've helped build two successful Mexico departments. I've trained dozens of sales teams. And I can tell you with certainty: the brokers who lean into this now will have a structural advantage for years to come.

The freight is hiding in your book. Go find it.

Next in this series: The Sales Playbook for Mexico Freight — how to get into accounts and win the business.

Have questions about getting started? Drop me a note. I love talking about this stuff.

I've never been more excited to build a company than I am right now.

Not because things are easy. Not because the path is clear. But because we're living through one of those rare moments in history where the rules of what's possible are being completely rewritten — and the founders who see it are going to build things that nobody thought possible just 12 months ago.

Let me tell you what I mean. And let me start with a confession.

How I Got Red-Pilled

Six months ago, I was the guy making AI-generated pictures for fun. Cool party trick. Neat technology. But not something that was going to fundamentally change how we built Cargado.

Then something shifted.

I started using Claude Code to stitch together our marketplace data with our HubSpot data. I'm not a developer. I've never written a line of code in my life. But suddenly I was building real systems that pulled insights I couldn't have gotten before.

Then I built my first Notion agent. Then another. Then I couldn't stop.

Within weeks, I went from "AI is interesting" to "we're going all in on this."

I literally told my team in January: "Here's the deal — we are going all in on AI, and I will devote some of my time to meet with people in smaller groups or 1:1 to coach you through how to use it."

That's when I knew I'd been red-pilled. Once you see what's possible, you can't unsee it.

The Most Consequential Technology We've Ever Seen

Today, I have 20+ AI agents running in production at Cargado, some are Notion agents and some were built with Claude:

• One monitors every customer and prospect call, extracts quotes, and tracks feedback automatically

• One tracks all Canada and Mexico-related conversations across Slack and calls, stitching them into a market intel database

• One maintains a self-healing wiki that updates our product knowledge base when things change

• One generates and schedules my content based on my writing style and voice

• One analyzes our sales pipeline and flags deals that need attention

These aren't experiments. These are production systems that replaced work that would have required multiple full-time employees.

And here's what's wild: I built most of these myself. Not our engineering team. Me — a guy who has never written production code in his life.

This is the most consequential technology the world has ever seen. And we're still in the early innings.

40 People With the Impact of 250

In December, I recognized two team members — Carlos and Zach — who had built real production systems with Claude and VAPI that let them do work that would have required entire teams at traditional companies.

When I shared that recognition, I wrote something that captures exactly what we're building toward:

"2026 is going to be dramatically different than 2025. The way companies are built is evolving right now. We're not building a 250-person company — we're building a team of fewer than 40 people who operate with the impact of 250 through the right technology and infrastructure."

That's not a slogan. That's our actual operating model.

Our engineering team's productivity has approximately doubled since late 2025. And we think we can get to a substantially higher multiple on the impact. Not by working longer hours — by working with AI as a genuine multiplier.

The Question That Changed My Thinking

A few weeks ago, I was in a conversation where someone asked a simple question that reframed everything:

"Do you think about AI as the product, or AI as the accelerant to the things people do?"

For us, the answer is clear: AI is the accelerant.

We're not an AI company. We're a freight marketplace that uses AI to move faster than anyone thought possible. The AI isn't what we sell—it's what makes our small team punch way above our weight class.

That distinction matters. A lot of companies are building AI wrappers — using LLMs to make phone calls, scrape data, generate emails. And look, that stuff works. But we're building something different.

We're building the modern version of the ledger — the structured source of truth for cross-border freight. Pickup locations, delivery locations, dates, times, trailer types, commodities. Structured data that moves at machine speed.

When you combine AI agents with structured data:

• We can auto-post freight based on complex rules that used to take months to build

• We can generate accurate rates by pulling from real marketplace data

• We can write TMS integrations automatically because we understand the data structure

• We can scale to thousands of customers without scaling our team linearly

That's not a feature. That's a moat.

The Human Multiplier Effect

Here's the part that makes me most excited: AI doesn't replace great people. It makes them superhuman.

Carlos and Zach aren't being replaced. They're being amplified. They're building systems that let them do several jobs at once — not because they're working harder, but because they're working with leverage that didn't exist 18 months ago.

The single-thread employee who can only do one specific task? Sure, we don't need to hire for that anymore. But the creative problem-solver who can harness AI to do ten things at once? That person is now worth 10x what they were worth two years ago.

That's why I've been coaching team members 1:1 on how to use these tools. Not because it's a nice perk — because it's a competitive advantage. The companies where leadership actively pushes AI adoption will move faster than the ones where it bubbles up from individual contributors.

The Opportunity Window

Here's what I keep thinking about: this window won't last forever.

Right now, most companies in our industry — hell, most companies everywhere — are still skeptical. They're waiting to see how this plays out. They're debating whether AI is overhyped. They're forming committees to study it.

Meanwhile, companies like us are shipping.

Every week we sprint at this technology, our competitors fall another week behind. The gap isn't 10%. It's 10x.

And that's not hyperbole. Look at what's happening at Cargado:

• Our engineering team built an entire new search feature using AI — zero manual code writing required

• We're processing RFPs that used to take hours in minutes

• We're building with minimal planned hires in 2026 while targeting the impact of a 250-person company

This is the builder's moment.

The Moment That Made It Real

I want to share a few moments that have stopped me in my tracks recently.

I drive a Tesla, and I use Full Self-Driving 99.9% of the time. The only thing I do myself is back into my garage — and honestly, if I let it pull in on its own, it would back itself out too. I'm basically a passenger in my own car. And it just … works.

I set up an AI agent named Walter that can make phone calls on my behalf. Recently I had Walter call the barbershop and schedule concurrent haircut appointments for me and my son — so I didn't have to wait on hold for someone to answer. It worked flawlessly. We both got our haircuts. They had no idea they were talking to AI.

My five-year-old son asked for my phone so he could "use AI to make a game." He also talks to ChatGPT to come up with creative stories — getting genuinely excited as the story takes shape based on what he told it to do. He's not consuming content. He's creating with a collaborator that responds to his imagination.

Think about that. My car drives itself. My AI assistant books my appointments. And my five-year-old already sees AI as a tool for creating things. Not something scary. Not something abstract. Just … the way you make stuff now.

And his dad? I'm being chauffeured around by software while I think about what to build next.

That's when I realized: we're not just living through a technology shift. We're living through a generational shift in how humans think about building things — and living.

My generation had to unlearn the old way. My son's generation will never know it.

The Bet We're Making

So here's the bet we're making at Cargado in 2026:

We're betting that 40 people with AI can beat 250 people without it.

We're betting that structured data infrastructure beats conversational wrappers.

We're betting that companies willing to sprint at this technology now — while it's uncomfortable — will build compounding advantages.

We're betting that the founders who see this moment for what it is will build the next generation of generational companies.

And we're betting that AI doesn't diminish the role of great builders — it amplifies them.

Are You Building or Getting Built Around?

The question isn't whether AI will change how companies get built. It already has.

The question is: are you building with it or getting built around?

At Cargado, we're not waiting to see how this plays out. We're not forming committees. We're not debating whether this is real.

We're building. We're shipping. We're sprinting.

Because I genuinely believe: this is the greatest time in history to be a builder.

The leverage is real. The tools are here. The window is open.

Let's build something incredible.

I have the honor of working with well over 200 logistics companies across North America. I spend my days talking with leaders across the spectrum: Mexico leaders at the largest brokerages, owners of some of the top Canadian logistics companies, and startup brokerages run by founders who share my obsession with cross-border freight.

Everyone has a different perspective on how to move their company forward in 2026.

But after hundreds of these conversations, I keep coming back to the same two truths:

1. If you're not investing in modern technology, you're already falling behind. This isn't about being "digital" — it's about whether your team is buried in manual work or freed up to actually grow the business.

2. Technology alone won't make you dynamic. The brokerages that are pulling away from the pack are the ones using that foundation to expand into areas most brokers avoid — Mexico, Canada, open deck — becoming more valuable to their customers with every capability they add.

This post is both a wake-up call and a playbook.

The wake-up call: the window to modernize is closing. The playbook: here's how to use that foundation to become a more dynamic, multi-dimensional brokerage.

The Wake-Up Call: Technology Is No Longer Optional

The phrase "digital freight brokerage" is dead. I'm calling time of death.

Everyone is digital now. That's not a differentiator — it's table stakes.

But here's what I'm still seeing: teams who are "digital" on paper but still drowning in manual work. They have a modern TMS. They're on the load boards. But their people are still:

• Manually pricing loads and building quotes

• Rekeying data between systems

• Refreshing load boards and chasing capacity

• Making check calls instead of building relationships

That's not modern. That's just digital window dressing on the same old grind.

Meanwhile, the brokerages that are actually investing in technology as a scaling engine look completely different:

• Pricing and posting are automated

• Systems talk to each other without rekeying

• AI and marketplace tools expand coverage without expanding headcount

• Their people focus on relationships, strategy, and complex problem-solving

This is how you scale. Not by hiring more people to do manual work. By removing the manual work and repositioning your people to have a much larger impact.

I still know teams who just moved off AS400. Black screens with green text. If that's you, the gap between where you are and where the market is heading is getting wider every quarter.

The wake-up call is simple: if you're not actively investing in technology that frees your team from commodity work, you're going to struggle to keep up.

The Opportunity: There Are Riches in the Niches

Here's the thing about technology: it's necessary but not sufficient.

If you automate everything and then keep doing the same generic dry van work on the same generic lanes, you're still a one-dimensional brokerage. You've just become a more efficient one-dimensional brokerage.

The real opportunity comes when you use that foundation to expand into the freight that most brokers avoid.

Mexico. Canada. Open deck. The niches that get written off as "too complex" or "too risky."

That complexity is exactly why there's margin in it. And more importantly — every niche you add makes you more valuable to your customers and harder to replace.

Why Expanding Into Niches Works

A one-dimensional brokerage is easy to commoditize. You do dry van. So does everyone else. Price becomes the only differentiator.

A dynamic brokerage is different. When you can handle a customer's domestic freight and their Mexico moves and their open deck projects, you're not a vendor anymore. You're embedded in their operation.

Here's what happens when you start adding capabilities:

1. You become the default for more of their freight.

   "Anything cross-border? Call them."

   "Anything odd-shaped or project-based? Call them."

   "Actually, just call them for everything."

2. You get pulled into adjacent opportunities.

   Once you prove you can handle the hard stuff, customers are way more comfortable giving you more of the routine stuff too.

3. You're exponentially harder to replace.

   Another broker can always undercut you on a single lane. It's much harder to rip you out when you're handling five different types of freight across three countries.

Every niche you expand into gives your existing customers more reasons to consolidate with you. And when you talk to new prospects, it gives them more reasons to say yes — because you're not just another broker asking for "a shot."

The Niches That Matter Right Now

Mexico and Canada. Nearshoring is not a headline — it's a structural change. Manufacturers are moving production into Mexico, adding plants across Canada, building DCs around Laredo. Every one of those moves creates cross-border friction. If you're the broker who actually understands how freight flows through the gateways, where capacity wants to be, and what Carta Porte means for day-to-day operations — you become essential, not optional.

Open deck. More complex. More operationally demanding. Permits, escorts, route planning, site constraints. Which is exactly why most one-dimensional brokers avoid it. If your team leans in and builds real capability here, you unlock project freight, capex moves, and a whole category of business that your competitors won't touch.

Most brokerages think of this freight as "too hard." That's exactly why there's opportunity for the ones willing to expand.

No One Likes a Basic Broker

Let's get the snark out of the way:

A basic broker in 2026:

• Lives almost entirely on the spot market

• Sells "we care more and give good service" like that's still unique

• Has no clear point of view on any freight vertical, region, or mode

• Avoids cross-border because it's "too complex"

• Treats open deck like radioactive material

• Blames "the market" for everything instead of changing their approach

If your entire positioning is, "We're a relationship-driven brokerage that communicates well and really cares about our customers" — cool.

You've just described 90% of the industry.

Basic is a mindset:

• Reactive instead of proactive

• One-dimensional instead of dynamic

• Scared of complexity instead of running toward it

The dynamic brokerage says:

That mindset shift completely changes how your customers see you and why new prospects say yes.

The Playbook: How to Actually Do This

Knowing that technology is required and niches are the opportunity is one thing. Actually building a more dynamic brokerage is another.

Here's how I'd approach it.

Step 1: Stop Drowning in Manual Work

Before you can expand into new areas, you need capacity. Not truck capacity — people capacity.

Look at where your team spends time today. Every hour spent manually pricing, rekeying, posting, and chasing is an hour not spent on building new capabilities or deepening customer relationships.

The goal is to automate the commodity work:

• TMS integrations that eliminate rekeying

• Marketplace tools that automate posting and matching

• Pricing engines that give you confidence without manual research

• Visibility tools that reduce check calls

You don't need to solve everything at once. Pick the biggest time sink and fix it first. Then move to the next one.

This isn't about buying shiny tools. It's about buying back your team's time so you can redeploy it toward growth.

Step 2: Identify Your Expansion Opportunities

Look at your current customer base. Where are they already asking for help that you're saying no to?

• Do they have Mexico or Canada freight you're passing on?

• Are there open deck or specialized moves you're referring out?

• What freight are they giving to other brokers that you could handle if you built the capability?

Those are your expansion opportunities. You don't need to go find new customers — you need to become more valuable to the ones you already have.

Step 3: Start With One New Capability

You don't need to become a full-service cross-border and open deck shop overnight.

Pick one area to expand into first:

• If your customers have Mexico freight, start there

• If they're doing Canada moves, build that muscle

• If there's project freight you've been avoiding, lean in

Assign an internal owner. Find the right partners and platforms to accelerate your learning. Start with one lane, one customer, one use case.

The big mistake is waiting until you feel "ready." You will never feel ready. You need a customer willing to work with you, and partners who can fill the gaps while you learn. The rest you figure out in motion.

Step 4: Let Your Expanded Capabilities Drive Prospecting

Once you've built real capability in a new area, your prospecting changes.

Instead of:

It becomes:

One sounds like every other broker. The other sounds like someone who's built something specific and valuable.

Step 5: Keep Expanding

The goal isn't to add one capability and stop. It's to keep becoming more dynamic.

Every new area you expand into makes you harder to replace and more valuable to your customers. Mexico today. Canada next quarter. Open deck after that.

The most valuable brokerages in 2026 won't be the ones who picked one niche and went deep. They'll be the ones who kept expanding their capabilities until they became indispensable.

The Brokerages I'd Bet On

After everything I just said, you might think I'm bearish on brokerages.

It's actually the opposite.

There's a wave of modern technology pouring into freight: AI-driven pricing, better visibility, smarter TMS platforms, marketplaces that actually understand cross-border nuance.

The brokerages that lean into those tools — not as shiny toys, but as infrastructure that frees them to expand — are going to separate themselves quickly.

We're going to see M&A pick up as legacy brokerages decide they're done. And we're going to see a group of operators use this moment to build extremely dynamic, multi-dimensional businesses.

Not because they yelled the loudest about being "digital." Because they built the foundation to scale — and then kept expanding into areas where others stayed one-dimensional.

The Bottom Line

If there's a theme for 2026, it's this:

Technology is how you survive. Expanding into niches is how you become impossible to replace.

• Build the tech infrastructure that removes manual work

• Expand into Mexico, Canada, open deck — the areas basic brokers avoid

• Become more valuable to your existing customers before chasing new ones

• Keep adding capabilities until you're indispensable

The one-dimensional broker will keep refreshing load boards, complaining about rates, and blaming the market.

The dynamic brokerage will keep expanding — picking up new capabilities, new freight types, new geographies — until their customers can't imagine working with anyone else.

It's 2026.

Time to stop being basic.

It's time to get Cargado if you aren't using it today. Your competition sure is.

Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks thinking about what this year is going to look like — and more broadly, how companies are going to be built from here on out.

If you zoom out and ignore the headlines for a second, there’s a pretty simple pattern emerging underneath all the noise:

We’re entering the age of builders and doers.

The companies that win over the next decade won’t be the ones that stack up the biggest headcount, the most layers of management, or the fanciest org charts.

They’ll be the ones where a relatively small group of people operates with the impact of a much larger company because they know how to do three things:

1. See clearly what needs to exist.

2. Build it themselves (or with a tiny crew).

3. Use AI and automation as a multiplier, not a buzzword.

If you’re a founder, operator, or aspiring leader, this shift should feel both a little terrifying and extremely exciting.

Let me explain.

The Old Playbook: Headcount as Strategy

For a long time, the mental model for building a company looked something like this:

• Raise money.

• Use that money to hire people.

• Promote your “best” individual contributors into managers.

• Layer more managers on top of managers as you grow.

• Build big departments around functions: Sales, Ops, Marketing, Product, etc.

If you were a founder, success often got measured (quietly) in headcount.

“I run a 40-person sales org.”

“We’ve got 25 people in operations.”

“We doubled the team this year.”

I ran into someone at the Bears game this weekend who’s running a company with hundreds of employees. The thought of building something that large, from a people perspective, was honestly daunting. My gut reaction was, “Oh man, my goal is to keep our team as small as possible and just make sure everyone has tools that 10–100x their impact.”

Headcount was a proxy for progress.

