For more information, please visit our website.
Getting your cargo across borders can present significant practical and regulatory challenges. However, imports and exports are an indispensable part of the world economy. In the U.S., exports were $172 billion and imports were $266 billion in August alone. Ensuring the seamless completion of imports and exports requires international import-export trucking, and the ability to navigate the challenges that often arise. Here is a closer look at the process, and how Mex-Cal is uniquely equipped to help.
In order to understand international import and export trucking, you first need to understand what is referred to as imports and exports. At their most basic, the definitions for these terms are the following:
Goods transported from outside a country to inside a country.
Ex: Machinery manufactured in Mexico and delivered within the United States
Goods generated from within a country and sent from that country to another country.
Ex: Vehicles manufactured in the United States and delivered within Mexico
In both examples, these goods are crossing international borders, where they are bought and sold in a different country from where they were manufactured.
While the definitions are simple, the process of moving cargo across borders is often far from easy. From navigating customs to completing trips on time, successfully and consistently keeping cargo moving can be a challenge.
That is why businesses like Mex-Cal exist &#; To ensure that your cargo keeps moving seamlessly and smoothly across every border. Here are some of the biggest challenges of international import-export trucking, for large and small businesses alike.
The process of crossing borders includes dealing with regulatory issues, such as customs regulations, paperwork, and compliance standards. To complicate matters, these regulatory requirements often differ from one country to another. Keeping in compliance in order to successfully get cargo from one country to another requires a deep understanding of the landscape and deep attention to detail.
One of the biggest areas of delay when it comes to imports and exports are the border crossings. This process often includes rigorous inspections, in-depth procedures, traffic, documentation and other issues that slow the process down. If cargo gets stuck at a border crossing, it can delay the entire timeline for the trucker, the client, and the recipients of the load.
When crossing borders, businesses may often need to take security concerns and infrastructure changes into account. As a result, international import-export trucking has to be able to guarantee the safety of the cargo, minimize the risk of theft or damage and avoid delays due to infrastructure challenges.
The international transportation of cargo into and out of countries, while challenging, is vitally important to each individual country and the world economy as a whole. Here are some of the ways in which this process supports the global economy:
Imports and exports support the movement of goods across borders. Trucking plays a vital role in this movement by providing a fast and efficient way to move cargo that would be less efficiently moved via other means (e.g. Planes and ships). As a result, import-export trucking keeps the pathway to trade open and smooth so that trade between countries can flourish.
Trucking cargo across borders is also good for the global supply chain. When natural disasters or global crises strike, trucking can often keep goods moving across borders. In addition, trucking offers a responsiveness that can help to smooth over delays or disruptions at other points in the supply chain.
International trucking can support the development of regions within nations by connecting these areas to global trade. They can also help to develop job opportunities and boost local economies, creating more economically vibrant spaces within the nations where they travel.
When it comes to moving cargo across borders, import-export trucking has definite advantages for businesses to consider. Here are some of the most important:
Longyuan Product Page
Import-export trucking is particularly useful for time-sensitive deliveries, including the transportation of perishable items. And, this approach can help businesses get their cargo across even difficult or generally inaccessible terrain.
Even when you choose to use planes, trains, and ships, chances are that trucking will be the viable solution for closing the distance between the port or airport and the cargo&#;s final destination.
Trucking is often a cost-effective option for shorter-distance trips. As a result, international import-export trucking can help businesses meet both their budgets and their deadlines for cargo transport.
International trucking for imports and exports is a critical aspect of cargo transport and logistics. In order to successfully implement trucking for your business, consult Mex-Cal Truckline. Our advanced transport and logistics services provide all-in-one solutions for manufacturers, and importers/exporters who demand reliability and professionalism. Contact us today to learn how we can assist with your needs.
By Steve Latin-Kasper
NTEA Director of Market Data & Research
This article was published in the November edition of NTEA News.
Key highlights
&#;&#;
In , total exports of commercial trucks/chassis, buses, bodies, trailers and other truck equipment rose to $17.8 billion from $16.2 billion in . (The record of $19.4 billion was established in .) The total value of commercial truck industry exports fell below $16 billion in , but has been increasing since. Imports reached $33.5 billion in , which is a new record exceeding the $33.1 billion registered in .
The chart above shows the majority of global trade for U.S.-based work truck industry companies involves Canada and Mexico, the nation&#;s partners in United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) &#; formerly known as NAFTA. Mexico is by far the largest exporter of commercial truck industry products to the U.S.
The majority of Mexico&#;s work truck industry exports to the U.S. are trucks and tractors. Almost $12 billion of the $28 billion total are Class 2 and 3 vehicles (pickups, commercial vans) with gasoline-fueled engines. About $6 billion are road tractors, and $4 billion are gasoline-fueled Class 1 trucks. Another $2.5 billion are diesel engine Class 1&#;3 trucks.
Work truck industry products exported from the U.S. to Canada are almost identical to those being imported from Mexico. About $8.3 billion of the Canadian exports are gasoline-fueled Class 2&#;3 trucks, and $1.3 billion of the total are road tractors. Diesel-fueled Class 1&#;3 and Class 4&#;5 trucks/chassis account for $1 billion each.
Since we&#;re nearing a cyclical peak, it&#;s helpful to compare current Mexico and Canada trade figures to the previous cyclical peak in . During that year, the total imported from Mexico was $9.6 billion &#; almost one-third of the total. Exports to Canada were $12.2 billion, which is about $1.6 billion less than the total.
The increase in imports from Mexico was primarily due to multiple OEMs expanding North American production capacity by building new plants in Mexico. Most of the vehicles built in those plants were expected to be sold in the U.S. The primary impact of expanding North American production in Mexico instead of in the U.S. was some percentage of U.S. sales being shipped from Mexico, instead.
It isn&#;t possible to determine the effect on U.S. exports to Canada, which clearly increased during that period. From an OEM perspective, it doesn&#;t matter as much, since they tend to view North America as one market. With NAFTA in place, it made sense, and isn&#;t expected to change with USMCA.
The data in the chart above is sourced from U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division. U.S. Imports of Merchandise is the import publication, and U.S. Exports of Merchandise is the export publication. NTEA compiles annual commercial truck and equipment industry totals for all countries and products.
To clarify, industry totals shown in the chart above are not comprehensive. For example, we don&#;t know how many service bodies or liftgates are imported or exported. However, NTEA&#;s Annual Manufacturers&#; Shipments Survey makes it clear exports of most equipment and body types do not account for a significant percentage of sales, so the totals in the chart are close to accurate. Learn more about this resource at ntea.com/amss.
Visit ntea.com/marketdata to find key publications, reports and regular market updates (member login required to view some content).
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit truck exporter.