Startup aims to speed up trade with Monterrey-to-Texas automated freight corridor

A futuristic signifier of freight forwarding infrastructure could statesman moving cargo crossed the Mexico-United States borderline successful the aboriginal 2030s.

Green Corridors, a startup institution based successful Texas, is proposing to physique a 265-kilometer-long elevated “guideway” betwixt Laredo, Texas, and Monterrey, Nuevo León, on which autonomous freight-carrying shuttles would run.

United States President Donald Trump issued a statesmanlike licence for the US $10 cardinal task this month. Green Corridors CEO Mitch Carlson told the Freight Waves work past week that the adjacent measurement is to get the operation and right-of-way permits needed for the task connected some sides of the border.

“We are acquiring the concession statement for the right-of-way for Highway 1 successful the authorities of Nuevo León,” Carlson told Freight Waves.

“We’re moving with the Mexican national and authorities authorities precise closely,” helium said.

Carlson said helium expects that operation of the elevated guideway volition beryllium completed successful 2031, allowing a investigating signifier to commence.

The project 

According to the Green Corridors website, the institution intends to physique a “groundbreaking, sustainable GC-IFTS,” oregon Green Corridors Intelligent Freight Transport System.

The elevated guideway is slated to link to 2 freight terminals successful Laredo and 2 successful Monterrey. The size of each of those terminals would beryllium astir 100 acres (40.4 hectares/404,000 quadrate meters), according to Carlson.

Freight motortruck drivers would participate the terminals and driblet disconnected their 53-foot adust van trailers, which “would past beryllium loaded onto autonomous diesel-electric hybrid shuttles that question on a designated path, overmuch similar a monorail,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

“When the shuttle arrives astatine the different extremity of the guideway, truckers would prime up a trailer and transportation the goods farther into the U.S. oregon Mexico,” the paper said.

“We are gathering it to person a max capableness of 10,000 [trailers] successful each absorption per day,” Carlson told Freight Waves.

The CEO told The Wall Street Journal that Green Corridors is negotiating with landowners to get the onshore needed to physique the terminals. The June 9 licence issued by Trump states that “the permittee is liable for obtaining immoderate required Federal, State, and section permits, approvals, and authorizations anterior to commencing operation activities.”

Nuevo León Gov. Samuel García signed a memorandum of knowing with Green Corridors CEO Mitch Carlson, left, successful March 2024. Now the task has enactment from officials connected the U.S. broadside of the borderline arsenic well. (Green Corridors/X)

It besides states that the licence “shall expire 5 years from the day of its issuance if the Permittee has not commenced operation of the Border facilities by that date.”

Carlson told Freight Waves that the estimated outgo of the GC-IFTS is $6-10 billion. However, helium cited a terms tag of $10 cardinal oregon much successful an interrogation with The Wall Street Journal.

Carlson said that Green Corridors would complaint companies a interest to determination freight connected its elevated guideway. He said helium envisions the task arsenic thing that would complement the question of freight by roadworthy and railway. Indeed, tractor-trailers and trains volition beryllium required to get cargo to terminals successful Monterrey and Laredo, and to prime it up and instrumentality it to its last destination aft it has crossed the border.

The task “requires nary nationalist funds oregon taxation dollars” arsenic the GC-IFTS is “funded by backstage capital,” according to the company’s website.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the task is backed by investors including the Swinbank household bureau successful Houston, Druker Capital successful New York and Chang Robotics Fund successful Jacksonville, Florida.

Green Corridors appears to beryllium seeking further investment, saying connected its website that it “offers an accidental to put successful transformational infrastructure that fixes a disposable occupation astatine the U.S.’s largest [inland] port.”

The benefits of an elevated, automated corridor to determination freight 

Green Corridors says it is “on a ngo to amended information and ratio astatine the busiest planetary commercialized corridor successful North America.”

According to a video astir the elevated guideway task published connected the company’s website, $320 cardinal worthy of goods passes implicit the borderline betwixt Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, annually and 70% of freight is transported by tractor-trailers that marque 3.3 cardinal crossings per year.

These commercialized vehicles “face unacceptable delays” that are costly and projected to get worse successful coming decades, according to Green Corridors.

The automated freight corridor connection is the astir caller connection aiming to amended the travel of Mexico-U.S. commercialized postulation astatine the engaged Laredo borderline crossing. (US CBP)

“Bridge expansion and much resources volition not flooded the occupation astatine Port Laredo,” the institution asserts. “But Green Corridors’ Intelligent Freight Transport System will.”

In its video, Green Corridors describes its projected strategy arsenic “the aboriginal of freight” and says it volition let for the “unimpeded flow” of goods, person “unlimited capacity” and run 24 hours per time each time of the year.

On its website, the institution says its task “offers a solution astatine Port Laredo that volition payment aboriginal generations to travel by reducing congestion, bypassing gridlocked areas, and expanding borderline security.”

It besides says that the caller freight proscription strategy will:

• Be environmentally friendly, arsenic “our freight shuttles,” powered by a “hybrid propulsion system,” volition “reduce emissions by 75%, providing a greener alternate to diesel trucking.”
• Substantially trim the wide outgo of freight proscription “compared to existent marketplace options.”
• Include “sustainable inland terminals” that volition beryllium equipped with “solar arrays, regenerative cranes, and hybrid power.”
•  Integrate “real-time monitoring, bi-national customs collaboration [and] 100% freight screening” and warrant the “secure, tamper-proof” transport of goods.

“We tin determination this freight betwixt Monterrey and Laredo for importantly little outgo and little emissions,” Carlson told Freight Waves.

The bigger picture 

Mexico and the United States are each other’s largest commercialized partner, with two-way commercialized worthy astir $840 cardinal past year. As export-focused companies proceed to relocate to Mexico oregon grow their existing operations here, request for freight services to the United States volition lone summation successful coming years.

Truck crossings into Laredo — wherever ample quantities of car parts, vehicles, appliances and electronics participate the United States — accrued 28% successful 2024 compared to 2019, according to U.S. authorities information cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Tractor-trailers marque 3.3 cardinal borderline crossings each twelvemonth successful Laredo, arsenic they ferry appliances, cultivation products, car parts, covering and galore different products to their destinations. (Carlos Sánchez Colunga/Cuartoscuro)

Even though immoderate Mexican products including steel, aluminum and vehicles are presently taxable to tariffs erstwhile entering the United States, Michigan State University logistics prof Jason Miller told the Journal that helium expects commercialized betwixt the U.S. and Mexico to proceed to turn successful coming years, particularly if U.S. duties connected Chinese goods are higher than those connected Mexican goods.

Mexico, of course, has a escaped commercialized statement with the United States (and Canada), whereas China does not.

Miller said that U.S. protectionism against China is “going to effect successful surely immoderate shifting of accumulation from China to Mexico.”

As it seeks to capitalize connected what has been described arsenic a “once-in-a-generation” nearshoring accidental for Mexico, the Mexican authorities is actively seeking to pull overseas concern crossed a scope of sectors with its Plan México economical inaugural and associated projects.

The elevated guideway Green Corridors is readying to physique could let companies that run successful Mexico and the U.S. to get their goods to consumers — and each different — much rapidly and economically portion reducing c emissions and unit connected borderline infrastructure.

The task would frankincense enactment the precocious levels of economical integration betwixt Mexico and the United States, which, on with their USMCA spouse Canada, run what has been called a “co-production system,” providing indispensable inputs to each different that let last goods to beryllium produced.

With reports from The Wall Street Journal and Freight Waves