Texas Produce Shipments Increasing

Fresh fruit and veggies shipments from South Texas continues to increase, although for a number of years now it is primarily due to more loads crossing the border from Mexico.  Of the total loads by truck leaving the Rio Grande Valley, about 60% of that produce was grown south of the border.  While Nogales, AZ for years has been known as the principal import point for Mexican produce into the U.S., last year for the first time imports in the Lower Rio Grande Valley exceeded those of Nogales.  This trend is expected to continue when a year from now a new highway in Mexico is expected to be completed.    The 143-mile long  Autopista Durango-Maztlan is the east-west highway being built.  More West Mexican produce shipments that normally go through Nogales, will instead be channeled through South Texas, because it will reduce freight rates for loads destined to the Eastern United States…Currrently your best South Texas loading opportunities are with cabbage, just south of San Antonio, plus grapefruit further south in the valley.