This model made sense when:

• Tools were primitive. A lot of work was truly manual.

• Data was hard to access. Answering basic questions required whole teams.

• Internal systems were brittle. “Don’t touch that spreadsheet, it might break.”

• The coordination cost of getting things done was high.

If you wanted to build a new function, the assumption was: “We need to staff it.”

You’d hire a manager, then a few ICs, then a manager over those managers, and so on. If you wanted to “be a leader,” that often meant getting out of the work and into managing the work.

Today, that model is breaking.

What’s Changed: The Human Possibility Frontier

When people talk about AI, they usually frame it as a question of replacement.

• “Will it replace SDRs?”

• “Will it replace copywriters?”

• “Will it replace data analysts?”

I think that’s the wrong frame.

A more accurate question is: What does one motivated person now have the capacity to do when they’re plugged into tools like Notion Agents, Claude, ChatGPT, Nano Banana — and effectively have access to unlimited scale?

Because that’s what has changed most dramatically in the last 12–18 months.

A concrete example

In the last few weeks alone, I’ve used AI tools like Notion AI and Claude Code to:

• Pull together a customer intelligence database that previously would’ve taken a team weeks.

• Build and compare multiple pricing and compensation models.

• Map customer and prospect locations to plan travel and coverage strategy.

• Create analytical deep dives into coverage gaps in lanes, regions, or customer segments.

• Set OKR baselines from messy historical data.

I didn’t magically become a full-stack engineer or a data scientist. I didn’t learn to write production-level code.

What changed is:

• The tools are finally good enough.

• The interfaces are finally usable.

• And I stopped accepting “that would be nice to have, but we don’t have the bandwidth” as an answer.

All of the tasks above would’ve historically required a chain of events:

• Scoping a project.

• Getting on the product or data team’s roadmap.

• Waiting for someone to write scripts, build dashboards, update data pipelines.

Now, a founder who is willing to get their hands dirty and learn a new workflow can accomplish a lot of this in a few focused sessions.

This is happening everywhere:

• Sales leaders building their own custom reporting or qualification workflows.

• Ops leaders automating onboarding, billing, and fulfillment steps without asking for engineering time.

• Founders prototyping new internal tools or even product features themselves before a single ticket gets filed.

The frontier of “what’s humanly possible for one person” has moved.

And we’re still underestimating how far.

From Function Leaders to Function Builders

In the old world, you hired “function leaders” to run departments.

Their job was to:

• Set strategy.

• Define org charts.

• Hire and manage teams.

• Put processes in place and make sure people followed them.

In the new world, I think that role gets replaced by function builders.

What’s the difference?

A function builder is someone who:

• Looks at a blank page and can design how a function should work.

• Gets in the weeds to build the first version — systems, workflows, tooling, documentation.

• Uses AI and automation as default ingredients, not optional add-ons.

• Operates with a builder’s mindset even if their title says “Head of X” or “VP of Y.”

They might still manage people. They might still have a leadership title. But their primary value is not how many direct reports they have. It’s their ability to create and own a working system.

This is a very different skillset than “I can run a 50-person team.”

If you’re hiring, the questions start to change:

• Not: “Have you managed a large team before?”

• But: “Have you ever built a function from scratch and made it work?”

• Not: “How many people did you oversee?”

• But: “What systems did you design? What workflows did you implement? What did you personally build?”

And if you’re an individual contributor or mid-level manager trying to grow your career, your playbook should change too.

Instead of optimizing for, “How do I get more people reporting to me?” you want to optimize for, “How do I become the person who can build and run an entire function with a small team and the right tools?”

Operators With Agency

There’s a particular kind of person who thrives in this environment. I think of them as operators with agency.

You probably know a few of these people already. They’re the ones who:

• Don’t wait to be told what to do.

• See the gaps and quietly build the systems to close them.

• Learn adjacent skills without making a big deal out of it.

• Volunteer to own messy, unscoped problems and bring order to them.

If they run customer success, they’re not just responding to tickets — they’re designing the onboarding journey, automating repetitive touchpoints, and building health score systems.

If they run sales, they’re not just managing pipeline — they’re building a repeatable motion, instrumenting data, and automating the mind-numbing admin work.

If they run people ops, they’re not just scheduling reviews and onboarding new hires — they’re building the internal infrastructure that keeps the whole company running smoothly.

They’re builders disguised as “leaders” or “ICs.”

And when you pair people like this with modern tools — especially AI-native tools — they become unfair advantages.

Small Team, Big Impact

At Cargado, we’re deliberately not trying to build a 250-person company right now.

Our ambition is big. The market is massive. The problems we’re chasing are real and complex.

But structurally, we’re aiming for something different:

That’s not a cute slogan. It’s a design principle.

What makes that feasible?

1. The right people

You can’t fake this with slogans on the wall.

You need people who are:

• Comfortable owning outcomes, not just tasks.

• Willing to learn new tools and workflows, even if it means being bad at them for a bit.

• Motivated by building, not just maintaining.

• Frustrated by unnecessary bureaucracy.

These are not always the people who look best on paper. A lot of them never had the “SVP” title. Many have punchy, nonlinear careers. But they’re the ones who can 10x your surface area when you put the right systems around them.

2. An AI-native mindset

There’s a big difference between:

• “We use AI to write a few emails here and there,” and

• “We’re building our company on an AI foundation.”

When I say “AI-native,” I mean:

• You assume any repetitive or predictable workflow can be automated or assisted.

• You design your data and systems so that agents can actually do high-quality work.

• You expect people to use AI to extend their skillset, not replace their judgment.

We’ve built dozens of internal agents that do everything from enriching data to posting updates to coaching calls. They’re not perfect. A lot of them are v1s. But they move the floor up for what any one person can get done — especially when you pair them with tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Nano Banana that give individual operators access to almost unlimited scale.

3. A bias for shipping tools, not just writing docs

Documentation is important. So is alignment. But in my experience, the fastest way to change how people work is to hand them a real tool that makes their life easier.

• A script that turns a 45-minute manual task into a 3-minute check.

• A workflow that automatically routes and enriches data instead of asking humans to do it.

• A dashboard that surfaces the right questions so humans can focus on judgment, not retrieval.

When people can feel the time they’re getting back, they’re much more willing to lean into the change.

What This Means for Founders and Leaders

If you’re building or leading a company right now, I think there are a few uncomfortable but necessary questions to ask.

1. Are you hiring builders or administrators?

Look at your leadership team and your hiring pipeline.

• How many people are there because they’re great at designing and building systems?

• And how many are there because they’re good at managing existing ones?

You still need some of the latter, especially in regulated or complex environments. But if you skew too far in that direction, you end up with beautifully managed stagnation.

You want a bench of people who can:

• Take a blank page and sketch the function.

• Build the first draft of the system.

• Iterate in the real world.

2. Where are you still solving problems with headcount?

When something isn’t working, the reflexive answer is often, “We need more people.”

Sometimes that’s true. More often, it’s a sign that you haven’t really redesigned the work.

Before you post the job description, ask:

• Could a better system or workflow solve 80% of this?

• Could an internal tool or agent handle the repetitive parts?

• Is the real problem clarity, not capacity?

Headcount should be the last lever you pull, not the first.

3. Are you acting like AI is a side project?

A lot of companies have “AI initiatives” right now.

• A tiger team.

• A few experiments.

• A slide in the board deck.

But if the core rhythm of the company hasn’t changed — if the way sales works, the way ops works, the way product works all look mostly the same — you probably haven’t internalized what’s possible yet.

You don’t need a 200-page AI strategy doc. You need to change how work actually gets done on Tuesday afternoon.

That usually starts small:

• One workflow that goes from manual to automated.

• One team that adopts agents as core tools.

• One leader who starts building instead of waiting.

Once people see the step-function change in their own jobs, it becomes much easier to layer bigger changes on top.

What This Means for You (As an Individual)

Let’s zoom back down from “company strategy” to you — the person reading this.

If you strip away the noise, the opportunity is pretty wild:

You don’t have to wait for your company to “get its AI strategy together” to benefit from this. You can start with your own work.

Some practical starting points

1. Map your work into three buckets:

   1. Pure judgment (shouldn’t be automated).

   2. Pattern-driven but complex (great for AI assistance).

   3. Repetitive, rules-based tasks (should be automated yesterday).

2. Pick one annoying repetitive task and automate it.It might be:

   1. Weekly reporting.

   2. Cleaning up data from one system before loading into another.

   3. Generating the first draft of emails or docs you write over and over.

3. Learn enough about the tools to be dangerous.Not just chat interfaces. Learn:

   1. How to connect them to your data.

   2. How to call APIs or use no-code automation tools.

   3. How to create simple agents that work on your behalf.

4. Redesign one small “function” in your world.That might be:

   1. How your team onboards new customers.

   2. How you qualify and route inbound leads.

   3. How you collect, store, and use customer feedback.

Treat it like a product. Design it. Build v1. Ship it. Iterate.

You’ll learn more about your own value and potential from that one project than from another year of status meetings.

The Emotional Side: Letting Go of Old Status Markers

There’s a quieter, more emotional dimension to all of this that’s worth naming.

For a long time, we’ve associated “success” with:

• Bigger teams.

• Fancier titles.

• More direct reports.

• Owning a big chunk of the org chart.

When you start talking about small teams doing more with AI and automation, it can feel threatening. “If the company doesn’t need a 40-person team, where does that leave me?”

I get that.

I’ve had to unlearn some of those status markers myself. I’ve also seen what happens when leaders cling to the old markers and resist the new reality.

Here’s how I’m trying to frame it for myself:

• Status based on org chart size is fragile. It’s dependent on budgets, markets, and investor sentiment.

• Status based on your ability to build and operate systems that work is much more durable.

If you become the person who can:

• Take a fuzzy problem and turn it into a working function.

• Blend human judgment with AI and automation effectively.

• Increase the surface area and speed of your team without burning them out.

You will not lack for opportunity.

It might look different than the old “rise through the ranks and get a VP title at 32” story. But it will be more resilient, more interesting, and, in my opinion, more fun.

Where We Go From Here

I don’t think AI is a temporary productivity blip. I think it’s one of the most consequential technologies the world has ever seen.

Not because it will replace everyone overnight, but because it fundamentally changes what small, highly aligned groups of people can do.

The companies that treat it as a side project will get some efficiency gains and maybe a nice case study.

The companies that treat it as the foundation for how they operate will:

• Ship faster.

• Learn faster.

• Serve customers better.

• Require less bureaucracy to coordinate.

They’ll look “smaller” on LinkedIn and much bigger in every way that matters.

This year, my personal focus — and our focus at Cargado — is to lean all the way into this reality:

• To keep hiring builders and operators with agency.

• To keep simplifying instead of adding layers.

• To keep redesigning work so that small teams can do what used to take an army.

If any of this resonates, here are two questions I’d leave you with:

1. Where are you still defaulting to headcount as the answer?

2. What function in your world could you rebuild from scratch today, knowing what’s now possible with AI and automation?

Because in the age of builders and doers, the real competitive advantage isn’t how many people you have.

It’s how much a small number of the right people can get done when they’re connected to tools that give them effectively unlimited scale.

The Bears have been on a tear this season. Ben Johnson has Chicago fired up behind “Good, Better, Best!” We’ve brought that phrase into Cargado’s culture — half our company is in Chicago and we’re all riding this run, even with a heartbreaking loss last night to the 49ers.

Everyone is posting their 2025 Year in Review. Even ChatGPT gives you a Wrapped summary now. A year-in-review for a startup in Year 2 feels weird. So I’m skipping it.

Let me share what’s changed over the year and what we’ve learned building Cargado.

Technology is dramatically different than it was six months ago.

AI has completely transformed the world, whether everyone realizes it yet or not. It can 10x, maybe even 100x, the strongest performers if they lean into it. Whether it’s improving your writing, accelerating content creation, writing code, or building prototypes in apps like Lovable - we’re in a different world now.

I got early access to Notion’s new Agents about a week ago. I’ll admit — I hated Notion until a few months ago when the structure finally unlocked for me. The way Notion AI and Agents can access centralized knowledge across our entire company is a game-changer. Ivan Zhao recently wrote about how Notion has 1,000 employees and 700 agents deployed. I’ve built 15 agents in the past week. It’s like having a bunch of really smart junior employees who know everything across Notion, Slack, and email.

The way companies are built is evolving right now. How Cargado will look in 2026 will be different than how it looked for most of 2025. How we execute internally will continue to evolve as our team learns to use Claude and ChatGPT, as we build workflow automation that lets our business scale to the impact of a 250-person org with less than 40 people.

Company building will be done with people who can harness this technology and use it to do several jobs at once. A marketing department should never need 15-20 people, regardless of company size or funding. A great marketing function includes the right system architecture, incredible prompts, and a strong understanding of how powerful AI tools can be.

Our sales motion is scaling through technology. We have three incredible sellers right now. We may add a couple to cover new markets, but I don’t feel like we need a sales org with tons of SDRs and regional sellers. You need an incredible outbound engine built with the right infrastructure to rapidly scale how you reach prospects and the stories you tell them. This all ties together — marketing and a modern GTM engine.

Our pricing model changed dramatically throughout the year.

We started with simple seat-based pricing. That’s how other products in the market are sold today. While it made sense initially because people could equate a dollar amount to individual access, it was clear seat-based pricing wouldn’t scale. The ideal scenario is paying for what you use. If six people use the same amount as one power user, you should be charged fairly.

We shifted to usage-based pricing. Customers got unlimited seats but paid for marketplace postings and rate lookups. While this seemed more logical and fair, unlocking the seat limitations, we heard customers talk about holding back. They were posting only their most critical freight to avoid using up their postings. They were experimenting with Mexico business and weren’t ready to go all in on a marketplace when every input wasn’t guaranteed to result in the outcome they wanted. Tools like Claude are consumption-based because every time you ask it to do something, it does exactly that. It’s a utility. A marketplace is a path for coverage, but it’s not guaranteed yet. People tried to balance value with cost.

This feedback led to our latest pricing iteration. We still use these usage amounts we modeled out, but we’ve moved customers to tiered unlimited plans. They can post and quote as much as they want across Mexico and Canada. They can add everyone in their company. Based on their usage over the next year, they’ll land in a new pricing tier that’s fair for both sides. I’ve never loved this model because it’s less formulaic for the end user, but it gives business leaders a clear budget number rather than worrying about overage.

Our product has evolved, a ton.

We started the year as a load board for cross-border Mexico freight. We’ll end 2025 as the only modern marketplace built for Mexico and Canada freight, with a robust market rates tool built on all the data generated by our marketplace activity. We have a true pulse on the market based on carrier bids we collect. Our product enables brokers to understand the true range of cost for a lane. Not just what someone spent weeks or months ago — what all the carriers are asking for right now. A true pulse of the market.

When we started building Cargado, the first thing our engineering team did was map out how our platform would be architected. We mapped out how we would store data and why it was important to structure it. Everything you could want to know about pricing or moving a load lives in a structured format, just like most systems brokers use across the industry. It keeps things clean in a messy industry. Historically, most systems have only housed the most basic data points. Origin, destination, buyer, seller, a block of notes people tend to fill with the same garbage instructions everyone already knows (like trailers being clean).

There’s a craze right now in logistics to apply AI agents — especially voice agents — to solving all of freight’s problems. A lot of capital has been raised across startups working to bring AI to freight. They’re taking different approaches, but they all sit at a similar cross-section, applying AI as a bandaid over old systems. Whether it’s supporting a flood of inbound calls from legacy load boards, cold calling carriers off lists to book freight, or crawling legacy TMSs in search of data and making life easier for freight operators.

But there’s a battle ensuing. Does this industry need more bandaids on old systems or do we need new systems? Mexico freight has long existed mainly in spreadsheets and WhatsApp, with a side of LinkedIn for coverage support. Rather than building tools that sit on top of those systems, we’re building tools to replace them. Brokerage operators should not be living in Excel and WhatsApp. They deserve a system built for their needs, structured to understand how freight moves. It’s not just about filling up Notion pages with context so agents know what to do in different scenarios. The ability to flex between structured and unstructured data is what will differentiate the true difference-makers in this industry.

2026 is going to be a big year for Cargado.

We’re working on our 2026 forecast right now. The plan currently calls for 3-5 hires. Almost all those hires are people who can build and operate without needing a lot of guidance. Building at a startup means BUILDING. You roll up your sleeves and start digging in until you solve a problem, then you move onto the next problem. We’ve already seen several people who came from long careers in freight now spending all day in Claude, ChatGPT, Notion, and VAPI (👀). I hope to continue converting more people inside Cargado into operators with agency — people who can just go and build without needing a ton of guidance.

We have a lot of customers asking for a lot from our product and our team. We only launched our first product in April 2024 and the whole world has changed since then. What we never thought was possible, or what we thought might take six weeks, now could take six hours or six days with the right technology supporting the work. Our company, team, and product will continue to evolve as the world evolves.

Good, Better, Best.

That’s the mindset we’ve brought into Cargado from the Bears’ season. We’re always pushing to improve. Good isn’t good enough when better is possible. Better isn’t the goal when best is within reach.

What’s different now is the timeline. The AI tools available today — Claude, ChatGPT, Notion Agents, voice agents — are compressing the distance between good and best. What used to take quarters now takes weeks. What used to require hiring five people now takes one person with the right prompts and infrastructure.

