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Armada will bring its two subsidiary 3PL companies under one banner

(Editor’s note: several alterations have been made in the article since its first publication to better reflect Armada’s business activities.)

When Chris O’Brien was hired by Armada Supply Chain Solutions as its president at the start of 2025, after having departed C.H. Robinson at the close of 2023, putting together Armada with its sister logistics companies under one brand was not on the agenda.

When O’Brien joined Armada as president, it had three logistics holdings: Armada Supply Chain Solutions, which specialized in servicing restaurants; Sunset Transportation, more of a general all-purpose 3PL but with strong ties to the automotive industry; and ATEC Logistics, which O’Brien described as an ocean and air forwarder with a specialty of operating in Latin America.

When O’Brien joined Armada in January 2025, he said in an interview with FreightWaves to announce the overhaul of the company’s structure, he did not do so with a plan in place or envisioned to combine the three companies into one. 

Rather, he added, the decision to combine the three companies was part of a “thoughtful transition” that occurred after O’Brien had extensive discussions with the two primary owners of Armada, Joe Dominijanni, currently the CEO of Armada Supply Chain, and John Burke, the company’s chairman. 

In the reorganization, Burke will remain as chairman and Dominijanni will become vice chair.

Customer base at Armada had overlap with CHRW

O’Brien said when he joined Armada, he knew many of Armada’s customers, having worked with them during his time at C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW). (The prepared statement announcing the consolidation at Armada said at C.H. Robinson, O’Brien “led commercial strategy and scaled high-performing teams.”) 

Eventually, working in the business and the discussions with the company’s two principals led to the decision to pull together the company’s three units under one banner. “But that wasn’t the plan that was a part of hiring me” O’Brien added.

The three companies will operate under a unified Armada brand. “From a leadership and management team standpoint, we’ll go to one integrated company,” O’Brien said. “We’re going to invest in this brand. I didn’t want to do it across three brands.”

The combined company has revenue of about $5.7 billion, O’Brien said. Its goal is to double that in five years.

“We’ve got a great story to tell,” O’Brien said. “I just didn’t want to do it across three different brands.” 

O’Brien will assume the CEO role at the start of 2026.

Restaurants are the focus

The legacy Armada Supply Chain Solutions has essentially its entire customer base in one business: restaurants.

Measuring market share at Armada, O’Brien said the company’s clients include 30% of all restaurants that are in the top 200 as measured by revenue, “so for most of those clients we partner with and help manage their inventory and freight.”

Where Armada is unique among 3PLs in that it owns four warehouses: in Pennsylvania near Harrisburg on the I-81 corridor, and locations near Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. It also has a third party relationship that gives it access to warehouse capacity in southern California. 

But another service it provides that is very un 3PL-like, and can only be accomplished because of its warehouses, is that it takes “all those slower moving goods” that O’Brien said can not be received in full truckloads at customer distribution centers and plans their distribution to the customer outlets.  “So we’re saving a lot of money [for customers], managing that inventory,” O’Brien said. 

“When we go out and bring in this inventory, we’re typically buying that inventory and managing on behalf of our customers,” O’Brien said.

And it’s done by Armada because “you’ve got a lot of supply chain professionals in there.” 

Armada also manages a restaurant company’s carriers that are servicing its outlets, O’Brien said. He added that Armada keeps a small number of carriers that it uses to service its clients, putting the number at about 100 medium to large carriers. 

Armada works closely with its clients on supply chain planning and “we get very involved in the order flow. There’s a part of our business that is really like a supply chain financial service.”

Even though Sunset is not a restaurant specialist like Armada, O’Brien said the company was providing it with trucking capacity. “Over the last three years, they’ve learned a lot about the restaurant space,” O’Brien said. 

But he added there is no plan to have Sunset specialize only in the restaurant business.

Growing Sunset through warehouses

With Sunset’s diversification, O’Brien said he believes Sunset can grow under the Armada banner by utilizing the warehouse space and the capabilities of managing inventory in those facilities.

“I’ve never had that combination of a 3PL with warehousing services in the past,” O’Brien said. “It’s when we bring those two things together that is why we are so dominant in the restaurant space.”

The expertise that Armada has in the blended model of 3PL plus warehouses can be combined with the various industries that Sunset is involved in–O’Brien mentioned automotive several times–”and by integrating, we can bring in customers and expertise that takes us into these other industries.”

