Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week in Borderlands Mexico: Trucker protest raises stakes in Mexico-US B-1 visa dispute; CBP announces extended-hours program for empty trailers at Laredo bridge; and Imperative Logistics expands El Paso footprint with RM Customhouse Brokers deal.
Trucker protest raises stakes in Mexico-US B-1 visa dispute
Trucking industry leaders in Mexico are intensifying calls for U.S. officials to clarify how B-1 visa rules are being enforced against cross-border truck drivers, warning that continued uncertainty could disrupt freight flows between Mexico and the United States.
Officials with Mexico’s National Chamber of Freight Transportation (CANACAR) say Mexican drivers are losing their visas after encounters with U.S. officials involving alleged cabotage violations, but carriers lack clear information about how eligibility and violations are being determined at different border crossings.
The dispute spilled into public view Thursday when truck drivers blocked commercial traffic at the Mexicali, Mexico-Calexico East (California) border crossing in protest of visa revocations.
CANACAR officials in neighboring Tijuana have urged drivers there not to stage similar blockades, warning that shutting down additional border crossings would increase the economic impact.
Alfonso Millán Chávez, CANACAR delegate for Tijuana, Tecate and Playas de Rosarito, said the organization and other business groups are seeking meetings with U.S. and Mexican officials to establish clearer protocols governing visa revocations tied to alleged cabotage, reported Uniradio Informa México.
Millán said disagreements can arise over what constitutes a prohibited domestic movement in the U.S., including how officials treat the movement of empty trailers.
“Sometimes we have had problems with the interpretation, for example with an empty trailer,” Millán said according to El Sol de Tijuana. “The empty trailer is there to be loaded with merchandise, and some officers interpret the empty trailer as merchandise.”
Cabotage generally refers to transportation between two points within the same country by a foreign carrier. Mexican truck drivers using B-1 visas are permitted to haul international freight into and out of the U.S., but generally cannot perform point-to-point domestic U.S. freight movements.
Millán said CANACAR wants U.S. authorities to establish protocols for visa actions involving suspected cabotage and provide reliable statistics showing how many drivers have lost their visas.
CANACAR estimates more than 25,000 visas have been revoked from commercial drivers along Mexico’s northern border, including potentially 4,000 in the Tijuana area. The figures are CANACAR estimates based on reports from its members and social media, however, rather than official U.S. government statistics. The organization has sought information from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and U.S. State Department.
Related: Mexican truckers block California border crossing over B-1 visa crackdown
Visa dispute reaches boiling point in Mexicali
The pressure intensified Thursday when truckers protested at the Mexicali commercial port of entry over what drivers described as an increase in B-1 visa revocations.
Millán said CANACAR had anticipated growing frustration among drivers.
“We understand the desperation of the drivers, and as a chamber and as an industry, I think we have been anticipating this over the last few months,” Millán said. “There hasn’t been a week when we haven’t raised the issue with various authorities in both Mexico and the United States.”
CANACAR is nevertheless urging drivers to pursue negotiations rather than expand the demonstrations to Tijuana.
Millán called for Mexico’s Interior Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene with U.S. authorities, saying the dispute ultimately requires a binational solution. He said CANACAR has already raised the issue with the U.S. Embassy and State Department.
“My hope is that it does not extend to Tijuana,” Millán said of the protests. “The idea is that we be cautious with this issue.”
He added that CANACAR has consistently favored dialogue over actions that interrupt cross-border commerce.
Ismael Reyes de la Rosa, a CANACAR official in Mexicali, has also raised concerns about how U.S. officers are handling B-1 visas at the border, as drivers seek greater clarity over what activities could trigger cancellation or revocation.
The growing concern is not limited to Baja California. Israel Delgado, CANACAR’s vice president for Mexico’s northwest region, has warned that visa losses could affect time-sensitive shipments including medical products, technology, food and perishables moving from Mexico into the U.S.
Industry warns of supply chain effects
The visa dispute is beginning to ripple beyond trucking companies.
José Luis Contreras Valenzuela, president of the Association of Industrialists of Mesa de Otay, said the situation has contributed to delays in incoming supplies and deliveries of finished products.
Federico Serrano Bañuelos, president of Index Zona Costa, said companies that outsource transportation services are particularly exposed. Business groups are seeking to elevate the issue to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for diplomatic discussions with U.S. officials, according to El Sol de Tijuana.
The dispute comes as cross-border freight activity in the Tijuana region is already below previous peaks. Millán recently said roughly 3,000 export trucks are crossing daily, compared with as many as 4,500 during stronger periods. He said freight volumes fell nearly 30% in 2025 before improving somewhat this year.
Millán said English-language proficiency enforcement, another recent concern for Mexican drivers operating in the U.S., has become less of an immediate problem locally. He said CANACAR had not recently received reports of drivers being placed out of service for English proficiency violations.
“The current challenge is the revocation of visas for cabotage issues,” Millán said, adding that such violations are sometimes interpreted “in a very drastic way.”
CBP announces extended-hours program for empty trailers at Laredo bridge
Port of Laredo, in coordination with Nuevo León’s Border Zone Development Corporation, will begin a 90-day program extending weekday operating hours for empty tractors and trailers at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge beginning Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Under the program, weekday operations for empty trucks and trailers will begin one hour earlier, at 7 a.m., and continue until midnight, Monday through Friday. Current weekday operating hours are 8 a.m. to midnight.
The program is intended to alleviate morning northbound traffic congestion from Colombia, Nuevo León, to Laredo, Texas.
Program details:
- Effective date: Monday, Sept. 14
- Duration: 90 days
- Current weekday hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight
- Revised weekday hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-midnight
- Applicable traffic: Empty tractors and trailers only
Imperative Logistics expands El Paso footprint with RM Customhouse Brokers deal
Imperative Logistics has joined forces with El Paso, Texas-based RM Customhouse Brokers, expanding the logistics provider’s customs brokerage and cross-border capabilities along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a news release.
RM Customhouse Brokers, whose history dates to 1948, provides customs brokerage, trade compliance, bonded warehousing and cross-border logistics services. Its El Paso operations combine customs clearance, storage and distribution services in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez trade corridor.
“El Paso is an important addition to our network and gives our customers another critical gateway for U.S.-Mexico trade,” Imperative Logistics CEO Dante Fornari said in a statement.
Fornari said the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region includes more than 330 maquiladora plants and handles nearly $150 billion in annual trade, making the market a major North American manufacturing and cross-border freight hub.
RM President and co-owner Elvia Miles Doyle said joining Imperative will allow the company to maintain its existing customer relationships while providing access to a broader range of logistics services. RM customers will continue working with the same team while gaining access to Imperative’s customs brokerage, cross-border transportation, global forwarding and integrated logistics capabilities.
Imperative Logistics specializes in expedited transportation, cross-border services, global forwarding and mission-critical logistics.
Why it matters: Mexican trucking companies depend on B-1 drivers to move international freight across the border, and industry leaders warn that unclear or inconsistent enforcement of cabotage rules could reduce available cross-border capacity and trigger additional protests at major commercial gateways.
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