We’re not settling for incremental improvement. We’re using every tool available to accelerate our path to best. That’s how we’ll win in 2026.

I just wrapped up two Mexico 101 webinars, and the turnout blew me away. Almost 90 people showed up to the first one. The questions were sharp.

One attendee asked, “Why would a shipper use a broker for Mexico when they could build an in-house team?” Another pushed on security concerns. Someone else wanted to know how to pitch door-to-door freight to customers who are currently transloading at the border. These are exactly the questions you should be asking.

What stood out wasn’t the complexity — it was how ready brokers are to lean in. They’re not afraid of Mexico freight. They’re afraid of what they don’t know.

Here’s the truth: Mexico freight isn’t some distant opportunity you need to chase. It’s already sitting in your book. You just need to know where to look — and have the confidence to go after it.

1. Scan Your Book for Border City Activity

Here’s the prospecting hack no one talks about: look at where your customers are already shipping domestically.

Pull any loads moving to or from Laredo, El Paso, Pharr, Nogales, or Calexico. These are the major crossing points — and if freight is touching them, there’s a good chance the full cross-border lane is available.

“Hey, I noticed you ship to Laredo a lot — are you working with anyone for freight into Mexico?” That’s your entry point.

Even better: look for border forwarders or warehouses in your customer base. Many shippers are transloading at the border when they could be running door-to-door. That conversion alone can save them $125–$250 per load in transload fees — and it’s a conversation worth having.

One question that came up in the webinar: “How do you introduce a customer to the possibility of door-to-door freight instead of what they’re currently doing?” The answer is simple — lead with cost savings and visibility. When they transload, they lose control. When they run door-to-door, they know exactly when freight is picking up, crossing, and delivering. That control is worth money to them.

Nearshoring has made this even more relevant. Manufacturers are moving production to Mexico at an explosive rate. If you’re handling domestic freight for companies in automotive, electronics, machinery, or food — they probably have Mexico needs. You just haven’t asked.

2. Walk a Store and Read Labels

This one sounds simple, but it works.

Walk through a grocery store, Home Depot, or any big-box retailer and look for “Hecho en México” on the packaging. Appliances, furniture, produce, auto parts, building materials — a massive amount of what we buy comes from Mexico.

Now trace it back. Who’s the supplier? Who’s the importer? Those are your prospects.

You’re not cold-calling random Mexican companies with Google Translate. You’re targeting U.S. businesses with Mexico supply chains who already understand the value of cross-border freight. These are companies that have freight moving right now — freight that’s stickier and outside the RFP cycle.

During one of the webinars, someone asked about open-deck safety for equipment moves. It’s a fair question — and the answer is that security on open-deck depends heavily on the carrier and the lane. CTPAT-certified carriers, proper securement, and knowing your routes matter more than the trailer type. The point is: the freight is there, and it’s valuable.

3. Target the Right Industries

Not all Mexico freight is created equal. The stickiest lanes tend to come from a handful of industries:

Automotive — Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers feeding OEM plants. Think parts flowing from Monterrey and Saltillo to assembly plants in the Midwest. Production schedules are tight, and reliability wins over price.

Retail & Distribution — Home Depot, Walmart, and their vendor networks. These companies are pulling product from Mexican suppliers into U.S. distribution centers. Volume is consistent, and they’re used to working with brokers.

Appliances & Furniture — Heavy nearshoring activity here. If you’ve bought a refrigerator or a couch in the past few years, there’s a decent chance it came from Mexico.

Food & Beverage — Produce, packaged goods, ingredients. The cold chain adds complexity, but the volume is consistent.

Industrial & Construction — Raw materials, components, heavy equipment. These moves often require specialized trailers and reliable service.

These industries have consistent volume, tight service requirements, and a willingness to pay for reliability.

4. Know Enough to Be Dangerous — Not an Expert

The number one thing I heard in these webinars: “I don’t know enough about how it works.”

Fair. But here’s the thing — you don’t need to be a customs expert. You need to understand the basics well enough to have a conversation.

Here’s what you actually need to know:

Cross-border freight involves multiple handoffs. A U.S. carrier takes it to the border. A transfer (dray) carrier moves the trailer across. A Mexican carrier delivers to the final destination. For northbound freight, it’s the reverse. This isn’t complicated — it’s just different from domestic.

Customs clearance adds 1–3 days. Don’t promise domestic-style transit times. Build in the border stop and you’ll set realistic expectations. If you tell a customer it’s a 4-day transit and it takes 6, you’ve lost trust. If you tell them 5–6 days and you deliver in 5, you’re a hero.

Customs brokers do the hard work. Your job isn’t to know every HTS code or CBP requirement. It’s to make sure your customer has a customs broker and that you’re coordinating timing with them. Ask your customer to introduce you to their broker — don’t cold-email them.

One of the sharpest questions from the webinar: “If we book a carrier that uses a transfer partner in Mexico, will we have visibility into that partner? I’m asking from a liability perspective.” Great question. The answer depends on the carrier and the platform. With Cargado, we show you the full chain — the U.S. carrier, the transfer, and the Mexican carrier. Visibility matters, especially when claims happen.

When you can walk a customer through all of this, they trust you. Most shippers don’t know how Mexico freight moves either. When you explain it confidently, you win business.

5. Don’t Build the Network Yourself — Leverage One

Here’s where Cargado comes in.

The hardest part of cross-border used to be capacity. How do you find vetted Mexican carriers? How do you communicate across languages and time zones? How do you get real rates without waiting three days for a quote?

That’s exactly what we built.

Cargado gives you instant access to pre-vetted carriers on both sides of the border. You get instant rate guidance so you can quote quickly. You get a bilingual platform so you’re not chasing emails and WhatsApp messages across languages. And you get visibility into what’s happening at every stage — including inside Mexico, where most tracking tools go dark.

During the webinar, someone asked how carrier vetting works. We vet carriers against multiple data sources, with a deep set of requirements and references required as well. All of it gets checked before a carrier can book a load.

You don’t need to spend years building a Mexican carrier network. You need to say yes to your customer and post the load.

The Bigger Picture: Tariffs and Nearshoring

One question that came up in both webinars: “What about tariffs and nearshoring?”

The short answer — this is a tailwind, not a headwind.

Look at the chart at the top of this post. In 2000, U.S. goods trade with China was nearly zero. Trade with Mexico and Canada sat around $600 billion. Fast forward to today: China trade has grown to roughly $600 billion — but North American trade has exploded to over $1.6 trillion. That’s a $1 trillion gap, and it’s only getting wider.

The story is clear. While everyone was focused on China’s rise, North America quietly became the dominant trade relationship. And that trend is accelerating.

With 4–8 day lead times from Mexico versus 2–4+ weeks from China, manufacturers are moving production closer. The pandemic exposed how fragile long supply chains are. Tariffs — existing and potential — make near-shore production more economically attractive. And USMCA (which replaced NAFTA) gives Mexico preferred trade status that China doesn’t have.

That means more freight. More opportunity. And brokers who learn this now will dominate the next five years.

Mexico isn’t a niche. It’s the #1 U.S. trade partner. The brokers who lean in now will be the ones with the expertise and relationships when everyone else catches up.

The Brokers Who Win Are the Ones Who Show Up

The questions in these webinars told me something important: the brokers who are ready to learn are the ones who are going to grow.

Mexico freight isn’t some specialty you need a whole team for. It’s a wedge into accounts you couldn’t touch before — outside the RFP cycle, with stickier revenue. One Mexico load often becomes a multi-lane, recurring relationship.

If you missed the webinar, don’t worry — we’re running more. But don’t wait for another session to start.

Look at your book first. The freight is already there.

Join the Next Mexico 101 Webinar

Want to go deeper? I’m running more sessions where we break down everything — from quoting your first cross-border load to building a repeatable Mexico freight book. These are live, interactive, and built for brokers who want to actually move freight, not just learn theory.

Check the schedule and register at cargado.com/webinars.

See You in Laredo

If you want to take your cross-border knowledge to the next level, join us at the Cross-Border Connector on February 17–18, 2026 in Laredo, Texas. It’s powered by Broker-Carrier Summit and Cargado — two days of networking, learning, and connecting with the people who move North American freight.

This is where brokers, carriers, and shippers come together at the busiest land port in the Western Hemisphere. If you’re serious about Mexico freight, this is the room to be in.

Register for the Cross-Border Connector

And if you’re ready to start moving freight today, get on Cargado. Your competition sure is.

Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

I’m writing this somewhere over the Great Lakes on my way to Montreal — home to BRP, the company behind Ski-Doo, Can-Am, and Sea-Doo.

They’re the perfect example of why understanding who you’re calling matters. BRP designs in Canada, builds engines in Mexico, assembles in multiple regions, and ships finished products across the U.S. and Canada. One brand, dozens of factories, hundreds of suppliers, thousands of truckloads.

This post isn’t just about how supply chains work — it’s about how to sell into them.

The Smarter You Get, the Easier It Gets to Sell

Every new rep in freight starts out chasing logos — the big brands they recognize. But the real game isn’t about that one account.

When you land a customer in any given industry, you instantly open the door to dozens more. You pick up from their suppliers. You deliver to their customers. You meet vendors, plants, DCs, importers, and distributors — and every single one of them is a potential customer too.

The deeper you go into an industry, the smarter you get about it.The smarter you get, the more confident you feel selling into the entire ecosystem: the brands, their competitors, their suppliers, and their customers.

That’s how the best reps never run out of leads.

When I first started out in cross-border freight, I spent over three years living in San Diego focused on automotive battery freight. My boss back then was known in Laredo as “The Battery Queen.” I still know that network better than the back of my hand — every supplier, importer, and plant between Mexicali, Juárez, and the U.S. battery recycling hubs.Once you understand one niche like that, everything opens up. You start to recognize patterns — which suppliers feed which OEMs, which plants control the outbound, where the bottlenecks happen.

The same logic applies to any industry. Go research every part that goes into a car. It’s endless. Every tire, seat, harness, sensor, and microchip has a manufacturer — and all of them ship daily. There are more tire brands alone than most brokers realize exist. Multiply that across every system in a vehicle, and you’ve got an infinite source of potential customers.

Two Buckets: Manufacturers and Retailers

Every shipper you call fits into one of two categories:

• Manufacturers – they make what they sell.

• Retailers/Distributors – they sell what someone else made.

If you know which bucket your prospect lives in, you’ll know how to talk to them, what matters most, and where to look for the next opportunity.

Manufacturers

Manufacturers design, source, and build their own products.Their logistics priorities are about production continuity: no line-downs, no delays, no surprises.

If you’re selling to a manufacturer, you’re selling uptime, predictability, and precision.

Automotive & Transportation

Industries: passenger vehicles, heavy trucks, farm & construction equipment, powersportsBrands: Honda, Volkswagen, Tesla, GM, Ford, John Deere, Caterpillar, BRP, Polaris

Automotive freight never sleeps. It moves 24/7, every day of the year. The rhythm is constant — engines and transmissions northbound, parts and subassemblies southbound. It’s a living organism.

If you’ve ever handled an automotive account, you know the pressure: missed delivery windows can stop a production line. JIT shipments, customs documents, bilingual dispatching — everything has to be exact.

The smartest play isn’t chasing the OEM’s annual bid. Call their Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers instead — Magna, Lear, Bosch, Yazaki, Continental. They’re the ones shipping daily and they’ll actually answer the phone.

Industrial Machinery & Heavy Equipment

Industries: engines, hydraulics, power systems, mining and agriculture equipmentBrands: Caterpillar, Komatsu, CNH Industrial, Cummins, AGCO, Volvo Construction

This freight is the heartbeat of heavy industry — massive, awkward, and mission-critical. Transmissions, castings, hydraulic systems, frames — all moving between Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.

These customers aren’t impressed by sales buzzwords. They want to know you can get the load across the border cleanly, safely, and on time. Documentation precision and bilingual coordination win you the business — not a half-cent on rate.

Electronics & Technology

Industries: consumer electronics, computing, semiconductors, communicationsBrands: Apple, Samsung, LG, Dell, HP, Panasonic

You know what’s worse than a late truck? A late launch. Electronics brands live on razor-thin production schedules. Their supply chains are built around speed and visibility — every shipment feeds a DC, a plant, or a product drop.

If you can provide clean customs packets and real-time tracking, you’re not just a broker anymore — you’re part of their workflow.

Appliances & Consumer Hardware

Industries: household appliances, tools, home systemsBrands: Whirlpool, GE Appliances, Dyson, Electrolux, Stanley Black & Decker

These shipments look simple on paper — until you’re managing 45,000 pounds of stainless steel refrigerators and plastic components across three border crossings. The stakes are high, and so are the damage claims if you miss the details.

They remember who kept their freight moving through the chaos of seasonality and who didn’t. Reliability and communication are your entire brand here.

Food & Beverage Producers

Industries: fresh produce, packaged foods, protein, beveragesBrands: Dole, Chiquita, Tyson, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Conagra, General Mills

These are manufacturers too — they grow or process what they sell. The difference is perishability. You’re dealing with shelf life, temperature control, and tight DC windows.

When you prove you can run a reefer network that never misses a beat, you’re not just a carrier — you’re part of their food safety chain.

Aerospace & Defense

Industries: aircraft manufacturing, avionics, precision machiningBrands: Bombardier, Safran, Honeywell, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney

If automotive is about speed, aerospace is about accuracy. One missing form, one incorrect serial number, and your truck isn’t getting through customs.

You won’t win with flash. You win with flawless execution and trust built over time.

Vertically Integrated Consumer Brands

Industries: outdoor, lifestyle, home, and direct-to-consumer productsBrands: Yeti, Weber, Traeger, Peloton, Hydro Flask, IKEA

These companies blur the line between manufacturing and retail. They design and own their products but often outsource final assembly.

They need the dependability of a manufacturer with the flexibility of a retailer. If you can speak both languages — precision and agility — they’ll listen.

Retailers & Distributors

Retailers and distributors don’t make anything.They move finished products from vendors and manufacturers to stores, dealers, or customers.

Their supply chains are demand-driven — built around replenishment, seasonality, and promotions.They care about availability, OTIF, and cost per case — not line-down prevention.

If you’re calling on one of these, you’re selling consistency, communication, and calm under pressure.

Big-Box & General Merchandise

Brands: Walmart, Target, Costco, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sam’s Club

Big-box freight is volume at scale. Thousands of SKUs moving through distribution centers that never stop. Their world runs on compliance portals, appointment systems, and seasonal surges.

If you can hit appointment windows, communicate early, and handle overflow when it rains (it always rains), you’ll keep getting calls.

Specialty Retail & Private-Label Stores

Brands: Harbor Freight, Ace Hardware, Tractor Supply, AutoZone, O’Reilly, Napa

These retailers run like clockwork — until a promotion hits. Then everything breaks loose.

Show that you can pivot, find last-minute capacity, and keep stores stocked during their busiest weeks. When you make them look good internally, you’ll get the next round of business automatically.

Grocery & Food Distribution

Brands: Kroger, Albertsons, H-E-B, Sysco, US Foods, C&S Wholesale

The grocery world runs on tight delivery windows and zero tolerance for mistakes. You either make the appointment or you don’t.

If you can master scheduling, temperature control, and proactive updates, you’ll win in this space. It’s not glamorous freight — but it’s loyal.

E-Commerce & Direct-to-Consumer

Brands: Amazon, Wayfair, Chewy, HelloFresh, Blue Apron, Shopify Brands

The pace here is unmatched. Shipments change daily, routes shift hourly, and nobody cares about your excuses. They expect flexibility, real-time visibility, and consistent recovery.

Be the calm in their chaos, and you’ll never have to sell them twice.

Wholesale & Dealer Distribution

Brands: Grainger, Fastenal, Ferguson, Genuine Parts Co., HD Supply

These networks depend on repetition — same DCs, same dealers, same routes. They just want it to run smoothly. Communicate clearly, deliver reliably, and keep your promises. That’s it.

Where the Real Freight Lives

You’re never just selling to one company.

Every manufacturer depends on dozens of suppliers.Every retailer depends on hundreds of vendors.

When you land one account, ask who they buy from and who they sell to.Pick up from their suppliers. Deliver to their customers.Each contact becomes another prospect.

That’s how you turn one logo into an entire vertical.

Final Thought

Every load you quote lives in one of two systems: production or replenishment.Manufacturers make the stuff. Retailers move it.

When you understand which system your customer lives in, you’ll stop pitching generically and start selling intelligently.

You’ll stop cold-calling blindly.You’ll start connecting dots.And you’ll finally see where freight really comes from.

If you enjoyed this and want to get more deep dives like it, subscribe to CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com — where I write about freight, tech, nearshoring, and everything in between. Each issue breaks down what’s changing in logistics and what that means for people building and selling in it.

We started planning and designing Cargado two years ago this week. Rylan and I had been talking for weeks about how broken cross-border freight still was — the tools, the workflows, the communication. Before long, Steven, Jonathan, and Teagan joined as our founding engineers, and together we began refining designs in Figma — making adjustments on the fly and in between meetings as we shaped what a truly modern freight platform could look like.