While Sunset was diversified, O’Brien said ATEC also has been focused on servicing restaurants. “There were many shared ATEC customers across Armada,” O’Brien said. That overlap will allow expansion in the international restaurant business, he added.

Asked about any drawbacks in bringing the three companies under one banner, O’Brien said the potential loss of “three unique individual cultures” was a key consideration. 

The goal in the integration will be to create a new culture across Armada, rather than have Sunset and ATEC being driven into the culture of the larger sister company swallowing them up.

“Instead of going down that path, of losing those cultures,  we decided we would create something new,” O’Brien said. “So this just wasn’t just going to be those two things being swallowed up into Armada. It was creating something new, a bigger, stronger Armada.”

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Descartes says trade uncertainty impacting customer decisions

spotter trucks moving containers at a port

Supply chain software provider Descartes missed fiscal second-quarter expectations Wednesday after the market closed. However, the company said demand for its trade intelligence and regulatory compliance offerings has been strong given an uncertain trade landscape.

Descartes (NASDAQ: DSGX) reported earnings per share of 43 cents for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, which was 3 cents higher than the year-ago period but 8 cents below the consensus estimate.

Consolidated revenue increased 10% year over year to $180 million. Services revenue was 14% higher y/y at $167 million. The results included the benefit of recent acquisitions, but the sporadic nature of tariff implementations has been weighing on customer decision making.

“Our customers continue to face uncertainty in the costs of sourcing and moving goods across borders,” said Descartes CEO Ed Ryan in a news release. “This has also impacted their ability to make pricing and investment decisions in an uncertain economic environment.”

Table: Descartes’ key performance indicators

Descartes reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $80 million, which was 14% higher y/y. The company recorded an adjusted EBITDA margin of 44.6%, 140 basis points higher y/y.

The company generated $63 million in cash flow from operations in the quarter, an 82% y/y increase. It ended the period with $241 million in cash and an untapped line of credit of $350 million.

Descartes continues to use capital to make accretive acquisitions. It acquired e-commerce inventory management platform Finale Inventory for $40 million in early August.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

FreightWaves’ What The Truck?!? welcomes Malcolm Harris as new host

Malcolm Harris What The Truck?!?

FreightWaves and its parent company Firecrown Media are incredibly excited to announce Malcolm Harris as the new host of What The Truck?!?, the flagship show for FreightWaves TV. 

Harris joins the team after a strong career in the logistics industry and being one of Chattanooga’s most recognizable radio voices. 

He most recently spent time at Axle Logistics in Knoxville as their senior recruiter and was involved in large-scale growth efforts at Steam Logistics in Chattanooga. Harris also directed marketing and community engagement campaigns, and amplified employer branding through strategic partnerships and digital storytelling.

Harris brings an incredibly valuable broadcasting background to the role as a dynamic communicator and media personality. He gained recognition as “Miggie” during his time as on-air talent at Power94, Chattanooga’s hip hop and R&B station, where he connected with listeners and brought energy to the airwaves. 

He also contributed to sports media as on-air talent at Fox Sports Knoxville, engaging audiences with news, entertainment, and live interviews. Malcolm is the co-founder and host of Chatt it Up Sports, a podcast celebrating the stories, triumphs, and culture of sports across Chattanooga and beyond.

The FreightWaves team is thrilled to bring his leadership and community skills back to the Scenic City; Harris was featured on the cover of Edge – Chattanooga Business Magazine (2022), named one of Chatter Magazine’s “Top 20 Under 40” (2023), and honored as Steam Logistics’ 2021 Impact Person of the Year. 

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a B.S. in Journalism and Electronic Media, Malcolm also completed Vanderbilt University’s Digital Marketing program.

He is a proud member of Leadership Chattanooga’s 2025 cohort and the Psi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

Catch Malcolm live on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 12:00 pm ET on the FreightWaves YouTube channel, listen to him from 5-6 pm ET on Sirius XM channel 146, and follow him on X and Instagram! 

Welcome back to Chattanooga, Malcolm!

XPO sees tonnage declines ease in August

a rear view of an XPO truck

XPO reported Wednesday that tonnage per day in its less-than-truckload unit was down 4.7% year over year in August, an improvement from an 8.7% y/y decline in July. The August tonnage change was driven by a 3.4% decline in shipments and a 1.3% dip in weight per shipment.

