Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: $44 million expansion begins at Pharr international bridge; China-based tire maker to build $500 million factory in northern Mexico; RK Logistics acquires warehouse in Arizona to support clients; and new distribution and logistics center planned for Austin, Texas.
$44M expansion begins at Pharr international bridge
The city of Pharr, Texas, recently kicked off construction on a project to build a second bridge span on the U.S. side of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.
The expansion project is a joint U.S.-Mexico venture. The project will connect with another 1.5-mile portion of the bridge that Mexico has been working on for over a year.
In conjunction with the existing bridge at Pharr, the second bridge will create the Rio Grande Valley’s largest international cargo crossing with Mexico once completed.
“This bridge expansion is a regional strategic approach to attract more trade and investments and give our area an economic advantage and position ourselves to be competitive on a global scale,” Luis Bazan, director of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, said at a groundbreaking on Wednesday. “The bridge will give us 100% added capacity, four more lanes, a twin bridge, if you will. This will increase our capacity, not just on the bridge, but more importantly in trade.”
The project costs about $44 million and is being funded by Pharr in collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The project will add two more cargo truck lanes to the bridge, as well as two additional inspection booths. The expansion will feature two crossovers, enhanced lighting and electronic signage, aimed at improving traffic flow, reducing wait times and enhancing safety.
In addition to the bridge expansion, Pharr officials also launched the DAP 16 project, which will see the expansion of truck docks, along with adding cold chain facilities and the construction of a Regional Agriculture Laboratory and Training Center.
The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge is the No. 1 border crossing in the U.S. for imported Mexican produce. More than 65% of all imported produce in the U.S. crosses the bridge, including avocados, strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit, asparagus and more.
The bridge was the No. 32-ranked port among U.S. gateways in June, with trade with the world totaling $3.6 billion for the month, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by WorldCity.
Avocados were the No. 1 import from Mexico crossing the Pharr bridge in June, totaling $175 million. Total produce imports for the month were over $500 million.
The No. 1 export category from Pharr into Mexico is petroleum, fuels and liquefied natural gasses, totaling over $280 million in June.
In 2023, the bridge had total trade of $47 billion, a 2.5% decrease compared to 2022.
The bridge connects Pharr to Reynosa, Mexico, a major center for manufacturing in the country.
There are over 240 maquiladoras in the Reynosa area, with 174,000 employees. Maquiladoras are mainly located along the border and are defined as a factory in Mexico run by a foreign company and exporting its products to the country where that company is based.
Carlos Víctor Pena Ortiz, the mayor of Reynosa, said the bridge will help create more jobs and opportunities in his city.
“We really appreciate all the work that you guys have been doing for the last couple of years in order to create a well-being for both sides of the border,” Pena said at the groundbreaking, attended by local, state and national officials from the U.S. and Mexico. “It’s thanks to the leadership of all of you guys that we will be able to create jobs on the Mexican side, better standards of living and also better income for a lot of families.”
Adding a second bridge alongside the existing one could accommodate thousands of additional trucks a day, said Texas state Rep. Terry Canales, chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
Last year, a total of 733,943 commercial trucks crossed the bridge.
“What we want to do is not slow the trucks up. We want to speed them up. We know that if you slow them down, everybody loses,” Canales said.
China-based tire maker to build $500M factory in northern Mexico
China’s largest tire maker, ZhongCe Rubber (ZC Rubber), plans to build a manufacturing and distribution facility in Saltillo, Mexico, to serve the North and South American markets.
The $500 million project will construct a 6.45 million-square-foot plant in the Alianza Industrial Park, about 155 miles from Laredo, Texas, according to a news release. The factory is expected to create 1,500 jobs.
“We believe that with the operation of the new factory, ZC Rubber’s competitiveness in the Americas market will be further enhanced,” Haoyu Shen, ZC Rubber’s vice president, said in a statement.
The factory in Saltillo will be the company’s first in the Americas. Construction will start in 2025, and the facility is scheduled to open in 2026.
ZC Rubber, founded in 1958, is based in Hangzhou, China. The company operates 11 large production facilities, mainly in China.
RK Logistics acquires warehouse in Arizona to support clients
Fremont, California-based RK Logistics Group has acquired a facility and assets from Southwest Supply Chain Solutions in Tempe, Arizona.
The deal includes a 79,000-square-foot warehouse, along with Southwest Supply Chain Solutions’ freight handling and warehousing contracts and an unspecified number of trucks and trailers, according to a news release.
The climate-controlled Tempe warehouse has 12 dock doors for cross-docking freight, as well as a large truck parking area.
“This acquisition provides new resources to support semiconductor clients we serve today in California’s Silicon Valley as they and others expand into Arizona, which is becoming the next major semiconductor manufacturing region,” Joe MacLean, RK Logistics Group’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
RK Logistics is a 3PL providing supply chain services for high-tech, semiconductor and vehicle manufacturing firms in Northern California. The company has facilities in California, Michigan, Texas, New York and Arizona.
New distribution, logistics center planned for Austin, Texas
Dallas-based Velocis is developing a logistics facility called the West Austin Business Park in Bee Caves, Texas, according to Community Impact.
The speculative development will consist of three buildings totaling 269,959 square feet. Each building will have two truck ramps, with one building featuring 32 truck docks and two buildings featuring 25 truck docks, according to a brochure.
Construction is scheduled to begin in December and is expected to finish in the first quarter of 2025. Bee Caves is about 25 miles west of downtown Austin.