b'6American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comdistributors. Others were growers who added their own distribu-tion with Nogales warehouses. WhileothersNogalesdis-tributorsbecamevertically integratedbyinvestingin Mexican farms. Such shifting takes place to this day.Withproductioncost increases-andconsumer demand for greater variation on American tabletops - pres-In his Mission, TX office, Dante Galeazzi, president and CEO of the Texassure and opportunity built for International Produce Association, shows the strong strategic location ofU.S. companies to grow or at South Texa.(Photo: Tad Thompson) least partner in Mexico. (SUCCESScontinuedisaleapfor260,992truck- In my opinion, the increas-from page 4) loads in 2007. ingcoststoproduceinthe regulatory compliance and over- U.S.,growthofknowledge sight. And higher feeder stocka c entury ofM aturation and experience in Mexico, and cost has fueled skyrocketingOver a century ago, Westthe speed and ease of commu-agrochemical prices over theMexico growers started ship- nication have translated into a last year. ping wintertime tomatoes andwider variety of commodities He adds, Highway trans- othervegetablesbyrailtobeing grown outside the U.S. portation costs have gone upNogales. Galeazzi said.anddowndramaticallyoverSomeNogalesbusi- Mexico has grown straw-thelastthreeyears,butwenesseshavehistoriestotheberries for 30 years, but that sawa100percentincreasehistoric beginning.productionhasexplodedin inyear-on-yeartransporta- A number of these compa- (SUCCESScontinued onTo avoid bruising, mangos for the U.S. market are harvested one at a time. tioncostsin2021.In2022nies started as, and remained,page 26) This grove is in Los Mochis, Sinaloa.(Photo Tad Thompson)peoplehaveaccesstomore equipmentbutthetruckers arefacingmoreregulations onthatequipmentwhichis resulting in costly modifica-tions for compliance.Mexico has supplemented U.S. production for a long time. But NAFTA removed a lot of tariffsandquotas. Thiscre-ated immediate opportunities andattractedU.S.invest-ments into Mexico. We saw production numbers increase very quickly in the following years.d urango -M azatlanh ighwayMexicos second growth wave came after 2013, whenSustainabilityroad infrastructure improved dramaticallyinthecountry. Then it really took off. inIs Our BusinessTheDurango-Mazatlan highway,whichopened 2013,isoneofthebiggest drivers.Thisultra-modern highwayfromproduction-richWestMexicotoSouth Texas entry points, replaced anantiquated,dangerous-in-everywayroadthrough the Sierra Madres. Suddenly growersinSinaloa,Jalisco andrichPacificcoaststates enjoyedasmoothrideona directroutetowardEastern andSoutheasternU.S.mar-kets. Thisverysubstantially replacedthehistorictrade route up the level west coast, but headed to the northwest, in Nogales, AZ. For Sinaloa vegetablegrowers,Nogales is on the way to San Francisco and Seattle. But certainly not New York and Atlanta.Thetransportationtime fromthewestcoastofFood WasteMexicowascutalmostinSustainable Reefer Low GWP Mitigation Energyhalf. Time and freight savingsTechnology Refrigerants Technology Efficiencymade for consistent timing in deliveries and superior arriv-alsbecausetherefrigeratedIts not just the box SeaCubetractortrailershadamuchits our approach to offering sustainable fleet solutions bundled smoother ride. with leading edge technology that makes the difference. C O N T A I N E R L E A S I N GUSDA indicates in 2021, MexicanexportsoffreshVisit www.seacubecontainers.com to learn more. seacubecontainers.comproduce to the United States were 625,995 truckloads. This BSYA-SeaCube Sustainability AJOC 8x10_r2.indd 1 8/12/22 11:40 AM'