The commercial exchange that takes place in Mexican ports is characterized by a growing dynamism with strong demand and supply of logistics services, in which the ground transportation of goods in containers takes on special relevance. In this blog post, we present a basic guide to the transportation of containerized merchandise, also known as container drayage service, to and from three of the main ports in Mexico: Altamira, Veracruz, and Manzanillo.

WHAT IS A CONTAINER?

A  cargo container or shipping container is a large box used to transport goods by air, sea, or land.

WHAT ARE THE STANDARD DIMENSIONS OF THE MOST COMMON CONTAINERS?

STANDARD 20 FT CONTAINER

Width: 7′ 8″ // 2.3m

Length: 19′ 4″ // 5.9 m

Height: 7′ 10″ // 2.3 m

STANDARD 40 FT CONTAINER

Width: 7′ 8″ // 2.3m

Length: 39′ 5″ // 12 m

Height: 7′ 10″ // 2.3 m

40 FT HIGH CUBE CONTAINER

Width: 7′ 8″ // 2.3m

Length: 39′ 5″ // 12 m

Height: 8′ 10″ // 2.7 m

In general, the width of the container stays the same across all sizes, while their length changes. High cube containers are a little taller than standard containers.

WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM WEIGHT THAT THE MOST COMMON CONTAINERS SUPPORT?

To calculate the maximum weight of cargo that can be transported in a given container, the maximum total weight allowed minus the tare weight must be taken into account.

The tare is the weight of the empty container, without cargo.

The weights allowed in the most common containers are:

STANDARD 20 FT CONTAINER

Empty container (Tare): 2 350 kg // 5 181 lbs

Max load weight: 28 130kg // 62 016 lbs

Overall weight: 30 480kg // 67 197 lbs

STANDARD 40 FT CONTAINER

Empty container (Tare): 3 750 kg // 8 267 lbs

Max load weight: 28 750 kg // 63 383 lbs

Overall weight: 32 500 kg // 71 650 lbs

40 FT HIGH CUBE CONTAINER

Empty container (Tare): 3 900 kg // 8 598 lbs

Max load weight: 28 600 Kg 63 052 lbs

Overall weight: 32 500 kg // 71 650 lbs

WHAT ARE CONTAINERS DRAYAGE SERVICES?

The container drayage service consists of the land transportation of sea containers for both import and import from an ocean port to a destination.  Container towing is usually done on container ships and sometimes on flatbeds.

When carrying out a drayage movement, the container must make a round trip, since it must return to the place where it came from.

FULL AND SINGLE CONTAINER DRAG SERVICE

The container drayage service can be done in single or full mode. In a single service, only one container is transported, which can be 20 or 40 feet. While in the full service, merchandise is moved in two containers, which can be 20 or 40 feet, or a combination of them.

REQUIRED TIMES TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN REQUESTING THE CONTAINER DRAG SERVICE

When requesting a container tow service, at least 48 hours must be considered when requesting availability for container pickup, loaded or empty. Regarding delivery appointments, they are considered at least 24 hours before,.

HOW DO THE PORTS WORK IN MEXICO?

Mexico has 118 ports and terminals along 11,122 km of coastline, 102 of which are seaports and 16 are river ports. Of the total number of ports, 71 are concessioned in 25 Administrations of the National Port System (ASIPONA).

WHAT IS A PORT, WHAT IS A PORT TERMINAL, AND WHAT IS A CONTAINER TERMINAL?

A port is a coastal geographical area that has the necessary infrastructure to serve maritime transport. Within the ports, there are port terminals, which are the infrastructure with the necessary equipment to make the transition of merchandise from maritime transport to land transport.

Container Port Terminals, as their name indicates, are terminals that exist in ports that have the necessary equipment and services to load, unload, and move containers.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN PORTS OF MEXICO?

Due to their importance in terms of expenditure budget, the three most important ports in Mexico are:

• Altamira
• Veracruz
• Manzanillo

A large part of the country’s cargo movements is concentrated in these ports.

PORT OF VERACRUZ

The federal government, through the Ministry of Communications and Transportation, together with the private initiative (API Veracruz founded in 1994), proposed to build -in two stages- a New Port of Veracruz in a period of 10 years, from 2014 to 2024.

The main objective of the New Port of Veracruz, located northwest of the traditional one, is the construction of five new terminals, including the Specialized Container Terminal.

The expansion of the Port, considered the most important port infrastructure project carried out in Mexico in the last hundred years, will allow the port’s capacity to quadruple from 24 to more than 96 million tons at the end of the second stage.

PORT OF MANZANILLO

The zone of influence of the Port of Manzanillo extends to the Center and Bajío of the Mexican Republic. Manzanillo has a strategic geographical location and has the most equipped Specialized Container Terminal in the country. It is ideal for container hauling, in addition to having direct access to the Colima-Guadalajara-Cd. from Mexico.

PORT OF ALTAMIRA

The Altamira Industrial Port, of more recent construction than the emblematic port of Veracruz, was built to meet the demands for foreign trade of the states located in the Center and North of the country. It connects both by rail and by road with these states, in which 70% of the national GDP is generated.

This Port has managed to increase the commercial flow in strategic geographical areas of the world such as North America.

The Port of Altamira is the cradle of the most important private petrochemical cluster in Mexico, while also housing an ecological corridor that preserves the flora and fauna of the area.

Mexicom Group transports goods in containers from the Port of Manzanillo, Veracruz and Altamira to the main Metropolitan Areas of Mexico.