During the month of August, the Average Time Index for Motor Transport in Ports (ITPAP) registered a notable improvement compared to the previous month, falling by 56%, from 29 hours and 45 minutes to 13 hours and 7 minutes. Among the reasons that could explain this reduction, it is worth noting that during the eighth month of the year, the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) did not suffer system outages, as it did a month before. Also, the fact that ports such as Manzanillo, the busiest in the national port system, extended the operating hours of its customs to compensate for the inconveniences that collapsed the port at the end of July and a higher level of operations.

Although the decrease in times in the eighth month is positive, compared to the data from the previous month, the indicator is still far from the most efficient times recorded in this first year of measurement, in the months of March and May, when the index was just 3.9 hours.

It should be noted that, although cargo volumes in August were higher than those moved during the third and fifth months of the year, these were only 21.9 and 15.76% higher, respectively; while the times more than double the standard that the logistics links reached in those months when they were more efficient. In short, there should be the capacity and processes to make the operation of auto transport in ports even more efficient , and thus positively impact the logistics costs that we have as a country.

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.

Last August, the sample covered a universe of 2,568 auto transport units , whose measurements were the basis for the creation of the indicator.

Among the four main ports serving the country’s trade, Lázaro Cárdenas was the one that improved the most in the index by reducing its times with respect to July by 59% , followed by Altamira with 58.4%, Manzanillo with 56%; and, finally, the port of Veracruz with a 43% improvement.

Of the three phases measured by the indicator, it is observed that the waiting time for goods to clear customs remains the one that consumes the most time in the circuit, fluctuating between 50 and 45 percent. Dead times in the process generate costs that, obviously, do not add value to our country’s supply chain and do increase the final prices of the goods when they reach the consumer and have an impact on the national inflation rate.

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El cargo Ports Improve in August but Remain Below Optimal Levels apareció primero en T21.

peak season , projecting an increase in service times for motor transport, according to the Average Time Indicator for Motor Transport in Ports (ITPAP) developed by T21 Business Intelligence, in collaboration with geolocation companies and motor transport lines.

In July 2024, the average time it took a trucking unit to pick up imported cargo was 29 hours, 45 minutes and 2 seconds. at the ports of Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Altamira and Veracruz.

Just a month earlier, the average time had been 7 hours, 7 minutes and 36 seconds .

This average time is divided into three types of measurements regarding the activities carried out by a trucking unit when collecting merchandise: maneuvering, waiting, and customs. Likewise, for the July 2024 fiscal year, 2,610 trucking unit movements were taken into account (a month earlier there were 2,837).

In this regard, the average waiting time last July in the four ports was 11 hours, 7 minutes and 26 seconds; in maneuvering it was 7 hours, 27 minutes and 13 seconds; while in customs it was 11 hours, 10 minutes and 23 seconds.

While in June the record was 1 hour, 32 minutes and 59 seconds waiting ; 2 hours, 5 minutes and 22 seconds in maneuvers and 3 hours, 29 minutes and 14 seconds in customs. .

Although at the time of going to press, the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , which is dependent on the Secretariat of the Navy , had not yet published the port statistics for July of this year, some of the ports considered in the T21 Business Intelligence measurement have reported in recent weeks that they have registered historic increases in container imports during the seventh month of the year.

Such is the case of Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas , the two main ports located on the Mexican Pacific that have been experiencing growth in the reception of merchandise from the Asian continent.

Peak season is defined as the time of year (mainly in the third quarter of the year) in which importers receive most of their goods in preparation for the main commercial seasons at the end of the year, increasing the demand for transport spaces and the cost of freight , mainly in maritime transport.

Time per port

This work, carried out by T21 Business Intelligence, together with the information provided by geolocation companies and trucking lines, allows us to present for the first time the average time accumulated by each of the ports during the first seven months of this year.

Below we show the results of the average time for each port (together with the three divisions) and comparative, emphasizing that the data shown was converted to decimal hours in order to make the respective comparisons.

Port of Altamira

Port of Veracruz

Port of Lazaro Cardenas

Port of Manzanillo

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El cargo Peak Season Drives Up Trucking Times at Mexican Ports apareció primero en T21.

Time is relative, especially for a container that is imported through one of the main ports in Mexico.

In June of this year, a container took an average of 5 hours, 31 minutes and 16 seconds to be dislodged by a motor transport unit in the ports of Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Veracruz and Altamira , a time 10.27% longer compared to the record of a month earlier, when it averaged 4 hours, 57 minutes and 35 seconds .

This monthly measurement that T21 began publishing since April of this year is obtained from data provided by motor transport lines and geolocation companies with activities in these ports. For the sixth month of 2024, the reference of 10,950 maneuvers was obtained : Manzanillo (4,483), Lázaro Cárdenas (4,367), Veracruz (1,861) and Altamira (240) .

The number of maneuvers analyzed in this exercise has also shown a monthly increase of 34.9% , since in May the reference of eight thousand 114 maneuvers was obtained.

These average times in ports are obtained from the hours spent for a motor transport unit segmented into waiting, maneuvering and customs activities. In this case, the average of the four ports in waiting times was 1 hour, 16 minutes and 57 seconds; in maneuver 1 hour, 20 minutes and 42 seconds; and at customs 2 hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds.

The relativity in port attention times occurs when the gaze becomes sharper in each of them and in the different segments measured.

In this case, the average time of the four ports has been pressured upwards by the long permanence of the units in customs activities, mainly in Altamira and Lázaro Cárdenas , where 3 hours, 6 minutes and 16 seconds and 3 hours, 15 minutes and 17 seconds, respectively.

Last May, the customs time for Lázaro Cárdenas had been three hours, 7 minutes and 6 seconds , while in Altamira it was 2 hours 45 minutes and 24 seconds.

Specialists consulted by T21 have commented that the increase in the handling of import containers in Mexican ports is mainly due to the effect of nearshoring (relocation of production lines) and the strength of the domestic consumer market , where in both cases the introduction of goods originating in Asian countries.

The customs authorities installed in the ports, in the hands of personnel from the Ministry of the Navy since this six-year term, have had to navigate a long learning curve due to their lack of knowledge in this area , which has been reflected in a setback in the trade facilitation of Mexico. At least the World Bank has reflected this in its last Logistics Performance Index of 2023, where it placed the country in position 66, when in 2018 it had established itself in 51st.

The four ports that are presented in this measurement handled one million 680 thousand 428 TEUs (20-foot containers) or 90.3% of the total import TEUs that all Mexican ports received (one million 859 thousand 476 20-foot containers) during the period from January to June of this year, according to data from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine .

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El cargo Altamira and Lázaro Cárdenas put pressure on truck service times apareció primero en T21.