Before we wrote a single line of code, we took a trip to Laredo. We wanted to see the real thing — the brokers, the carriers, the border crossings, the chaos. Between conversations we stopped at Palenque Grill and later República, reviewing designs and feedback in real time. Those early iterations became the foundation of what Cargado is today.

The Marketplace: Our Starting Line

We went live on a Thursday in early April 2024. The product was rough — barely out of alpha. We had a few brokers (three, to be exact) and about 200 carriers. That first day, a few loads got posted… but there were no carrier notifications yet, so nobody was bidding.

I spent that weekend with a knot in my stomach — refreshing dashboards, double-checking code, calling carrier friends to plead with them to log in. By Monday, a few of them had, and that’s when things started to move. Loads were getting posted, carriers were bidding, brokers were matching. We started calling it the trifecta — postings, bids, and matches happening every hour.

Today, we see 300 to 500 carrier bids every single day. That foundation — brokers posting and carriers submitting bids — became more than a workflow. It became a data engine.

From Matching Freight to Measuring the Market

Those bids gave us something powerful: real-time visibility into what cross-border freight actually costs.

That’s how Market Rates was born. It’s built entirely on live carrier bids — not guesses, not surveys, not stale quarterly averages.

Now, brokers and carriers use Market Rates across multiple channels:

• Directly inside the Cargado UI

• Through an Excel Add-In

• Or via API, connected to their TMS or internal pricing tools

They use it to set max-pay rules inside their TMS, benchmark current spend, spot-price freight intelligently, and even run entire RFPs.

Market Rates turned raw data into structured intelligence. But the truth is, information alone doesn’t move freight. People do — and the way they communicate is still broken.

Geographic Expansion Strategy

Over the past year, we’ve expanded into two new markets that we’re investing in deeply: Canada and domestic Mexico.

Both bring unique complexity and opportunity.

• In Canada, we’re supporting bilingual communication, longer hauls, and trade flows that mirror what we’ve already built for Mexico ↔ U.S. freight.

• In Mexico, we’re helping brokers and carriers collaborate on domestic freight, using the same verified network and data-driven foundation that powers our cross-border business.

Our strategy is simple: build a platform that creates a better experience for the logistics of North American trade — one that connects brokers and carriers across Mexico and Canada through modern tools, verified relationships, and structured communication.

And as part of that, we’re already preparing to support domestic Canada freight and partial loads, further strengthening the collaboration layer that makes Cargado so different.

The Chaos Between the Bids

If you’ve worked in freight, you already know what I mean.

The industry is buried under:

• Endless emails that go nowhere

• WhatsApp threads with no context

• Group texts missing half the participants

• Phone calls that disappear into memory

• Spreadsheets trying to make sense of it all

It’s exhausting. It’s also where fraud hides and accountability dies.

Cross-border freight adds another layer: language barriers, time zones, regulatory differences. Everyone’s improvising through disconnected tools that were never meant for freight.

That’s why we built Chat — not as another feature, but as the third pillar of the Cargado platform.

Introducing Chat

Chat connects everything we’ve built so far — and fixes the communication gap that’s plagued this industry for decades.

It’s not a generic messenger. It’s freight-first collaboration.

Verified ProfilesEvery user in Chat has a verified identity: company, role, language, and location. No spoofing, no fake carriers, no guessing. It makes every interaction more human — you can actually see who you’re working with.

Real-Time TranslationMessages translate instantly between English, Spanish, and French, so dispatchers and brokers between Monterrey, Chicago, and Montreal can talk naturally without losing time or nuance.

Organized by FreightEach posting, bid, or match automatically spins up its own thread. You can search by lane, load, or partner. Every message ties back to real freight.

AI-Aware ContextWhen someone drops a number, Chat recognizes it as a bid or counter and helps you act on it. The platform is being built by freight experts with freight knowledge deeply ingrained in every corner and throughout the conversation.

Personalized ConnectionProfiles bring familiarity. You can tag teammates, reconnect with trusted carriers, and see faces instead of phone numbers. It’s the digital version of shaking hands across borders.Cargado Chat already connects brokers to more than 1,500 carriers representing over 200,000 trucks and 450,000 trailers.

Want to see what Chat looks like? Check it out here:

What People Are Saying

When we started rolling Chat out to customers, the response was immediate — and loud.

That’s all we needed to hear.

What We Actually Believe

Most freight tech has tried to remove people from the process — automating every click, every call, every decision.

That’s never been our philosophy.

People should be building or managing relationships and solving problems — not entering data or haggling over rates or sending out blast emails or texts.

Automation is valuable, but it should exist to support the human part of freight, not erase it.

That’s what Chat does: it connects verified people, attaches structured data, and turns communication into something you can trust, reference, and build on.

A Collaboration Platform — Not a Load Board

We started with a marketplace to connect brokers and carriers. We took the data from that activity and built a pricing product to help brokers win more freight, which feeds the marketplace flywheel. Now we’re launching Chat to make it a more human experience.

Together, they form the foundation of a true collaboration platform for freight.

• Marketplace connects brokers and carriers.

• Market Rates provides shared visibility into real-time price.

• Chat gives them a place to communicate and act.

It’s not automation for automation’s sake. It’s about connecting the people who move freight — and doing it in a way that’s traceable, multilingual, and secure.

Where We’re Headed

We’re actively integrating with several major TMS providers to make Cargado data and workflows feel native inside the systems brokers already live in.

That means more freight flowing through the Marketplace, more dynamic data powering Market Rates, and a smoother experience across the board.

And as Chat expands, it’s going to open new ways for teams to collaborate — not just across borders, but across entire organizations.

We want to eliminate the endless spreadsheets that dominate this industry and replace them with structured, connected communication.

I won’t spoil what’s next, but it’s all in service of the same goal — make collaboration in freight simple, secure, and data-driven.

Looking Back — and Ahead

That week in Laredo — balancing meetings, Palenque Grill fajitas, and late-night República debriefs — we had no idea how far this would go.

Two years later, we’ve built a platform that’s powering hundreds of brokers and carriers across North America.

The trifecta we celebrated in 2024 is now happening thousands of times per day.

And this is still just the start.

Freight will always come down to people — relationships, trust, communication.But those things deserve better infrastructure.That’s what we’re building: a connected, collaborative network where communication isn’t chaos and data doesn’t live in silos.

Marketplace. Market Rates. Chat.Three products — one mission.

To build the future of freight collaboration.

Reach out to get access to Cargado Chat — it’s rolling out gradually to our customers across Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. You can get in line for early access at cargado.com.

Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech.Click the Subscribe Now button below for stories about building, scaling, and modernizing the future of North American freight.

Canada, you had our hearts this week — and then the Blue Jays broke them again. We were all rooting against the Dodgers, hoping the Jays might finally give Toronto something to smile about besides polite airport signage and Tim Hortons consistency. But no. Another early exit. So we pour one out for the Blue Jays… and maybe pour another for all the freight we’re about to send north to cheer ourselves up.

But before we get there — how about those Chicago Bears?Five wins. Let me repeat that: five wins. It’s not exactly a Lombardi parade down Michigan Avenue, but it’s progress. And more than that — it’s proof that leadership matters. Ben Johnson has these guys looking organized, confident, and like they actually know who they are. He’s not playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers; he’s building a system and holding people accountable inside it. The man’s the freight-broker equivalent of “don’t overcomplicate this, just execute.”

Good: You finally decide to get into cross-border freight.Better: You figure out how Canada actually works.Best: You do both — and stop pretending it’s some mystical, license-heavy wilderness.

Alright. Let’s talk freight.

You Don’t Need Anything Special to Move Canada Freight

Let’s clear up the biggest myth first: you don’t need a separate “Canada freight-broker license.”

If you’re a U.S.-based freight broker arranging cross-border truckloads, you’re covered under your standard FMCSA broker authority — your OP-1 filing, $75,000 bond or trust, and BOC-3. Canada doesn’t require a federal license just because you’re crossing the 49th parallel.

Here’s what actually matters:

• Your carriers need authority and insurance valid for both sides of the border.

• Somebody (not you, unless you love paperwork) needs to handle the customs brokerage.

• And your paperwork — commercial invoice, BOL with HS codes, PARS/PAPS barcodes — must be perfect.

That’s it. You don’t need to hire a Mountie with a clipboard. You just need the right partners and a clean process.

The Hockey-City Freight Map

Canada’s economy is like hockey — regional rivalries, physical, and somehow polite at the same time. Each freight hub has its quirks, just like each team’s fanbase.

And let’s be real: the vast majority of freight moving between the U.S. and Canada hits a handful of core markets — Toronto, Windsor, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary/Edmonton, Winnipeg, and a few others. Once you get outside those metros, it’s mostly resource-based freight — oil, gas, mining, timber — and plenty of land so remote that the only way in is by plane, helicopter, or seasonal ice road.

🏒 Toronto (Maple Leafs Country)

• The big one. Auto parts, vehicles, packaging, and industrial freight dominate.

• You’ll hear “The GTA” — The Greater Toronto Area — one of North America’s densest industrial corridors.

• Freight moves heavily with the Midwest and Northeast.

🏒 Windsor (Spitfires Country)

• Auto everything: engines, stampings, drivelines, interiors, finished vehicles.

• The Detroit–Windsor crossing is one of the busiest in North America, handling tens of thousands of commercial trucks every day.

• Tight manufacturing windows mean you need reliable carriers who know the crossing and the timing.

🏒 Ottawa (Senators Country)

• As Canada’s capital, it doesn’t produce a ton of freight — but it receives a lot.

• Government, defense, tech, and construction materials all flow into the region.

• You’ll see more LTL and high-value shipments here than big industrial volumes.

🏒 Montréal (Canadiens Country)

My personal favorite city in Canada (and I own an Expos hat on top of it!)

• Aerospace, aluminum, and high-value manufacturing.

• Expect bilingual paperwork and French emails that start with Bonjour, my friend.

• Québec’s carrier registry adds some red tape, but the market is strong and consistent.

🏒 Québec City (Remparts Country)

• Bulk and break-bulk freight: wood pulp, paper, aluminum-linked cargo, fertilizers, and port-related shipments.

• Nearby Saguenay adds more aluminum and pulp/paper flows.

• Cold winters can complicate port access, but the freight is steady year-round.

🏒 Vancouver (Canucks Country)

• Forestry, lumber, and port freight.

• It’s where Asia meets North America.

• Great backhauls from the U.S. Pacific Northwest into BC.

🏒 Calgary / Edmonton (Flames vs. Oilers)

• The oil and gas capital of Canada.

• Flatbeds, pilot cars, and wide-loads galore.

• Tough weather but high-margin if you know your equipment.

🏒 Saskatchewan: Regina and Saskatoon

• Potash, canola (seed, oil, and meal), oats, wheat, barley, and lentils.

• Regina’s Global Transportation Hub is a trimodal inland port connecting to major Canadian rail lines.

• Agriculture and bulk commodities dominate. Freight is seasonal but reliable and essential.

🏒 Winnipeg (Jets)

• The crossroads of Canada. Agriculture, grain, and wood products rule here.

• Seasonal surges during harvest, quieter winters.

• It’s well connected to Minnesota and North Dakota carriers, which makes it a natural extension for Midwest brokers.

🏒 The Maritimes (Atlantic Canada)

If you’ve never heard the term before, The Maritimes refers to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island — the eastern provinces hugging the Atlantic.They don’t move the same volume as Ontario or Québec, but they quietly ship an impressive amount of specialty freight — especially peat moss.

Peat moss is the unsung hero of Canada’s ag exports. It’s used in horticulture, gardening, and soil production all over the U.S. Those massive bales you see at garden centers every spring? They likely came out of New Brunswick or PEI, hauled by flatbeds and dry vans through border crossings like Houlton, ME.It’s lightweight, bulky, and ships year-round — a sneaky-good backhaul opportunity for U.S. carriers delivering to the Northeast.

Other Maritimes exports include seafood (lobster, scallops, fish), forest products (lumber, pulp, paper), refined fuels from the massive Irving refinery in Saint John, PEI potatoes, wild blueberries, and gypsum for construction. Smaller, family-run carriers dominate the region and have deep cross-border experience, especially into New England.

The Domestic Canada Problem

If you’re thinking about brokering loads entirely within Canada — say Toronto to Vancouver — here’s what you need to know:

• Every province runs its own system of record for carriers: Ontario’s CVOR, Québec’s SAAQ, Alberta’s Safety Fitness Certificate, and so on.

• These systems don’t talk to each other. That’s led to rampant double-brokering, cloned authorities, and fake carrier profiles.

• If you move domestic freight in Canada, you’re required to register for GST/HST (Canada’s version of sales tax) and bill in CAD, not USD.

If you’re not set up for that, or you’re not operating through a Canadian subsidiary, you really shouldn’t be moving domestic freight at all.

That’s exactly why Cargado hasn’t opened up Domestic Canada yet.We know it’s a real issue, and we’re building a real answer before we go live there.The last thing brokers need is another marketplace full of recycled loads and fraudulent carriers. But once we’re confident in the infrastructure — we’re going north.

What’s Actually Moving

When people picture Canada, they think maple syrup and hockey pucks. In reality, it’s one of America’s core trading partners, and about 70% of that trade moves by truck.

🇨🇦 Top 10 Exports from Canada to the U.S. (Truck-Heavy)

1. Mineral fuels, oils, and gas (crude, refined, LPG)

2. Vehicles and auto parts

3. Machinery and industrial equipment

4. Aluminum (massive in Québec)

5. Wood and lumber

6. Electrical components

7. Plastics

8. Aerospace parts

9. Precious metals and minerals

10. Grains and agricultural goods

🇺🇸 What Canada Imports from the U.S.

1. Vehicles and heavy equipment

2. Machinery and parts

3. Mineral fuels and refined petroleum

4. Electrical equipment

5. Plastics and resins

6. Pharmaceuticals

7. Food and beverages

8. Steel and fabricated metals

9. Building materials

10. Computers and electronics

Trucks cross both ways full. It’s one of the few freight markets where balanced trade actually exists.

Why You Should Care

Cross-border freight is the easiest way to grow your brokerage right now without reinventing your business.

• It’s high-volume: trucks handle nearly $70 billion/month in U.S.–Canada trade.

• It’s less saturated: far fewer brokers specialize in it.

• It’s familiar: same playbook, just a few more forms.

• It’s stable: demand holds up even when U.S. spot rates fall apart.

Your biggest edge? Confidence.You don’t need special licensing. You just need strong carrier relationships and an understanding of how cross-border paperwork actually works.

Wrapping It Up

When everyone’s crashing on the U.S. domestic market, you’ve got to think outside the box — or outside the country, in this case.Go after Canada. (And Mexico while you’re at it.)

There’s freight moving from hockey cities, from the Maritimes, from the oil fields, and from the ports — all of it trucked by carriers who already know how to cross the border. You just need to get in the mix.

This isn’t about chasing shiny objects. It’s about expanding where the volume already is — north and south, not just east and west.

So yeah, pour one out for the Jays, raise one for the Bears, and maybe pour another for your first load into Canada.

Oh — and if you’ll be at the Traffic Club of Montreal’s Oysterfest, Nov 12–14, or you’re based in Montréal and want to meet up while I’m in town, shoot me a note.

Stay Updated

If you found this helpful, subscribe below to stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics, freight tech, and the evolving brokerage model.

I share stories, data, and playbooks from the front lines of nearshoring — and how tools like Cargado are helping brokers quote, cover, and manage freight across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Because the brokers who win the next decade are the ones who start building cross-border relationships today.

You just signed up for Cargado.

Or maybe you can’t stop looking at those ridiculous LinkedIn posts from me and Miguel and thinking:

Fair. But here’s the thing — you’ve already got it.You just don’t realize it yet.

Most brokers I talk to think cross-border freight is some mystical world filled with customs paperwork, driver swaps, and problems waiting to happen. But what’s actually keeping most people from jumping in isn’t complexity — it’s unfamiliarity.

When I lead our Mexico 101 sessions, I tell people this:Cross-border isn’t hard. It’s just new.

And once you get a few reps in, it becomes one of the highest-margin, stickiest, and most interesting parts of your business.

So here’s your playbook. Five things you can do this week to start growing your Mexico or Canada business — no new hires, no giant rollout plan, no excuses.

1. Start at the border — and then go beyond it

Here’s your first clue: your customers already have Mexico freight. They just stop short.

If you’re moving loads into Laredo, Pharr, Brownsville, or El Paso, those shipments are probably crossing into Mexico right after delivery. But someone else — a forwarder or a partner — is handling that leg, marking it up, and taking the credit.

You can take it back.Ask your customer:

Nine times out of ten, the answer will uncover opportunity.

If your customer’s moving Birmingham to Laredo, offer to handle Birmingham to Monterrey instead. That one step eliminates a handoff, reduces damage risk, and builds loyalty — because now you’re solving their entire move, not half of it.

The same principle works northbound.

If you’re already hauling into Detroit, Buffalo, or Seattle, you’re right next to a Canadian market that trades more with the U.S. than any country on earth except Mexico. Stop thinking of those borders as endpoints — they’re gateways.

The best cross-border brokers didn’t start with a Mexico division. They started with one customer and a single question.

