DB Schenker betting on U.S.-Mexico trade with Texas border facility

While politicians bluster, cross-border trade between Mexico and the United States continues at a brisk pace as Mexico’s manufacturing sector capitalizes on strong demand for nearshoring from the U.S. A new DB Schenker warehouse, located at the Killiam Industrial Park in the border town of Laredo, Texas, is part of the German company’s efforts to bolster its cross-border services.

The new facility is a certified free-trade zone (FTZ), with a licensed customs broker on site that will, “streamline and expedite this flow of cross-border goods,” according to Robert Walpole, CEO of Schenker, Inc.

The facility has 30,960 square feet of logistics management space, including 1,874 square feet of offices. Located near Laredo’s World Trade Bridge over the Rio Grande, the Schenker facility supports another 150,000-square-foot facility in Houston, which opened in 2015, providing connections to international air services. DB Schenker noted that, with a dedicated customs broker/import manager on site, customers could store bonded cargo.

The city of Laredo handles nearly half of all northbound and southbound border crossings, making it a mecca for freight operations such as DB Schenker’s. “The state of Texas has a 1,254-mile-long border with Mexico,” Walpole noted. “That makes it the largest port-of-entry for goods traveling from Mexico into the United States, and vice versa. Laredo is the biggest border crossing point in Texas, with approximately 12,000 trucks crossing every day.”

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