The August tonnage result appears to be modestly ahead of typical seasonal trends. On a two-year-stacked comparison, July and August were down by 9.5% and 9.3%, respectively, in what remains a soft but stable demand environment.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based carrier’s prior-year comps continue to ease through the rest of the year. (It averaged mid-single-digit y/y tonnage declines in the back half of last year.)

Table: Company reports

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – a bellwether for manufacturing activity – remained in contraction territory during August at 48.7. (The PMI is a diffusion index in which a reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below 50 signals contraction.) The index has signaled softness in the manufacturing complex in 32 of the past 34 months. The dataset typically leads inflections in LTL volumes by approximately three months.

The PMI new orders subindex – a proxy for future activity – moved into expansion territory (51.4) after six straight months of decline. The index increased 4.3 percentage points from July but remained below 52.1, a level historically needed for a sustained period to garner an increase in manufacturing orders.

“Despite the index’s move into expansion territory, for every positive comment about new orders, there were 2.5 comments expressing concern about near-term demand, primarily driven by tariff costs and uncertainty,” the Tuesday report said.

SONAR: Longhaul LTL Monthly Cost per Hundredweight, Class 50-65 Index. Less-than-truckload monthly indices are based on the median rate per ton mile for four National Motor Freight Classification groupings and five different mileage bands. To learn more about SONAR, click here.

XPO doesn’t alter industry’s only positive Q3 margin outlook

XPO (NYSE: XPO) didn’t alter its third-quarter margin guidance in the Wednesday news release.

The company said on its second-quarter call at the end of July that it expects to see no sequential change to its adjusted operating ratio (inverse of operating margin) during the third quarter. That implies an 82.9% OR and 130 basis points of y/y improvement. By comparison, XPO normally sees 200 to 250 bps of OR degradation from the second to the third quarter.

The guide assumes a moderation in tonnage declines and further sequential improvement in revenue per shipment and yields. Third-quarter yield is expected to increase y/y by an amount similar to the 6.1% y/y increase captured in the second quarter. (XPO doesn’t provide revenue-based metrics in its intraquarter updates.)

XPO’s operating results continue to benefit from several self-help initiatives.

A shift in freight mix toward small-to-midsize businesses and selling more premium services incurring accessorial surcharges are some of the pricing catalysts.

The carrier also has several AI-enabled initiatives in place to reduce linehaul miles, improve pickup-and-delivery functions and cull labor hours per shipment. It also continues to reduce its reliance on third-party capacity for linehaul runs.

XPO has delivered nearly 400 bps of margin improvement during the current freight downturn while other public carriers are seeing margins move in the opposite direction.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

Trump asks Supreme Court to save his global tariff policy

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will seek an expedited Supreme Court review to decide whether his “Liberation Day” tariffs on more than 90 U.S. trading partners are legal.

The announcement comes days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down most of Trump’s tariffs, ruling that his use of emergency powers to impose sweeping import duties exceeded presidential authority. The court reaffirmed an earlier decision from the U.S. Court of International Trade but allowed the tariffs to remain in place while the legal battle continues.

Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, with implementation beginning in early August after multiple delays. The ruling is a setback for Trump, but the tariffs will stay in effect until at least Oct. 14.

Trump said that the U.S. could be forced to “unwind” trade deals with the European Union, Japan, and South Korea if the Supreme Court upholds the lower court rulings.

“If we don’t win that case, our country is going to suffer so greatly,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to CNBC. “If you take away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country.”

The Trump administration had leaned on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify the tariffs, arguing that the law gave the president authority to impose country-specific import duties if deemed necessary to address a national emergency.

Tariff revenue has already reached $142 billion, with the White House collecting more than $30 billion a month, CNBC reported.

For importers, the stakes are high. Mike Short, president of global forwarding at brokerage giant C.H. Robinson, said businesses are particularly concerned about potential refunds.

“If the Supreme Court upholds the lower courts’ decision, it remains unclear whether their ruling will require retroactive refunds of duties already paid or only block tariffs on future shipments,” Short told FreightWaves in an email. “If refunds are ordered, Customs may process them automatically — or brokers may face a flood of additional work to secure them, doubling workloads overnight.”

Short added that companies should prepare for continued trade turbulence, regardless of how the case is resolved. Section 232 investigations are still active across industries including lumber, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, trucks, seafood, and critical minerals. Those reviews could quickly trigger new tariffs, as seen with the 50% duties added to imports of steel, aluminum and copper in July.