2. Hunt by industry, not geography

Mexico freight doesn’t show up randomly. It clusters around certain industries — the ones building, assembling, or finishing products on both sides of the border.

Here are your high-probability targets:

If you have a customer in any of those spaces, odds are they already have cross-border freight.

Instead of asking “Do you ship to Mexico?” — ask,

That’s how you uncover real volume. There is way more freight moving from Mexico to the U.S. than in the other direction.

Then do a little research. Most mid-to-large manufacturers publish their supplier maps or plant footprints right on their websites. Pull that list, make a few calls, and you’ll have a lane list by the end of the day.

Don’t overcomplicate it. Just go where the trade is already happening — you’ll find opportunity hiding in plain sight.

3. Build relationships before you need them

Everyone’s first fear with cross-border is paperwork.Let me save you from losing two weeks of your life: don’t get buried in it.

You don’t need to know every pedimento code or tariff line. You just need one customs broker and one trusted carrier who do. And your customer provides the customs broker!

Here’s the real game: know who to call when something goes sideways.

When a truck gets flagged at the bridge, or a driver runs out of hours, or a document’s missing — your customers don’t want to hear excuses. They want to know someone’s handling it.

That’s where relationships win.

Ask your carriers:

They’ll give you names. Build that relationship early.That way, when you book your first load, you already have your “fix-it” people lined up.

You don’t need a department. You need a phone number.

4. Quote like a pro

Most people lose money on their first Mexico load because they quote it like a domestic move.

Don’t.

Cross-border quoting is about variables — not just distance. You’re factoring in a border crossing, a clearance window, and the fact that you’ll often be working with two drivers (a U.S. and a Mexico side).

Here’s your checklist:

• Origin and destination

• Border crossing city (Laredo, Pharr, Nogales, etc.)

• Commodity and trailer type

• Weight and load value

• Who handles the crossing

• Clearance time (add 1–3 days)

This one habit saves your margin.

If you’re using Cargado, you can see real cross-border rates instantly — not guesses, not “domestic rate + 500 bucks.” You get actual bid-driven market data for both spot and contracted freight, so you can quote confidently and stay competitive without racing to the bottom.

Because quoting confidently isn’t about being cheap — it’s about being right.

5. Stop waiting. Just post it.

This is the simplest advice but also the most important: stop overthinking it and just post your first lane.

Ask your customer:

Then get the lane details — even if it’s just one load.

Post it on Cargado.You’ll get live bids from vetted carriers, see real pricing data, and start to understand how the market works.

That’s how everyone starts.

Mexico and Canada freight are still wildly underserved. There’s far more demand than supply. The people who win are the ones who start — not the ones who wait until they feel ready.

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be present.

What You’ll Realize After Your First Load

Once you move your first cross-border load, everything changes.

You realize:

• Margins are 2–3x higher than domestic freight

• The relationships you build are stickier — customers don’t churn when you’re solving their hardest problem

• You didn’t need a new team, just better tools

That’s why we built Cargado.

Our customers start small — one lane, one customer — and within weeks they’re managing steady Mexico and Canada volume. The same people who used to say “we don’t touch cross-border” are suddenly leading their company’s expansion strategy.

You don’t need to be the biggest. You just need to be the first in your office willing to figure it out.

Final Thought

Cross-border isn’t a new category of freight — it’s the next frontier of the same job you’re already great at.

It’s relationship-driven, high-margin, and repeatable.

Find one lane.Call one customer.Post one load.

Then do it again next week.

That’s how you grow your Mexico and Canada business.

And when people in your office ask how you did it, tell them the truth:

Stay Updated

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I share stories, data, and playbooks from the front lines of nearshoring — and how tools like Cargado are helping brokers quote, cover, and manage freight across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Because the brokers who win the next decade are the ones who start building cross-border relationships today.

If you’ve spent time in freight, you know that load board is a loaded term. And behind all of it is the market intelligence that logistics companies now rely on to quote, price, and plan cross-border freight.

If you’ve spent time in freight, you know that load board is a loaded term.

It conjures images of noise, spam, and brokers posting the same load in ten places hoping one truck sticks.

We get it. We even use the term ourselves sometimes — because it’s what people understand.

But Cargado isn’t a load board. It’s a capacity management and market intelligence platform.

Load boards are bulletin boards for freight.

Cargado is a collaboration platform — where brokers manage coverage, benchmark pricing, and build real carrier relationships across the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexico, and Canada.

It’s Not Just Loads — It’s the Lanes That Matter

Roughly 60% of postings on Cargado are loads.

The rest are lanes that customers are sourcing for RFPs, contracted freight, dedicated capacity, or recurring projects.

This mix is intentional.

We designed Cargado for how freight actually works:

some days you’re covering spot freight, other days you’re building programs and pricing multi-month projects.

That’s why our customers use Cargado not only to find coverage, but to grow their networks — tracking where they already move freight, where they could be more competitive, and where market rates are shifting fastest.

Live Market Intelligence, Not Static Averages

Every day, 300–500 new carrier bids flow through Cargado — live, not scraped.

That adds up to 90,000+ carrier-submitted bids across 2,000+ lanes, updated weekly.

This isn’t survey data or stale averages. It’s real carrier pricing — from carriers actively moving freight.

And that’s why logistics companies use Cargado’s rate data for more than quoting: they use it for budgeting, procurement, and forecasting.

• Benchmark spend: Instantly see if you’re above or below market on any lane.

• Get instant spot rates: Mexico and Canada included — no back-and-forth emails.

• Run RFPs in seconds: Upload your lanes and generate market-based rate bands instantly.

It’s not market “insight.” It’s true carrier-driven pricing data.

Capacity Management, Not Just Coverage

On Cargado, customers post and cover both spot and contracted freight — across Mexico, Canada, and domestic lanes.

• Mexico northbound coverage now exceeds 90% on key lanes like Querétaro–Detroit and Monterrey–Chicago.

• Mexico → Canada lanes such as Monterrey–Toronto and Querétaro–Montreal are hitting 100% bid rates.

• Canada → U.S. outbound freight is seeing robust bid activity, averaging 4–5 bids per posting on lanes like Toronto–Chicago and Montréal–Chattanooga, with 80–90% coverage rates across most southbound corridors.

• Domestic Mexico freight is surging, with Querétaro–Monterrey at 92% coverage.

That kind of consistency doesn’t happen on a “board.”

It happens when capacity and data work together.

The Flywheel: Data Feeds Capacity, Capacity Feeds Data

Every bid, every post, every coverage event makes the system smarter.

• Each bid improves our Market Index, measuring supply and demand by region.

• Each match refines rate data for future quotes.

• Each new broker brings in new carriers — and vice versa.

That’s how we’ve built a network of 200+ active Mexican carriers, many covering both domestic and cross-border freight.

Every user contributes to the accuracy of the data that powers the next deal.

It’s a self-reinforcing loop — data fuels capacity, capacity fuels data — and it benefits everyone plugged into it.

Customer Outcomes

When customers fully adopt Cargado, the impact compounds fast.

• One large brokerage doubled its active postings within weeks after combining Cargado Market Rates with its Mexico and Domestic Mexico freight strategy — resulting in a 3x increase in carrier engagement and an average of 5–6 bids per posting.

• One mid-sized brokerage previously at risk of churn re-engaged after adopting Domestic Mexico, more than doubling its weekly posting volume and quickly becoming one of the top participants in that market.

• One cross-border brokerage expanding into Canada achieved a 2x increase in lane coverage in its first week, averaging 4 bids per posting across northbound and southbound freight.

These aren’t edge cases — they’re early signs of what happens when a broker stops operating blind and starts operating with data.

Why It Matters

A typical load board helps you get a bunch of phone calls to find a truck.

Cargado helps you build a network, price intelligently, and compete with confidence.

That’s the difference between hustling and optimizing.

Between chasing spot loads and managing an actual freight strategy.

And it’s all built on one idea:

When brokers and carriers can collaborate in a modern environment, everyone wins faster.

The Bottom Line

Cargado isn’t your typical load board.

It’s where coverage meets intelligence, and freight meets foresight.

Win more freight. Post more lanes. Build a serious network.

That’s what our customers are doing every single day.

P.S.

We’ve got some really awesome new products launching soon. Like, really soon.

Make sure we’re connected on LinkedIn and X, and follow Cargado on LinkedIn too.

If you want a peak at the roadmap and how we’re going to drive this industry forward through a collaboration platform, reach out directly and I’ll walk you through it!

👉 Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

There’s a problem inside a lot of brokerages right now: your Mexico or Canada leader is telling you they can scale the business without modern tools. They’re lying to you.

That may sting, but let’s look at the facts.

The Reality Check

On Cargado, the average posting is pushed to 120 carriers within 60 seconds of hitting the system. One hundred and twenty carriers who’ve already said yes, I haul that freight. Do they all bid? Not on every posting. But you will get bids — and usually faster than your team can even finish describing the load over the phone.

Compare that to the “traditional” process: 20–30 minutes explaining a single Mexico or Canada load via WhatsApp or phone calls. One load. One conversation. One shot at coverage. Meanwhile, your competitors are getting five carrier bids before your team has finished leaving a voicemail.

It’s insane, in 2025, to still rely on that.

The Wrong Work vs. The Right Work

When you invest in a Mexico or Canada team, you should be investing in relationship builders, managers, and problem solvers. People who:

• Sit with customers.

• Walk facilities and border crossings.

• Build trust with carriers and customs brokers.

• Solve problems when things inevitably go sideways.

What you should not be investing in is people who simply “dial for dollars.” There is too much software available now that can do that work faster, cheaper, and better than a human. If your leaders are still telling you they need to add headcount to hammer the phones, while simultaneously demoing every “AI voice agent” startup out there, you’re in denial about where this industry is going.

The Laziness & Complacency Problem

Let’s call it what it is: laziness and complacency.

If your cross-border leaders are still running the same playbook they did five years ago — WhatsApp blasts, spreadsheets, “spray-and-pray” LinkedIn posts — they’re not leading. They’re hiding.

That’s not scalable. That’s not strategic. And it’s not what your customers are paying for.

Technology Is the Differentiator

The future of brokerage isn’t about who can yell the loudest on WhatsApp. It’s about who adopts the right technology and actually scales through it.

I’ve seen what Cargado can do for some of the largest logistics companies in North America. Their leaders aren’t afraid to put the phone down and let technology amplify their reach, their speed, and their carrier relationships.

And here’s what they’re doing with our data:

• Benchmarking → Checking rates against the p25 and p75 ranges so they know exactly where they stand with carriers. If they’re above p25, they know it’s time to drive rates down or source new capacity.

• Spot Pricing → Unlocking the Market Rates UI for their entire sales team, so anyone can grab an accurate quote instantly and pitch a customer confidently.

• RFPs via Excel Add-In → Running full RFPs in minutes, not weeks, by pulling market data directly into Excel.

This isn’t theory. This is live, repeatable, and driving real outcomes right now.

The Weekend Test

Still think “old school” works? Cover a load on Saturday. Gone are the days of stripping out freight by hammering the phones. The winners aren’t the ones with the loudest call floor — they’re the ones with technology that delivers instant reach to the right carriers. I see brokers regularly cover weekend spot loads in a matter of minutes, not hours or by making dozens of phone calls.

The Window of Opportunity

This market is slow. Which means it’s the perfect time to:

👉 Build your carrier base.

👉 Diversify services.

👉 Put in place systems that will scale when volumes come back.

Because when the market turns, the brokers who clung to phones and WhatsApp will be flatlined. The ones who invested in modern platforms will be sitting on stronger margins, deeper carrier networks, and customers who notice the difference.

Your Mexico or Canada leader doesn’t need more headcount. They need to stop hiding behind excuses, stop doing the wrong work, and start building the right kind of business.

Because the truth is simple: companies that evolve through this market will be the ones that adopt the right technology — not the ones that keep dialing phones like it’s 2012.

It’s time to get Cargado if you aren’t using it today. Your competition sure is.

👉 Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

When people think “Mexico carrier,” they often imagine one thing: a trucking company that can move freight in and out of Mexico. The truth is far more complicated. Carriers fall into very different categories, each with its own authorities, paperwork, and role in cross-border logistics. And now with Canada live in Cargado, the carrier landscape gets even more diverse.

At Cargado, we’ve built a network that supports domestic Mexico, cross-border Mexico, domestic Canada, and cross-border Canada freight. To do that, you need to understand who the carriers are and what makes them different.

Mexico Carrier Types

1. US-Based Carriers with CDL Drivers

These carriers haul the US side of the freight but don’t send their trucks across the border. They rely on a Mexican partner carrier to move trailers within Mexico and a transfer carrier to handle the actual crossing. Think Monterrey → Chicago, Guadalajara → Dallas, or Mexicali → Phoenix.

2. Transfer Carriers (OP-2 Authority)

Transfer carriers operate only within the commercial trade zone: Nuevo Laredo ↔ Laredo, Juarez ↔ El Paso, Tijuana ↔ Otay Mesa. They’re registered with both US and Mexican customs (SCAC, CAAT, DOT#, MX#), but their OP-2 authority prohibits them from running deeper into the US. They’re the bridge, not the long-haul.

3. US-Based Carriers with B1 Drivers (OP-1 Authority)

Some US carriers employ Mexican drivers with special B1 visas. These drivers live in border cities like Nuevo Laredo and can haul freight throughout the US, not just in the border zone. They carry US cargo insurance, run under OP-1 authority, and are often booked for door-to-door (D2D) cross-border freight. TransMex, Knight-Swift’s Mexican entity, is a good example.

4. Mexico-Based Carriers

There are over 200,000 trucking companies in Mexico. Some run domestic freight only, others specialize in drayage at ports and ramps, and many operate “rabons” and “thortons” (smaller trucks that handle partial loads, like a U-Haul in the US). They operate with RFC# (tax ID) and SCT# (DOT equivalent), and while most don’t show up in US systems like SAFER, many now partner with US entities to offer true D2D service.

Canada Carrier Types

Canada adds another layer of nuance:

• Cross-Border Carriers: Canadian fleets that run north ↔ south into the US, often larger asset-based companies with significant long-haul capacity.

• Domestic Canada Carriers: Thousands of smaller fleets—sometimes just 1–5 trucks—serving corridors like Toronto ↔ Montreal or Vancouver ↔ Calgary. These smaller carriers are a big part of our Canada onboarding strategy .

• Specialized Segments: Just like in Mexico, you’ll find Canadian drayage carriers at rail ramps and ports, flatbed carriers hauling industrial loads, and temperature-controlled carriers serving food and pharma supply chains.

Our goal in Canada is to make sure brokers can cover both high-volume cross-border lanes and everyday domestic moves. That’s why we’ve been targeting everything from the largest fleets down to the 1–5 truck carriers that rely heavily on marketplaces .

Why This Matters

When a broker says “I need a Mexico carrier” or “I need a Canada carrier,” the reality is: Which kind? The answer changes everything about how freight gets covered.

• Need a trailer from Guadalajara to Dallas? You’ll likely be dealing with at least three carriers.

• Need capacity Toronto ↔ Calgary? You might be working with a small domestic fleet you’d never find outside of a platform like Cargado.

By understanding these categories, brokers avoid costly mistakes like contracting a transfer carrier for freight that requires OP-1 authority, or overlooking small fleets that can cover domestic lanes.

Cargado’s Approach

Since launching in early 2024, we’ve onboarded over 1,500 carriers across all these categories. That includes:

• US carriers with CDL and B1 drivers

• Transfer carriers in every major border crossing

• Mexican fleets of all sizes and specialties

• Canadian carriers from large cross-border fleets to the smallest domestic operators

Our job isn’t just to bring them in. It’s to make sure brokers know who they’re booking and that the freight is moving compliantly and efficiently.

It’s not quite so simple

“Mexico carrier” and “Canada carrier” aren’t single categories. They’re ecosystems of fleets with different authorities, paperwork, equipment, and service areas.

That’s why Cargado exists — to make it easy for brokers to tap into the right carriers for the right lanes, whether that’s Monterrey ↔ Chicago, Guadalajara ↔ Saltillo, Toronto ↔ Montreal, or anything in between.

When you understand the carrier landscape, you realize why marketplaces matter: because building this network yourself would be nearly impossible.

The Cargado Excel Add-In is Here!

P.S.: Quoting lanes just got easier. The Cargado Add-in for Excel is now live. You can pull cross-border market rates directly into your RFP spreadsheets without leaving Excel. Instantly see low, median, and high rates for your lanes, complete with confidence levels and margin of error. For advanced users, we’ve even added custom functions like =CARGADO.RATE_HISTORY_P50

(And yes, a Sheets add-in is coming soon)

👉 Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

If you’ve been around Canadian trucking lately, you’ve probably heard the term Driver Inc. It isn’t a new carrier or a tech platform — it’s a shady payroll setup some fleets are using to cut costs. And it’s causing headaches across the industry.

What Is Driver Inc.?

Here’s the play:

• A fleet (usually small to mid-sized carriers, though it’s spread beyond that) tells its drivers to go incorporate a numbered company — something like “123456 Ontario Inc.”

• Instead of paying those drivers as employees, the fleet now pays invoices to the numbered company.

• On paper, the driver looks like an independent business.

• In reality, nothing changes: the driver is still hauling the fleet’s trailers, on the fleet’s dispatch schedule, using the fleet’s insurance, and following the fleet’s rules.

