The average times that ports in Mexico handled for auto transport units showed a notable improvement last September , placing it as the fourth month with the best performance in the year, according to the Average Time Index for Auto Transport in Ports (ITPAP) .
According to this indicator, during the ninth month of 2024, the average time that a trucking unit took to pick up imported cargo was 4 hours and 44 minutes for the ports of Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Altamira and Veracruz .
Translated into decimal hours, the time in September was 4.73 hours , reflecting a decrease of 64% compared to the record for August (13.12 hours).
This reduction in handling times at ports occurs in a context in which the country has maintained a constant rate of growth in the reception of imported goods by sea.
In the cumulative period from January to September of this year, Mexican ports had received a total of two million 863 thousand 450 20-foot containers (TEU) , a measure of maritime standardization, which meant an increase of 11.7% compared to the same period last year, according to official data.
However, upon closer inspection, the port authority’s statistics reveal that in TEU imports, September alone totaled 304,484 containers received, which meant a monthly drop of 13.7% , making it, in turn, the third month in the year with the lowest level in this activity, which would explain the drop in times recorded in the ITPAP.
The ITPAP is a measurement carried out by the T21 Business Intelligence unit of the travel and waiting times of trucking units in the four main ports of the country (Altamira, Veracruz, Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas). The information is obtained using the GPS of service provider companies and trucking companies in their port entry processes, loading/unloading maneuvers at the terminal and the waiting time to cross customs.
In this sense, the 4 hours and 44 minutes average in September was divided into 2 hours and 19 minutes in customs; 1 hour and 3 minutes in maneuvering; and 1 hour and 22 minutes in waiting time.
Last September, the sample covered a universe of 1,355 auto transport units , whose measurements were the basis for the realization of the ITPAP.
Regarding the times recorded by each port, ITPAP revealed that in September, Veracruz, Manzanillo and Altamira averaged around 4 hours in service times for motor transport, while Lázaro Cárdenas extended to 6 hours.
In detail, the port of Lázaro Cárdenas showed a higher consumption of time in customs , with 2.9 decimal hours, while waiting time was 1.8 hours and maneuvers 1.3 hours.
Below you can see the details of the other ports and their average handling times for motor transport, according to ITPAP.
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