“The reality is that tariff volatility has become the new normal,” Short said. “Companies are not only adjusting short-term tactics, like frontloading shipments, but also rethinking long-term supply chains and sourcing strategies. Increasingly, they want us to move beyond discussion and accelerate execution.”

Fleetworthy and Loadsure forge alliance to elevate fleet safety through real-time alerts

In a decisive move, Fleetworthy and Loadsure have announced a strategic partnership that brings together cutting-edge in-cab safety alerts and dynamic insurance capabilities. The collaboration grants Loadsure policyholders access to a trial of Drivewyze Safety+, Fleetworthy’s proactive, real-time driver notification system, without requiring any additional hardware installation.

The alliance merges two distinct philosophies under a shared vision: empowering fleets to operate with heightened awareness and reduced risk. 

Fleetworthy, celebrated for its unified technology suite encompassing safety, compliance, toll management, and weigh station bypass, has built its reputation on innovation and widespread adoption, serving an impressive 75 percent of North America’s leading fleets.

Loadsure, meanwhile, prides itself on delivering intelligent coverage via its Holistic Freight Protection model, leveraging real-time data analytics and artificial intelligence to tailor cargo insurance and accelerate claims processing for shippers, brokers, insurers, and carriers.

At the heart of Drivewyze Safety+ lies an intuitive system designed to elevate driver awareness through real-time alerts pinpointing high-risk driving zones, whether it’s areas prone to rollover incidents, high-speed intersections, or work zones looming ahead. Seamlessly integrating with existing telematics, this feature helps fleets significantly improve safety outcomes and driver engagement.

Dillon Twombly, Chief Revenue Officer of Fleetworthy, emphasizes that this partnership is more than a technological collaboration; it is an alignment of purpose. “Drivewyze Safety+ delivers in-cab alerts that empower drivers in real time,” Twombly asserts, adding that teaming with Loadsure enables reaching a broader network of fleets committed to safeguarding their teams and cargo.

This union exemplifies Loadsure’s forward-looking philosophy. Michael Kennedy, Vice President of Global Partnerships at Loadsure, reflects that contemporary fleet safety extends beyond mere regulatory hoops, “Fleetworthy shares our belief that modern fleet safety is about more than compliance. It’s about enabling smarter operations and reducing friction. We’re proud to bring Drivewyze to our agents and fleet policyholders as part of our broader mission to protect every shipment and the people behind it.”

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By integrating a proactive safety solution with flexible, data-driven insurance, the partnership offers fleets valuable enhancements: heightened visibility into operational risks, streamlined insights into driver behavior, and fortified resilience against both accidents and liability. 

In a fast-evolving logistics ecosystem, this collaboration underscores how innovation can deliver tangible benefits: smarter risk mitigation, enhanced driver confidence, and ultimately, safer roads.

ADL Final Mile buys regional delivery provider DMC Logistics

Red pickup trucks with ADL Delivery name painted on the side, parked in front of a warehouse garage.

ADL Final Mile has expanded its regional parcel delivery and logistics network to the Southwest with the acquisition of DMC Logistics, the fourth company it has purchased since its founding in 2022 with the merger of ADL Delivery and Capital Express.

DMC Logistics provides customized and final mile logistics services across New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, and Utah.

“With this acquisition, our services now reach 27 states and 88 company managed distribution locations, benefitting both new and existing customers,” said ADL Final Mile CEO Monte O’Hara in a news release issued Wednesday. “DMC shares our commitment to quality service and customer-first values, and we look forward to accelerating our growth together.”

Steve Griego, DMC Logistics’s president and founder will assume the role of president, Southwest Region, for ADL Final Mile. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ADL Final Mile is owned by RD Last Mile Holdings LLC, which is backed by Red Dog Equity, in partnership with Monroe Capital and billionaire Tom Pritzker’s family business interests. Red Dog Equity invests in lower middle-market companies.

RD Last Mile said it has significant equity and debt capital available to support future acquisitions and development opportunities.

ADL Delivery’s delivery footprint extends from North Carolina to the Florida Keys. It also provides warehousing and distribution services. Capital Express is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and provides courier and trucking services for hospitals, labs, pharmaceutical companies, e-commerce retailers, office suppliers, the auto parts industry and other verticals. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

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Trucking questions FMCSA’s proposal to fix flawed safety data

truck getting inspected

WASHINGTON — A proposed new process for drivers and motor carriers to review roadside inspection and crash data compiled by the government has been welcomed by most in the trucking industry but has also raised concerns.