The only real change is that the carrier dodges employment obligations like CPP, EI, workers’ comp, overtime, vacation pay, and health benefits.

Why Carriers Do It

• Lower payroll costs: No employer contributions to CPP/EI or provincial workers’ comp.

• No employee rights: No overtime, paid time off, or termination rules to follow.

• Tax shifting: The burden gets dumped on the driver, who may not realize the risks until tax season.

Why It’s a Problem

• Drivers lose protections: They miss out on EI, CPP contributions, and safety coverage. If CRA audits, they may owe back taxes.

• Legit fleets get undercut: Compliant carriers are stuck competing with artificially low operating costs.

• The industry takes a hit: Lower wages, higher turnover, and reputational damage.

• Government loses revenue: Billions in taxes and premiums never get collected.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) calls Driver Inc. “tax evasion,” and the government is now auditing fleets that use it.

How Is This Different from an Owner-Operator?

This is the obvious question — and the answer is simple.

• A true owner-operator invests in their own truck, pays their own insurance, controls their business decisions, and leases on to a carrier under a contract. They decide when and how they work, even if they rely on one carrier for freight.

• A Driver Inc. “contractor” doesn’t own the truck, doesn’t control the work, and has no real independence. They’re employees in everything but name — only reclassified to save the carrier money.

Think of it this way: Owner-ops carry business risk. Driver Inc. drivers carry tax risk.

Show-Me-the-Money: Toronto → Chicago on $850

Here’s a simple example: one fleet invoices $850 USD for a Toronto-to-Chicago load.

• With a driver paid as an employee, the carrier covers not just wages but also payroll obligations (CPP, EI, workers’ comp, vacation pay).

• With Driver Inc., the fleet pays only the invoice — none of those obligations.

Same truck. Same freight. Same driver pay. The only difference is compliance.

Why Brokers and Shippers Should Care

You may not be the one hiring drivers directly, but it still matters:

1. Compliance risk – Freight moving under Driver Inc. carriers could attract regulator scrutiny.

2. Service instability – Drivers without protections churn faster, hurting capacity reliability.

3. Rate distortion – Artificially low costs create an uneven playing field in the carrier market.

4. Sustainability – Partnering with compliant fleets reduces long-term supply chain risk.

Bottom Line

Driver Inc. isn’t innovation — it’s misclassification. It pits compliant carriers against rule-breakers, exposes drivers to risk, and creates downstream headaches for brokers and shippers.

The takeaway for the industry is clear: ask your carrier partners how they classify their drivers. Supporting compliant operators isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s how you build a more stable, reliable supply chain.

👉 Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

I’ve been on the road the past few weeks — spending time with customers and prospects in Dallas TX, Kansas City MO, and Birmingham AL, including our friends at Blackbox Logistics and Will Hopkins (check out my podcast appearance with Will on 2 Dawgs 1 Pod). I also spoke at the TIA regional event at McLeod’s headquarters and Transportation Club of Dallas Fort Worth, where cross-border freight was a hot topic.

The more time I spend in these rooms, the more convinced I am of one simple truth: brokers of all sizes can grow their cross-border footprint. Whether you’re a top-10 3PL or a 10-person shop, the playbook is within reach — and it starts with your existing customers.

Fear of the Unknown: The Real Gatekeeper

People often say customs is the barrier to Mexico freight. It isn’t. Fear of the unknown is the real gatekeeper.

Most brokers hesitate to pursue cross-border because they don’t know when to ask their customers about it, how to support it, or what will be expected of them. That hesitation is exactly why the opportunity feels so different.

Here’s the reality: you don’t need to be a customs expert. You don’t need to memorize forms or set up a Mexican entity. What you do need is curiosity, the confidence to ask the right questions, and the willingness to lean in with a partner like Cargado to expand your service offering.

If you don’t, you risk falling behind while others take the freight that could have been yours.

Start by Asking the Right Questions

Here are the four questions that consistently uncover opportunities:

• Are you manufacturing anything in Mexico?

• Are you buying anything from Mexico?

• Are you selling anything to your customers who have facilities in Mexico?

• And what about your Canada freight — do you sell anything in Canada?

Customers’ answers will almost always reveal freight already moving. And more often than not, they’ll admit Mexico is their top headache. That’s your entry point.

Mexico 101: What You Really Need to Know

1. Customs isn’t your job — but relationships are

Every load that crosses into or out of Mexico requires customs brokers on both sides. But here’s the thing: you don’t have to do their job.

Make sure your customer introduces you to their customs broker. That broker will handle the paperwork and tell you what they need and when. Your responsibility is to go get those details and keep everything accurate.

Instead of fearing customs, focus on making the connection and building the relationship. That’s where your value lies.

2. Expect multiple hand-offs

Unlike a domestic load, cross-border moves typically involve at least three carriers:

• A U.S. carrier moving freight to the border

• A transfer (dray) carrier handling the border crossing

• A Mexico carrier hauling inland

Your job is to smooth those hand-offs so your customer doesn’t feel the friction.

3. Northbound ≠ southbound

• Southbound (U.S. → Mexico): Export paperwork and customs delays are the big risks.

• Northbound (Mexico → U.S.): This is production freight — time-sensitive goods feeding U.S. plants and DCs. Miss a delivery, and you risk shutting down a line.

Brokers who understand these dynamics can set expectations, prevent surprises, and keep customers coming back.

4. Don’t sleep on Canada

The U.S.–Canada border is simpler than Mexico, but the freight opportunity is enormous. Many shippers quietly move steady Canada lanes, often without dedicated broker support. Asking “Do you sell anything in Canada?” is a powerful way to uncover revenue hiding in plain sight.

5. Education is the sale

At multiple events recently, I’ve been reminded that many brokers still think Mexico is “too complicated.” But when you break it down — who touches the freight, what the customs broker handles, and how the hand-offs work — the fear disappears. Customers don’t want you to be a customs lawyer; they want you to make the process feel manageable.

Education is what turns curiosity into confidence.

How to Put This Into Practice

Here’s a simple path:

1. Ask the four questions with every customer.

2. Pick one lane. Don’t try to boil the ocean. Start with Monterrey–Dallas, Guadalajara–Montreal, or Toronto–Chicago.

3. Get introduced to the customs broker. Let them lead; you just manage the flow.

4. Work with a handful of repeat carriers. Consistency beats scattershot.

5. Communicate clearly. Customers don’t need perfection — they need transparency.

6. Leverage the Cargado team of cross-border experts. Everyone deserves the chance to become an expert. With the right tools and support, you don’t have to learn by trial and error.

Data Snapshot

To make this tangible, I’ll be adding live screenshots from our platform showing rate data on a few example lanes:

Monterrey, NL → Dallas, TX

Chihuahua, CHH → Toronto, ON

Toronto, ON → Chicago, IL

Each one highlights a different dimension: border-adjacent freight, western Mexico to Canada, and core U.S.–Canada flows.

Final Thoughts

The real barrier to cross-border freight isn’t customs or language barrier. It’s fear of the unknown.

If you’re waiting until you’re “ready,” you’ll be waiting forever. The brokers who are growing fastest aren’t waiting — they’re asking the right questions, saying yes to their customers, and leaning in with Cargado to expand their service offerings.

Mexico and Canada aren’t side hustles anymore. They’re growth strategies. And if you don’t embrace them, someone else will.

👉 Stay updated on the latest in cross-border logistics and freight tech by subscribing at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

Quick Note: Wow! Two newsletters in one week after getting called out by a reader for not writing as consistently… let’s dive into the X post of the week:

When Secretary Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. was pausing the issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers, it set off a firestorm online.

His post suggested that foreign drivers were operating tractor-trailers across U.S. highways, endangering lives, and undercutting American truckers.

I jumped in with a quick clarification on X (formerly Twitter): this doesn’t apply to B1 drivers from Mexico or Canadian drivers hauling cross-border freight. That post got traction — and the replies started pouring in.

What began as a short tweet turned into a long discussion with drivers, carriers, and industry insiders. Some agreed, some disagreed, and some flat-out accused B1 drivers of stealing freight. It was heated, but it was also productive.

So I decided to put it all down here, in one place.

What a B1 Driver Actually Is

Let’s start with the basics.

A B1 visa is not a “worker visa.” It’s a business visitor visa that allows foreign nationals to conduct certain types of business in the United States. For trucking, it permits drivers from Mexico to enter the U.S. for one purpose: to haul freight that crosses an international border.

That means:

• A B1 driver can take a load from Monterrey to Chicago.

• That same driver can then pick up freight in Chicago and haul it to Laredo if that freight is destined for Mexico (i.e., an export).

• That same driver cannot legally pick up a load in Chicago and deliver it to San Antonio. That’s domestic freight, and it’s cabotage.

It’s really that simple: B1 drivers are only allowed to move international shipments.

Why You See Mexican Plates in Chicago

One of the loudest pushbacks I heard online was: “I see Mexican trucks in Chicago all the time. That has to be cabotage.”

Not necessarily.

Chicago is one of the largest freight hubs in North America. It’s where massive amounts of cross-border freight flows before being distributed across the country. Auto parts, steel, plastics, electronics — Mexico exports all of it, and a lot of it lands in Chicago.

So yes, you’ll see Mexican-plated trucks in Chicago. But in nearly all cases, they’re there legally, because they’re delivering international freight from Mexico.

The Nature of Cross-Border Freight

It’s also worth remembering that most freight coming from Mexico is production-oriented freight.

Think auto parts headed to assembly plants, electronics bound for final assembly, or components feeding U.S. manufacturing facilities. Other loads go into U.S. distribution centers, where they enter regional networks and ultimately become domestic freight that American drivers haul to final destinations.

In other words:

• B1 drivers move the international leg — getting freight into the U.S.

• American drivers pick it up from there — moving it through the domestic network.

This isn’t freight being “taken away” from U.S. drivers. It’s freight that creates more domestic freight downstream, because the goods from Mexico are feeding U.S. plants, DCs, and ultimately U.S. consumers.

The Deadhead Debate

Another common argument was: “There’s no way those trucks deadhead back to Mexico. They must be picking up U.S. loads.”

Here’s the truth:

• After delivering a northbound load in Chicago, B1 drivers need to get back to Mexico.

• They can legally pick up another load in the U.S., but only if that freight is destined for Mexico (or Canada).

• If they can’t find one, yes, they may deadhead hundreds of miles south to position for their next international move.

That means a driver could legally deadhead 500 miles to pick up a load in San Antonio, as long as that freight is crossing back into Mexico.

What they cannot do — and what I do not support — is taking a Chicago → San Antonio load where the freight stays in San Antonio. That’s cabotage. That’s illegal. That’s not what B1 drivers are supposed to do.

My Stance on Cabotage

Let me be crystal clear:

👉 I don’t support cabotage.

Cabotage cheats the system, undermines American drivers, and puts law-abiding carriers at a disadvantage.

If a carrier is running B1 drivers on domestic freight, they should lose their CTPAT certification. If a driver is caught doing it, they should lose their visa. Period.

But it’s important to separate the few who cheat from the overwhelming majority who don’t. Most B1 drivers are not risking their livelihood by running illegal domestic freight. Their entire ability to work in cross-border trucking depends on following the rules.

Why Southbound Freight Looks Different

Here’s another wrinkle:

Northbound freight (Mexico → U.S.) pays very well. That’s where cross-border carriers make their money.

Southbound freight (U.S. → Mexico) doesn’t pay nearly as well. It’s often just about repositioning equipment. Rates are lower, and drivers sometimes run loads at thin margins just to get back into Mexico and ready for their next northbound trip.

So when people see “cheap freight” moving toward Laredo, they sometimes assume it’s illegal cabotage. In reality, it’s usually freight destined for Mexico — and moving freight to the border for export is not cabotage.

Canadian Drivers

Canadian drivers are in a different category altogether. They operate under long-standing reciprocal agreements with the U.S. They don’t use B1 visas. They’re legally allowed to cross the border, deliver freight, and return with exports.

Just like with Mexican drivers, if a Canadian driver is caught running domestic-only U.S. freight, that’s cabotage — and it’s illegal.

Why This Matters

Without B1 drivers and Canadian drivers, U.S. supply chains would collapse under the weight of border inefficiencies.

If every load had to be transloaded at the border:

• Consumers would pay more for everything from cars to groceries.

• Supply chains would slow down.

• Damage claims would rise as freight was handled multiple times.

The USMCA framework was designed to prevent this. Door-to-door cross-border moves are what keep goods flowing, prices lower, and U.S. manufacturers competitive.

The Real Target

So where should frustration be directed?

Not at the law-abiding B1 drivers moving international freight. Not at Canadian drivers crossing legally under reciprocal agreements.

The real problem is:

• Carriers who knowingly commit cabotage.

• Drivers who operate outside the law and risk everyone’s credibility.

• Shady operators using loopholes and undercutting the market.

Those are the ones regulators need to crack down on.

Final Thought

This all started as a tweet, became a LinkedIn post, and then spiraled into a heated but meaningful discussion with truck drivers across the internet.

I’m glad it did, because this industry needs clarity.

B1 drivers are not the drivers Secretary Rubio is talking about. They’re not on worker visas. They’re not the ones taking domestic freight out of American drivers’ hands when they follow the rules.

They’re part of the system that makes USMCA work. They keep cross-border freight moving. They support American consumers, manufacturers, and supply chains every single day.

We should go after the rule-breakers. But we shouldn’t vilify the neighbors, partners, and drivers who are doing it right.

From the outside, it always looks smooth.

The charts in board decks slope neatly up and to the right. Milestones get packaged into tidy press releases. The narrative is clean: “We’re scaling.”

Inside, it feels a lot different. Building a company isn’t a straight climb. It’s potholes, detours, days where you feel unstoppable, and days where you’re quietly wondering if you’re steering into a ditch.

That tension — between the story the outside world sees and the reality on the inside — is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. And the more time I spend in founder mode, the more I realize: smooth scaling is a myth. What actually happens is seasonal.

Scaling Is Messy by Design

There’s this collective desire for startups to look predictable:

• Investors want clean curves.

• Teams want clarity.

• Customers want to believe the product is always one step ahead.

• And founders (myself included) want to believe we’re in control.

But growth doesn’t show up neatly packaged. Every win comes bundled with new headaches.

You land a big customer, and your contracts grind through weeks of redlines.

You ship a new product, and the backlog of “plumbing work” jumps out immediately.

You expand the network, and suddenly you have to rethink coverage city-by-city.

Scaling doesn’t mean eliminating the mess. It means choosing the right mess.

The Work Nobody Celebrates

Some of the most important work we’ve done this year hasn’t been sexy.

Cleaning up billing systems and Stripe integrations.

Standardizing contracts so sales cycles don’t stall out.

Tightening expense policies so every dollar of burn actually extends runway.

Nobody outside the company claps for those things. But if you don’t fix them, they pile up. They become the kind of problems that eat you alive when you’re trying to grow.

The paradox is that from the outside, scaling looks like speed. From the inside, it often feels like slowing down to clean up the foundation. But that’s exactly what creates compounding later.

Startups Have Seasons

I used to think every month needed to feel like summer — full speed, nonstop momentum.

But that’s not how it works. Companies move in seasons:

• Spring: planting seeds, experimenting, optimism running high.

• Summer: sprinting, long days, maximizing momentum.

• Fall: harvesting wins — contracts, adoption, cultural breakthroughs.

• Winter: slower, quieter, sometimes uncomfortable — but essential for cleanup and recalibration.

You don’t get to skip winter. You don’t get to grow without resetting the soil.

And this applies to customers too. Not every broker is our ICP today. Some aren’t ready yet. Eventually they will be — the market’s heading that way. But right now, the smart thing is to focus on the ones who are. The ones already building cross-border into Mexico and Canada. That’s where the compounding starts.

Founder Energy Is Seasonal Too

What I didn’t expect is that my own energy mirrors these cycles.

There are stretches where I’m in sprint mode — carrying a ton of weight, pushing hard, setting the pace. And there are stretches where I need to pull back, regroup, and reset.

Earlier in my career, I thought the only answer was to push harder every single day. But when you treat every month like summer, you eventually burn out. Worse, the team burns out too.

Now I manage my energy more intentionally: carving out thinking time, leaning on my team during heavy cycles, and using the slower periods for reflection instead of chasing fake momentum.

Because founder energy sets the temperature. If I’m frantic, the team feels frantic. If I’m steady, the team feels steady.

Blitzscaling (and Why It’s Not Always the Answer)

I’ve heard a lot of people reference blitzscaling again lately. And look — I get it. There are moments when moving fast and setting fire to the playbook makes sense.

But deployed in the wrong season? Blitzscaling is a recipe for disaster.

If you haven’t cleaned up the fundamentals — billing, contracts, focus on the right customers — scaling faster just means your problems multiply faster. It’s like flooring the gas pedal when your tires are bald. You’re not speeding toward growth, you’re hydroplaning.

The right size team, serving the right customers, in the right season — that’s what lets you scale sustainably. Then when the timing’s right, you can step on the gas and know the wheels won’t fall off.

Steering Through the Messy Middle

The myth says if you grind hard enough, the line will eventually be perfectly up and to the right.

