Most cross-border holds happen at the seam between the two jobs: a truck at the bridge with papers that disagree, or a customs broker who did not know it was coming. The fix is to settle who owns each part on the day you book, not on the day the truck arrives.
Who does what, from the yard to the job site.
- Pickup at the yard, plant or port
- Permits and pilot cars in every US state
- The truck to your broker’s hand-off point
- Rate in writing before pickup
- US export and Mexican import filings
- The pedimento and the Carta Porte data
- The transfer truck across the bridge
- The Mexican oversize permit (SICT)
- Escorts south of the line
- The run to the job site
We are not the customs broker, and we say so before you book. On the border side our job is coordination: we send your broker the load facts they file against (machine, serial, weight, dimensions and the bill of lading), agree the hand-off point and time, and keep the driver and the broker on the same clock. The desk works in English and Spanish, so your broker gets the facts in their language.
The papers that have to match.
Customs reads these against each other. The most common hold is a value, weight or piece count that disagrees between two of them, so get them agreeing before pickup, not at the bridge.
- Commercial invoiceValue, Incoterms, HS codes, seller and buyer.You
- Packing listPieces, weights and dimensions, line for line with the invoice.You
- Bill of ladingShipper, consignee, equipment and the machine, for the US leg.LASLINT
- EEI (AES filing)The US export record, required for most shipments over $2,500 per Schedule B line.You or your forwarder
- USMCA certificationOnly when the machine qualifies for USMCA duty treatment.You or your buyer
- PedimentoThe Mexican import entry.Your agente aduanal
- Carta PorteCargo, route and vehicle data for the move inside Mexico.Mexican side
- Importer of recordThe Mexican party the machine is imported by, set before pickup.Your buyer
Before pickup we check our bill of lading against your packing list, so the load on the trailer is the load your broker files.
US permits, state by state.
A load is oversize once it passes any of the three legal limits below. Every state on the route issues its own permit, and none covers the next one. We pull every US permit and book the pilot cars, and both are itemized in the quote.
Typical legal limits. Over any one, most states require a permit.
- Texas · TxDMVOversize or overweight permit for the trip.1–3 business days
- New Mexico · ArizonaStack with Texas on western lanes.1–3 business days
- California · CaltransTighter height and route review.5–7 business days
South of the line, Mexico’s SICT issues the federal oversize permit, some states add their own, and the escort rules do not mirror the US ones. That permit belongs to the carrier running the Mexico leg. Tell us who it is and we send them the same dimensions and weight your broker has.
Where the US leg ends.
Your customs broker usually picks the crossing, because it is where they work. Tell us which one, and we plan the US leg to their hand-off point.
The busiest truck crossing on the border, and the usual way to Monterrey and the Bajío.
Across: Nuevo Laredo, TamaulipasA common alternate when Laredo is backed up.
Across: Piedras Negras, CoahuilaThe gateway to Chihuahua and north-central Mexico.
Across: Ciudad Juárez, ChihuahuaFor Sonora and Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Across: Nogales, SonoraHow long it takes.
Superloads that need a route survey and bridge analysis take 2–6 weeks. The quote gives the dates for your load.
- 01Papers that disagree. The value, weight or piece count differs between the invoice, packing list, bill of lading and pedimento.
- 02The wrong tariff code. A misclassified HS code holds the entry until it is corrected.
- 03A USMCA claim that does not hold. Preference needs origin records for that machine, not a guess.
- 04Permits that do not match the load. A permit written for the spec-sheet height, not the loaded height.
- 05No hand-off plan. The truck reaches the border before your customs broker has the papers, or knows it is coming.
Cross-border heavy haul: quick answers
Do you handle Mexican customs?
Who pulls the permits?
Where does your truck hand the load off?
What documents does a machine going to Mexico need?
How long does it take to set up?
What if I don’t have a customs broker in Mexico?
Can you quote it while the machine is still at auction?
Tell us where it crosses.
Pickup, machine and border city. Three fields to start, no account. We quote the US leg in writing before pickup, with permits and escorts itemized.
