The Mexico Playbook.
Seventeen years of cross-border lessons, distilled into a field manual I'm writing one chapter at a time. For brokers entering Mexico, US shippers nearshoring, and operators who'd rather not learn the expensive way. New chapters land in the newsletter first — subscribe to get them as they publish.
Read it now
Four parts, published- Part 1 Why Mexico freight is the biggest opportunity in brokerage right now The full business case, from why it matters to how to find shippers, build the team, and scale the department.
- Part 2 The sales playbook for Mexico freight How to sell Mexico freight, from finding opportunities in your existing book to closing deals outside RFP cycles.
- Part 3 The operations playbook for Mexico freight How the freight moves, the documents you need, pricing components, and how to execute.
- Part 4 Building the Mexico team How to staff your Mexico operation at each stage of growth, from your first load to a full department.
Still being written
Chapters publish in the newsletter firstFoundations
- CH 01 The most expensive 800 feet in North American trucking Why the cross-dock at the border is where margin goes to die — and the structural reasons it isn't getting fixed by anyone shipping a portal. Soon
- CH 02 Why Mexico's carrier market doesn't show up on any database 200,000 trucking companies. 95% have fewer than 30 trucks. A short tour of the long tail and what it means for sourcing capacity. Soon
- CH 03 Carta Porte, in plain English What it is, what it isn't, why your Mexican carrier already hates filing it, and the one thing US brokers consistently get wrong about the data. Soon
Sourcing & Operations
- CH 04 Carriers don't want a portal. They want fewer phone calls. Notes from 200 conversations with Mexican carriers about what "carrier experience" means south of the Rio Grande. Soon
- CH 05 Picking the best Mexico partner If you're a US broker entering Mexico, the partner you pick is the product. A short, opinionated field guide. Soon
- CH 06 Border crossing 101: Laredo, Otay, El Paso The three corridors that matter, what's different about each, and which kind of freight should never go through which crossing. Soon
- CH 07 Drayage, transload, through-trailer — choose your fighter A decision tree for which border-crossing model fits your lane, your service expectation, and your customs posture. Soon
Risk, Compliance, Pricing
- CH 08 Theft, hijacking, and how to think about cargo risk in Mexico A sober take. What the numbers look like by lane, the insurance market reality, and the operational levers that move risk. Soon
- CH 09 Tariffs, T-MEC, and the volatility tax How the trade-policy regime since 2018 reshaped capacity flows. What's structural, what's noise, and what to plan around. Soon
- CH 10 Pricing cross-border — why your spreadsheet is wrong The five hidden costs almost nobody bakes into a Mexico quote until they lose money on the third load. Soon
Building software for it
- CH 11 Why nobody's built a real Mexico load board (yet) The market structure problems that have killed every attempt. Why we're still trying anyway. Soon
- CH 12 AI agents that don't try too hard, applied to cross-border The agents that shipped value at Cargado in Q1 were the boring ones. Mostly Spanish-language carrier comms, status calls, and document parsing. Soon
The playbook is a living document. Send corrections, war stories, or "you're wrong about Laredo" via the contact form. — editorial note