The reality is scaling feels like turbulence. Some days are smooth, some days are shaky. The only guarantee is that the ride won’t be steady.

The founder’s job isn’t to make the turbulence disappear. It’s to steer through it. To keep the company pointed in the right direction, with the right people and the right customers, even when the line wiggles.

Closing: Playing the Long Game

Smooth scaling is a myth. The reality is seasonal. Some seasons are fast and exciting. Some are slower and uncomfortable. All of them matter.

Building in public doesn’t mean sharing every detail. It means being honest about the mindset you need to survive the grind.

If you’re in a winter right now — cleaning up systems, sharpening focus, right-sizing your team — don’t mistake it for failure. It’s just one of the seasons of scaling.

And the real job? Making sure you still have enough energy left when spring comes. Because that’s when the next harvest is made possible.

It’s happening again. Or at least, it sounds like it is.

Last week, President Trump said he would “absolutely” renegotiate the USMCA if elected. That headline alone kicked off a wave of speculation, panic-posting, and more than a few questions from freight folks wondering: Wait, does this mean new tariffs are coming?

Let’s clear this up: yes, the USMCA is up for review. That’s not political spin — it was built that way. A six-year sunset review is baked into the agreement, and 2026 is the first official checkpoint. The U.S., Mexico, and Canada is headed back to the table now.

But this isn’t NAFTA 2.0 all over again. We’re not going to see massive shifts in freight flows or a top-to-bottom rewrite of trade policy. What we’re likely to see is a mix of incremental rule changes, more enforcement, and political theater — all branded as a “big win” for the U.S.

Meanwhile, cross-border trade between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada? It’ll probably keep growing.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Agreement Was Built for This Moment

The USMCA officially replaced NAFTA in July 2020. It wasn’t a radical overhaul — it kept the duty-free trade structure intact — but it tightened up a few key areas:

• Stricter rules of origin for autos and parts

• Modernized digital trade protections

• More enforceable labor and environmental provisions

• Updated IP and pharmaceutical standards

And it added a sunset clause — a built-in mechanism requiring all three countries to review and reauthorize the agreement every six years.

So when Trump says he’s planning to renegotiate it in 2026… he’s not blowing it up. He’s just showing up for a meeting that was already on the calendar.

What Changed in 2020: Tighter, Not Transformational

The most impactful USMCA changes weren’t about what could be traded — they were about how much of it needed to be sourced from North America.

1. Auto Content Rules

The most high-profile shift was the jump in required North American content for vehicles and parts:

• Under NAFTA: 62.5%

• Under USMCA: 75%

Some labor wage requirements were added too. Most OEMs and Tier 1s adapted, with more documentation and sourcing audits, but few major supply chain shifts.

2. Customs & Digital Trade Modernization

Digitization of customs paperwork and streamlined small-parcel thresholds helped e-commerce and LTL more than truckload. Still, less paper and faster clearance is a net positive.

3. Labor & Environmental Provisions

These gave the U.S. more teeth in enforcement. Important for compliance teams, but not freight-altering.

What’s Likely on the Table in 2026

• Auto origin rules: Could go from 75% to 80%

• Stricter enforcement: More audits, compliance checks, and country-of-origin documentation

• TRQ disputes: Especially dairy and poultry

• More Section 232 tariffs: Covering metals, energy, semiconductors, etc.

• Political brinkmanship: Suspension threats, tariff deadlines, and exit talk used as leverage

Commodities in the Crosshairs

President Trump’s strategy is tariff-first. His approach to the USMCA includes:

• A proposed 25% blanket tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports

• Tariff threats tied to border security, fentanyl, and perceived trade imbalances

• Use of “national emergency” declarations to fast-track changes

Here are the commodities most at risk:

Agriculture & Food

• Examples: Avocados, tomatoes, cheese, grains, pork

• Why at risk: High cross-border reliance, tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), potential retaliation

• Potential impact: 15–25% increase in consumer prices, spoilage risk, supply chain stress

Automotive

• Examples: Vehicles, engines, transmissions, auto parts

• Why at risk: 70% of U.S. auto parts are sourced from Mexico or Canada; highly integrated “just-in-time” supply chains

• Potential impact: $2,000–$5,000 vehicle price hikes, U.S. plant slowdowns, potential 100,000+ job losses

Energy

• Examples: Crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum

• Why at risk: Canada is the largest supplier of oil to the U.S.; tariffs could disrupt regional energy flows

• Potential impact: Fuel and heating cost increases, pressure on refineries and exporters

Metals & Minerals

• Examples: Steel, aluminum, copper, rare earths

• Why at risk: Previous and proposed tariffs (up to 50%); essential to construction and industrial supply chains

• Potential impact: Higher costs for U.S. manufacturers, retaliation on U.S. exports, sourcing instability

Electronics & Machinery

• Examples: Computers, appliances, industrial components

• Why at risk: Many are assembled in Mexico; supply chains depend on low-cost, cross-border trucking

• Potential impact: Delays in tech sectors, increased costs for consumer goods, potential offshoring reversal

Goods Moved by Truck: The Real Impact Zone

Cross-border trucking handles over $1.8 trillion in U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada. That’s the frontline for tariff risk.

Most at-risk truck freight:

• Perishables: Avocados, berries, tomatoes from Mexico — 50-60% of U.S. fresh produce imports

• Automotive: Just-in-time loads from maquiladoras; even small delays ripple upstream

• Consumer Goods: Electronics, packaged food, beverages — high-volume, cost-sensitive

• Industrial Inputs: Steel coils, chemicals, refined fuels

Since USMCA’s implementation, truck freight value on these commodities is up 43%. Renegotiation risks like a 25% tariff or tighter TRQs could spike freight rates, force mode shifts, and cause importers to front-load inventory.

So What Does This Mean for Freight?

Short Term:

• Expect headlines, posturing, and pre-2026 stockpiling

• Brokers, carriers, and compliance teams need to watch enforcement language

Medium Term:

• More documentation and border friction in key categories

• Delays at ports of entry, especially LTL and perishable goods

• Some shifts in sourcing as companies respond to cost pressure

Long Term:

Even with noise and political heat, freight will likely grow:

• Nearshoring momentum continues

• U.S. buyers want diversified sourcing and shorter transit times

• Mexico and Canada remain the U.S.’s most stable, integrated trade partners

The Freight Outlook: More Trucks, Not Fewer

If the USMCA gets updated in 2026, it will likely be framed as a political win for the U.S. But that doesn’t mean freight flows slow down.

We saw this in 2020: the rules got stricter, the paperwork got thicker, but trade kept growing.

This time, it may even accelerate. Companies want stability, predictability, and access to nearby suppliers. If the revised deal preserves those incentives, we could see:

• Even more perishable product moved by truck from Mexico

• Higher auto part volumes due to greater North American content compliance

• Increased exports of U.S. ag and industrial products into Canada and Mexico

The trucks will keep rolling. And in the long run, there might be even more of them.

Want to talk about how to navigate these changes? Reach out. Or better yet: keep quoting and covering your cross-border loads. The freight isn’t going anywhere.

Last week I had the privilege of moderating a panel at the 8th Annual Reliance Partners Modernization of Cross-Border Trade event in Laredo—and I can’t say this enough: if you care about cross-border freight, you need to be at this event next year.

It wasn’t one of those polished but generic conferences. It was freight-forward. Candid. Tactical. Real.

I was joined by three friends and heavy hitters in the space:

• Johnny Curiel from J.B. Hunt, who’s built cross-border at one of the largest transportation companies in North America.

• Patty Hinojosa from CargoQuotes, who leads one of the most efficient cross-border operations in the brokerage world today.

• Troy Ryley from Echo Global Logistics, who probably needs no intro if you’ve done anything cross-border in the last decade.

The four of us sat down with an audience full of freight brokers and trucking companies—people already in the Mexico game or looking to enter it—and had an honest conversation about what works, what doesn’t, and how to actually succeed in cross-border freight.

We didn’t talk about forms or customs paperwork. We focused on the real stuff.

And now I want to break down the five biggest themes that came out of the session, plus a few of my own thoughts layered on top.

Getting Started in Mexico Freight Is Easier Than People Think — If You Focus

Let’s be honest: Mexico freight feels intimidating from the outside. Brokers hear “customs,” “transloading,” “bonded carriers,” and suddenly it feels like international forwarding—not something you can quote confidently or scale.

But here’s the truth: if you’re being asked about Mexico freight, you’re already behind.

Your customers aren’t asking because they’re curious. They’re asking because they need help. And if you pass it off to someone else or slow-play it internally, you’re handing that customer to another broker who will figure it out.

What the panel made clear is this: you don’t need to build a fully staffed cross-border division to get started. You don’t need a Monterrey office. You don’t need a customs broker on payroll. You don’t need to spend six months getting “ready.”

You need:

• A few repeatable lanes to test with

• One person internally who can own it

• A vetted carrier partner

• And ideally, a platform that actually understands Mexico freight

My take: The biggest thing that separates the winners from the tourists in Mexico is focus. You don’t half-do Mexico. You pick your lanes, you show up for your carriers, and you learn how the freight actually moves. Lane by lane. Handoff by handoff. That’s how you build muscle.

Picking the Right Partners Makes or Breaks You

This was a major theme: brokers and carriers that succeed in Mexico are the ones who invest in the right relationships—especially with carriers south of the border.

You can’t treat a Mexico-side carrier like a U.S. contract carrier. The expectations are different. The risk tolerance is different. The communication cadence is different.

As Patty put it: “You’re not just moving freight—you’re building trust across three parties in two countries.”

What brokers don’t always realize:

• Most Mexican carriers don’t carry U.S.-style cargo insurance

• WhatsApp is the dominant communication tool

• The same MX-side carriers won’t necessarily be available for your 2,500-mile lane to Toronto versus your 300-mile move to Laredo

And here’s what happens when you choose the wrong partner:

• Shipments get delayed at the border

• You lose visibility for hours (or days)

• Your customer calls you asking where the truck is, and you have no good answer

My take: When we built Forager, I saw firsthand how fragile trust can be in cross-border. One bad load can cost you months of relationship-building. So if you’re a U.S. broker, slow down the carrier onboarding process. Ask around. Look for CTPAT certification if it’s available. And don’t forget—your carrier is your reputation on the Mexico side.

The Border Handoff Is the Most Misunderstood (and Underrated) Piece

There’s a magical moment in every cross-border move that either makes it or breaks it: the transfer at the border.

That transfer might involve:

• A U.S. carrier dropping at a yard in Laredo or El Paso

• A drayage or transfer carrier physically taking the trailer across the bridge

• A Mexico carrier picking up and completing the linehaul on the other side

Or it might involve a single through-trailer carrier with interchange agreements or B-1 drivers. There are a dozen ways to structure it—and most brokers don’t understand half of them.

We talked about this on the panel, and Troy emphasized something important: “It’s not just about who owns what leg. It’s about who owns the communication during the handoff.”

That’s where loads go dark. That’s where loads get stuck. That’s where brokers lose trust.

My take: There’s no one right way to structure a cross-border move—but there is one universal truth: you need to clarify ownership. Who’s responsible for what, and when? If that’s not clear in your SOPs, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

A surprising number of brokers have never even asked their carrier how the transfer works. That’s freight malpractice. Pick up the phone. Ask the question.

You Don’t Need a Mexico Office (Yet), But You Do Need a Mexico Plan

This question came from the audience and got everyone nodding: Do I need a team in Mexico to be good at Mexico freight?

Here’s the answer, and it’s freeing: you don’t need a Mexico office on Day 1.

But you do need a real plan.

That means:

• Someone on your team owns cross-border

• They’re bilingual or at least carrier-literate

• You have processes in place to cover freight, track it, and escalate issues

• You know who your partners are in Laredo, El Paso, McAllen, and beyond

Too many brokerages try to “test” Mexico with no one responsible for making it work. That’s like assigning five percent of someone’s time to stand up your most complex mode.

My take: Eventually, you might want boots on the ground. In Monterrey. Or at the border. Or in Mexico City if your freight takes you further south. But you earn the right to open that office by proving there’s real volume—and that you can move it cleanly.

Start with coverage. Prove you can build trust. Then scale.

The Most Underrated Way to Win: Know Which Lanes to Target

This one deserves more airtime, because most brokers screw it up.

They hear “Mexico” and start quoting random spot freight from Guadalajara to Atlanta. But that’s a recipe for frustration.

Here’s the smarter approach:

Start with repeatable lanes picking up in Monterrey, Juarez, Tijuana, and Reynosa—the four pillars of Mexico’s export engine. These cities are dense with manufacturing. They’re well-connected. They’ve got a reliable carrier base. And they’ve been sending trucks to the U.S. every day for decades.

Then:

• Map those lanes to your U.S. customer base

• Focus on direct, high-frequency corridors—Reynosa to Dallas, Juarez to Phoenix, Tijuana to San Diego, Monterrey to Laredo or Chicago

• Learn what a good rate looks like. Learn what an on-time pickup looks like. Learn what the carrier base expects

Freight from Mexico City to Kansas City is very different from freight from Reynosa to Houston. The infrastructure is different. The risk profile is different. And so is the margin potential.

My take: If you’re a broker trying to break in, pick one market and dominate it. Learn the rhythm. Learn the players. Learn what goes wrong. That’s how you build a defensible book. And that’s how you avoid wasting six months on freight that was never winnable to begin with.

Final Thoughts

This event in Laredo was a perfect reminder of something I think we all forget from time to time: freight is still a people business.

The technology’s better. The data’s better. The integrations are tighter. But at the end of the day, the difference between a load that moves and a load that sits is still usually who you know and how you work.

Huge thanks again to:

• Johnny Curiel, for bringing deep strategic perspective from the J.B. Hunt playbook

• Patty Hinojosa, for showing what agile cross-border execution actually looks like

• Troy Ryley, for grounding the panel in experience and clear-eyed honesty

• And to Reliance Partners, for pulling together the kind of event the industry really needs more of

If you’re a broker or carrier trying to figure out Mexico in 2025, this is the time to go all in. Tariffs, nearshoring, customer demand—it’s all converging. And the brokers who win will be the ones who learn faster than everyone else.

Want more freight-nerdy insights like this in your inbox?

Subscribe to my newsletter at CongratsOnAllTheProgress.com.

We talk cross-border freight, nearshoring trends, freight tech, and how to actually build something useful in this space.

From the beginning, Rylan and I had a simple thesis: the way logistics companies operate cross-border freight is unnecessarily complicated.

We’ve both lived it — working in freight day in and day out, quoting a load out of Monterrey only to hit walls on pricing, carriers, or customs. Every single step of the process was fragmented, slow, and dependent on having a trusted partner in another country.

So we started building Cargado. Not as a brokerage. Not as a network of reps and phone calls. But as a platform.

One where you could quote and cover cross-border loads — without having to hire a full team or figure it out from scratch.

We started with Mexico. And now, we’re doing the same for Canada

.

Canada cross-border freight is now live 🇨🇦

Over the past year, we started to see more long-haul lanes between Mexico and Canada moving through our network — typically on high-value freight like auto parts and electronics.

So we quietly opened up support for that freight. That led to more Canadian carriers joining the platform. That led to more U.S.–Canada freight being requested by customers. And now, it’s official:

Cargado now supports freight moving between Canada and the U.S. or Mexico, with coverage spanning British Columbia to Newfoundland & Labrador.

You can:

• Quote and cover freight from Toronto to Minneapolis, Vancouver to Saltillo, Monterrey to Montréal, and more

• Match with carriers already running these lanes

• Support your customers across the entire North American trade corridor

This isn’t a soft launch — it’s already live, in use, and scaling fast.

Why Canada trade matters more than ever

In 2023, Mexico surpassed both China and Canada to become the U.S.’s top trading partner — driven by reshoring, diversification away from Asia, and a new era of North American manufacturing. But Canada remains a powerhouse — and critically different in how that trade flows.

U.S.–Mexico:

• $798B in total trade

• The U.S. imports significantly more than it exports

• Most trade is tied to supply chain shifts, not consumption

• Think: assembly, parts, nearshoring, cost optimization

U.S.–Canada:

• $793B in total trade

• Much more balanced two-way trade

• Canada is a consumer and a supplier, especially of raw materials, finished goods, and industrial commodities

• Think: shared production, long-standing economic ties

Mexico–Canada:

• $49B in bilateral trade

• A growing lane for auto, produce, electronics, and textiles

• Often overlooked — but critical for northbound Mexico freight

Top commodities that move cross-border

U.S. ➝ Canada:

🚗 Automobiles & parts

💻 Electronics

🏗 Machinery

🧴 Plastics

🩺 Medical equipment

Canada ➝ U.S.:

🚙 Auto parts & engines

🥫 Food & beverages

📦 Paper & wood products

🛢 Fuel & energy

🔧 Industrial equipment

Mexico ➝ Canada:

📺 TVs and electronics

🍅 Produce

🚛 Commercial trucks

🧵 Apparel and textiles

🔩 Electrical components

If your customers touch any of these categories, they’re likely shipping into or out of Canada already. Now, you can support that freight — without needing to build a Canada team first.

We built the carrier network before the feature set

We knew this wouldn’t work if we didn’t get the supply side right. So we started building early.

• Mexican carriers already running into Canada

• Canadian carriers looking for more U.S. and Mexico freight

• U.S. carriers covering cross-border lanes out of Detroit, Buffalo, Laredo, El Paso, and more

We leveraged the Mexico ↔ Canada freight to prove out demand. Then expanded from there — all without compromising on quality.

Carrier access is free — but exclusive

A few things you should know:

• The platform is completely free for carriers

• It’s also invite-only

• Carriers must provide three broker references

• We actively monitor performance and remove underperformers

• We don’t charge carriers, so we stay agnostic about who wins a load

• We’re investing in better methods and tools to keep the network safe

This marketplace only works if people trust it. So we’re building for trust and quality, not just volume.

Cargado Market Rates — real data, not modeled guesses

We’ve now collected over 40,000 real bids from cross-border carriers using our platform — covering lanes between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

We used that data to build Cargado Market Rates — a tool that gives you:

• Instant cross-border rates, visible right inside the product

• Percentile-based pricing for spot or RFP quoting

• A smarter, faster way to quote with confidence

Let’s say you need a Dry Van quote from Monterrey to Chattanooga. The tool shows you:

• Market (p50): $3,742

• Low (p25): $3,579

• High (p75): $3,967

Now your team can build pricing that wins freight — without back-and-forth, and without guessing.

Market Rates works especially well for Mexico RFPs, where accuracy matters and margin is tight.

We updated our pricing to match how you actually use the product

Early on, we charged by seat. That didn’t scale.

So we shifted to usage-based pricing:

• Unlimited users

• Tiers based on freight activity (quotes + postings)

• Market Rates included in all tiers

• Flexible structure that grows as you grow

No more worrying about logins. You only pay more when you’re doing more.

Where we’re going next

This isn’t the end — it’s just the inflection point.

We’re doubling down on:

• Product expansion for quoting, coverage, capacity management, and ops

• Carrier density at the southern border, throughout Mexico, and across Canada

• Integrations to plug Cargado into the rest of your tech stack

The vision remains the same: help logistics companies operate cross-border freight without friction.

✅ If you’re already using Cargado, here’s what to do this week:

• Post your Canada freight

• Expand into underserved Mexico markets — Tijuana, Mexicali, Juárez, Chihuahua, Reynosa, Matamoros

• Use Market Rates for Mexico quotes and RFPs

• Watch your carrier engagement — we’re seeing record coverage and bid activity

✅ Post your Lanes.

If you run consistent freight, post the lane — not just the load. You’ll build:

• Dedicated coverage

• Repeat behavior

• Stronger pricing and reliability over time

Lanes create signal. And signal attracts the right carriers.

If you’re not on Cargado yet:

👉 Reach out for a demo at cargado.com.

Quote it. Cover it. Grow the business.

The morning after one of our early board meetings at Cargado, I was having breakfast with Brad Svrluga, our lead investor and board member from Primary Venture Partners. He asked me how I thought the meeting went. I gave him my take — mostly positive, a few things we could tighten up.

Then he said something that stuck with me.

He told me a board meeting should feel like a really intense workout. Not necessarily fun, but rewarding. One of those grueling sessions where you walk away sore, but with more clarity, sharper focus, and better alignment than when you walked in.

He was right.

Because the truth is, most early-stage board meetings don’t feel like that. They feel like theater. Like a quarterly performance review dressed up with pretty charts and a few too many metrics that don’t really matter anymore.

I’ve been guilty of that myself. Especially during my first company, Forager. We reused deck structures for way too long. Glossed over red flags. Avoided the real conversation.

But the more experience I’ve had — as a founder, operator, and board member myself — the more I’ve come to realize how powerful a well-run board meeting can be. And how painful it is when you waste the opportunity.

This issue is a deep dive for founders and operators on what board meetings are really for, how to get the most out of them, and the lessons I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) about how to run them right.

Why Board Meetings Exist

Most founders assume board meetings are a formality — a box to check every 6–8 weeks to keep investors in the loop. But if you’re only thinking about them as updates, you’re missing their actual purpose.

Board meetings exist for four core reasons:

1. Governance

The boring but essential part. You’re a Delaware C-Corp. The board is responsible for approving things like 409As, option pools, fundraising rounds, material contracts, and executive hires. This is what the board legally has to do — and a lot of the action items should be handled in the consent agenda or off the critical path of discussion.

2. Accountability

You raised money to do specific things. Did you do them? Why or why not? Board meetings are where you report on progress. That doesn’t mean spinning stories or shielding reality. It means being clear about where you are and how you’re doing.

3. Alignment

Your team, your investors, and your co-founders all bring different experiences and incentives. A good board meeting is where those perspectives get recalibrated around the current state of the business and where it’s going next.

4. Strategy & Feedback

The best board meetings are working sessions. Not pitch decks. Not TED talks. You’re in a room with smart people who’ve seen hundreds of companies — use them. Come prepared with real decisions to make or hard problems to solve.

The Forager Mistake

At Forager, I misunderstood what board meetings were for.

I thought the goal was to get through them. Impress people. Show momentum. Avoid too many questions. So we leaned heavily on presentation polish, slide templates, and safe framing.

We reused board deck structures quarter after quarter, even when those structures didn’t match the current reality of the business. We’d highlight the metrics that looked okay and skip past the ones that didn’t. We rarely paused to ask: are we even having the right conversation?

In hindsight, I wish we’d treated those meetings less like performance reviews and more like opportunities to challenge our assumptions and reset our priorities. We had good investors — but we didn’t use them enough.

That’s changed this time around.

How We Run Board Meetings at Cargado

The most important rule we follow is simple: no surprises.

I meet regularly with our investors — especially the ones who sit on our board or serve as observers. They already know where we’re headed, what’s working, and what we’re wrestling with. That way, when the board meeting happens, no one’s caught off guard. If a board meeting is the first time someone hears bad news or sees a major change in strategy, you’ve already lost the room.

We also treat board meetings as a team sport — not a solo performance by the CEO. The goal is to have real conversations about what matters most. Here’s how we build toward that.

🛠️ Our Board Deck Process: Step by Step

1. Define the purpose

Start by identifying the 2–3 main reasons for the meeting. What strategic issues, decisions, or challenges do you want the board to weigh in on? That’s the foundation for everything else. Write it down. Share it with your team. Make sure everyone knows what we’re really here to talk about.

2. Build the outline

Sketch out a rough outline of the deck. You don’t need slides yet — just sections and bullet points. Think about what needs to be communicated, in what order, and why. Include bullets for what you want to say on each slide so you don’t lose the narrative as you go.

3. Brain dump into a shell deck

Once the outline feels good, I create a shell of the deck with placeholder slides. Then I dump all of my notes, context, and raw data onto each one. It’s messy, but it gets everything on “paper” so you can step back and start shaping the story.

4. Build slides for clarity, not creativity

Every slide should have a clear takeaway — ideally called out in a dedicated “Key Takeaways” box on the slide itself. Limit yourself to three bullets max. Include supporting data, charts, or visuals only if they reinforce your point. Don’t over-design or over-share. This is not the place to debut new ideas or flashy slide transitions. It’s about clarity.

5. Build it with your team

Your leadership team should own their sections of the deck. Head of Sales owns sales. Head of Product owns product. But as CEO, your job is to coach, edit, and unify. The narrative needs to hold together — not feel like a patchwork of team updates. Review each section with your leaders and fine-tune the messaging together.

🎯 Choosing the Right Working Topics

Once you’ve built your shell deck and framed the story, you need to zoom in on the working topics — the parts of the meeting where you’re asking for input, not just giving a report.

Every good board meeting should include 2–3 of these. Here are some examples we’ve worked through at different stages:

• Pricing changes: Should we move to usage-based pricing? What will the customer impact be? How do we measure success?

• Org design and hiring: Who do we need in seats to get to the next stage? Are we over- or under-hiring in certain functions?

• Fundraising strategy: When should we raise our next round? What does the story look like based on our current plan?

• Customer or GTM challenges: Are we going after the right ICP? Is our messaging landing? Why did churn spike last quarter?

• Product roadmap tradeoffs: What bets are we making in the next 6 months? Where are we cutting scope or shifting timelines?

• Marketplace health: Are supply and demand in balance? Where are the liquidity gaps? Are we solving the right problems for each side?

The right working topics depend on the kind of company you’re building:

• If you’re in SaaS, your GTM motion and retention strategy are likely top priorities.

• If you’re early-stage, the focus may be team building — key hires, founder bandwidth, org debt.

• If you’re building a marketplace, you’ll be talking about balancing growth between demand and supply — and how product or ops needs to shift.

• If you’re heading into a raise, it’s probably time to talk runway, metrics, and storytelling.

I still remember our very first board meeting at Cargado — the board pushed me to hire a Chief of Staff. That ultimately led to us hiring both our Head of GTM and our Head of Operations, two of the most critical leaders on our team today. Sometimes the best conversations aren’t about what’s in the deck — they’re about the gaps you’re too close to see on your own.

💼 Advice for Founders

🧠 Prepare like it matters

Don’t slap together a deck the night before. Give yourself (and your team) time to organize your thinking. Put a draft together early. Write a CEO letter. Think through what’s changed, what’s stuck, and what’s unclear. Help the board see the business through your eyes.

💡 Pick your working topics

Every meeting should include at least two real conversations. Not fluff. Not “we’re thinking about maybe trying X.” Make the board part of the process. Bring strategic questions you want their input on — and actually listen.

📉 Own the hard stuff

Your board already knows where things aren’t going great. If you missed on net new ARR, churned customers, or pushed a product launch — say it. Explain why. Share what you’ve learned. Outline the fix. Your honesty builds credibility.

🔁 Evolve the structure

Your business changes every quarter. So should your board materials. Don’t be afraid to drop old KPIs, add new ones, or totally reframe how you talk about your funnel, org, or growth. Board decks should evolve — just like your product roadmap.

🗣 Coach your team

If your Head of Product or CRO is presenting, help them prep. Walk through the narrative together. Rehearse. Anticipate questions. Set them up to speak confidently, clearly, and concisely. You’re not just building a business — you’re building executives.

👥 Advice for Operators Presenting to the Board

🎯 Keep it tight

You don’t need to show everything your team did. This is not a status update. Pick the metrics that matter most and frame them with context and insight. Show up prepared to answer: So what? Why now? What next?

📊 Lead with insight

Don’t just show the pipeline — walk through the trends. Don’t just show NPS — explain what’s driving it. Don’t just report churn — highlight what you’re doing to address it. Data is just a starting point.

💬 Be real

You don’t need to spin. In fact, trying to “sell” your section often backfires. Be honest, concise, and direct. Share what’s going well and what you’re working to improve.

🤝 Coordinate with your CEO

Your section isn’t a standalone update. It’s a chapter in the story of the company. Sync with your CEO and co-presenters so the narrative flows. Make sure the messages are aligned and the metrics support the broader plan.

🧩 Closing Thought

Your board meeting is not a quarterly performance review. It’s not theater. It’s a workout.

The kind where you don’t necessarily enjoy every minute of it, but you show up, push through the hard parts, and walk away better for it — clearer, stronger, and more focused on what matters most.

Whether you’re the founder running the session or an operator presenting for the first time, the mindset is the same:

Prepare like it matters. Be honest about what’s working and what’s not. Ask for help. And then go execute.

Your company will be stronger for it. And so will you.

When you’re building a startup — especially one that’s growing fast — you don’t just need good people. You need the right people.

The kind who aren’t here to pad their résumés.

The kind who see this not as a stepping stone, but as the main event.

I’ve been lucky to work with some incredible operators over the years — people who could be sitting pretty with big titles and big paychecks at a well-known company, but instead choose to go deep on building something new, meaningful, and hard.

That’s what we’re trying to do at Cargado.

And lately, I’ve been thinking about how rare it is to get a team like that in the same room. It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.

Let’s talk superteams.

Everyone talks about NBA superteams, but not everyone understands what makes them work.

(Also, let’s just get this out of the way: Michael Jordan is the GOAT. We don’t need a comment section to settle this. Carry on.)

Back to superteams. What LeBron did in Miami was revolutionary — not just teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but leaving money on the table to make it work. All three took less than max contracts so the team could sign glue guys like Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Ray Allen — guys who don’t trend on Twitter but hit the shots that win championships.

The result? Four straight Finals appearances. Two rings. Legacy cemented.

Kevin Durant pulled a similar move in 2016 with the Warriors. He took $9 million less than market value so the team could keep veterans like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. That move helped unlock two more titles and made Golden State a dynasty.

Now look at the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani just signed a $700 million contract — and deferred $680 million of it so the team could keep building around him. Yoshinobu Yamamoto deferred another $50 million. Mookie Betts gave up guaranteed money to stay in L.A.

And what happened?

The Dodgers won the World Series in Year One.

That’s what happens when world-class talent checks their egos at the door and plays for something bigger.

So what does this have to do with startups?

Everything.

Founders love to say they’re “building a championship team.” But are you really?

• Are you attracting people who care more about execution than optics?

• Are you hiring teammates who aren’t chasing titles, but chasing outcomes?

• Are you creating a culture where legacy > LinkedIn?

At Cargado, we’re assembling a team of builders. Not résumé polishers. Not people looking to make a pit stop on their way to a VP title somewhere else. We want people who are all in — on the mission, the team, and the impact.

Because startups are hard. Freight is harder. And cross-border freight? That’s a full contact sport.

You don’t build a company like this on vibes. You build it on execution. On trust. On a group of people who could lead anywhere, but choose to lead here — because they want the ring, not just the recognition.

And that’s the message to both sides of the table:

If you’re a founder building your leadership team:

Don’t chase logos. Chase alignment. Hire people who think like owners, not ladder-climbers. Make sure they’re playing the right role at the right time — and that they believe in the win, not just their slice of it.

And if you’re someone who wants to be a leader at a great company:

Stop looking for places to park your résumé. Look for a mission you care about. A team worth fighting for. A chance to actually build something — not just manage someone else’s playbook.

Because at the end of the day:

The world doesn’t reward potential. It rewards execution.

Rings > résumés.

And if that hits home for you, well — you already know where to find us.

If you’ve ever worked in freight brokerage, this will sound familiar:

You’ve got a load to cover. Time is tight. The instinct kicks in: start calling through a long list of carriers who might do it.

It makes sense — that’s how it’s always been done. Especially with Mexico freight, where relationships matter and carrier details aren’t sitting in a shared TMS. But after dozens of calls, you’re still not sure if the guy who answered can legally cross the border, has the right equipment, or even wants to go that direction.

That’s the gap we built Cargado to close.

What brokers actually need

Brokers need speed, coverage, and confidence.

You want to post your freight and know it reaches the right carriers — the ones who are vetted, compliant, and interested. You want to stop blasting out messages, chasing replies, and calling around just to end up right back where you started.

Cargado gives you a better way. You post a load once, and it’s instantly routed to the right set of carriers — the ones who have already told us they want that kind of freight, in that lane, with that trailer type, and through that crossing.

They see more detail than you’d ever include in a text. No back-and-forth needed. No explaining the same thing five times. Just relevant freight delivered to people who are ready to move it.

What carriers actually want

Most brokers don’t realize this:

Carriers hate getting 20 irrelevant load offers a day.

“Got anything going from Monterrey to Dallas?”

“Still have that reefer?”

“Where are your trucks right now?”

They want freight that fits their business — clear, relevant opportunities from people who understand how Mexico works. Not brokers asking if they take pesos or if they can cross in Brownsville “if Laredo’s full.”

We’ve talked to thousands of carriers across the border. We’ve built trust by showing up — in person. Our team has onboarded over 900 carriers, representing 124,000 trucks and 354,000 trailers.

Here’s where they’re based — and where we are too:

• Laredo, TX – 3 team members covering Laredo, Brownsville, Pharr, Eagle Pass, and Del Rio

• El Paso, TX – 1 full-time carrier partnership manager

• San Diego, CA – 2 people focused on Otay Mesa, Calexico and Nogales

They visit yards. Spend time with owners and dispatchers alike. Sit down with carriers and explain how the platform works. This isn’t some cold email campaign. This is actual relationship-building — backed by tech that makes it useful for brokers.

The old way doesn’t scale

We understand the instinct to just start calling. We’ve been brokers. But calling through dozens of carriers for every load doesn’t scale when you’re managing a full board.

And even if it did, it still misses the long tail of carriers who want your freight — but never get the call.

Cargado fixes that.

• You post once

• The right carriers see it instantly

• They get all the info — no guesswork

• You get faster responses from people who are ready to move

It’s still about relationships. We’ve just built a better way to match the right people faster.

Why our carrier network is different

Here’s what we’ve built so far:

• 900+ carriers

• 124,000 power units

• 354,000 trailers

• Lane preferences, documentation, and regional coverage — all mapped

• Vetted and engaged by local teams at the border

We know what freight brokers need to succeed. And we know what makes carriers say yes to new freight. Cargado is the bridge between the two — without the noise, confusion, or wasted effort.

We’re not replacing the human side of brokerage. We’re making it more effective.

If you’re a broker looking to grow in Mexico — or a carrier tired of getting one-line messages from someone you’ve never worked with — let’s talk.

Use Cargado.

It’s the easiest way to turn Mexico into a competitive advantage.