Last year the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed an appeals process for Requests for Data Review (RDRs) submitted through FMCSA’s online DataQs system, which allows trucking companies and drivers to request a review of crash and inspection data that requesters believe is incomplete or incorrect.

Based on comments received on the initial proposal, FMCSA sought another round of comments on a revamped version issued in July that shifted most of the review process to the states. The original plan would have allowed requests to be reviewed by FMCSA after it was reviewed and denied after reconsideration by a state agency.

Giving more responsibility for the review process to the states – with the goal of moving the process forward with less delays – also puts more demand on state resources, according to the American Trucking Associations.

“The proposed process may present potential challenges in states with large inspection volumes, such as Texas, California, and New York,” ATA asserted in comments posted by FMCSA on Wednesday.

“Additionally, implementing robust review processes in states with limited staff and small chains of command may be difficult or unfeasible.”

The Truckload Carriers Association pointed out that many states have only one or two people responsible for reviewing all DataQs and RDRs.

“To address both bandwidth and bias concerns, FMCSA and states could … consider using FMCSA-approved, [Certified Director of Safety]-qualified contractors or reviewers from states with lower truck traffic volumes,” TCA suggested. “This approach would not only help maintain impartiality but also ensure that timelines are met consistently across the country.”

TCA also pointed out a potential flaw with state reviewers all coming from the same agency.

“Even with the requirement for more than one reviewer, requestors may still be concerned about ‘department bias’ if all reviewers come from the same agency or department,” TCA stated. “In such cases, there is a risk that the second review simply reaffirms the original decision rather than providing an independent perspective.

“To address this, our members have recommended that at least one reviewer come from a different agency or even from a cross-state jurisdiction, ideally from a state with a smaller volume of truck traffic, to introduce fresh viewpoints and reduce the likelihood of bias.”

A concern for drivers, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, was allowing violations that are being challenged as incorrect to continue to be posted on agency databases during the review process.

“Unmerited violations and inaccurate information that remains on an owner-operator or driver’s safety record can negatively impact their employment or increase their insurance costs, among other consequences,” OOIDA told FMCSA.

FMCSA responded to OOIDA’s recommendation to remove such data that doing so “creates opportunities for requestors to ‘improve’ their safety records in the short term by submitting frivolous RDRs, which would impact the efficacy of the DataQs program and other FMCSA safety programs.”

As a compromise, OOIDA suggested that those requesting a review be permitted to select one RDR every six-months “that would not detrimentally impact any safety rating until the RDR is fully adjudicated,” the group noted.

“FMCSA should also consider other alternatives that would ensure small trucking businesses are not sidelined when challenging violations, especially administrative or clerical errors due to no fault of their own.”

According to FMCSA data, just over 3 million roadside inspections conducted last year uncovered over 5.1 million separate violations, with approximately 18% of those violations severe enough infractions to place a driver or the driver’s truck out of service.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.

U.S. rail freight narrowly up as key commodity sinks

Carload and intermodal rail traffic in the U.S. was narrowly up for the week ending August 30.

Freight volumes finished 0.9% better than the same week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads. 

Total carloads were up 0.6% y/y, while intermodal volume gained 1.2% from 2024.

Five of 10 commodity groups improved, led by chemicals, 4.9%, and metallic ores and metals, 3.5%.

Petroleum and associated products saw the steepest drop at 7.7%, followed by grain, 3.6%, and forest products, 3.4%.

U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume increased 2.5% through the first 35 weeks of 2025 from a year ago. Intermodal units were ahead 4.1%. Total combined U.S. traffic was up 3.4% y/y.

(Chart: AAR)

North American carloads for the week on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads sank 2.2% y/y. Containers and trailers were up 5.2%. Total combined weekly traffic rose 1.6%. North American volume for the first 35 weeks of this year was up 2.7% compared with 2024.

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Border freight leaders bet on green tech at NADBank Summit

Transitioning freight transport vehicles to cleaner technology remains costly but essential, industry and academic leaders said during a cross-border mobility panel on Thursday at the North American Development Bank’s (NADBank) 2025 summit in San Antonio.

The panel, “Driving Growth: Clean and Efficient Mobility Catalyzes Economic Integration,” featured voices from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, including Juan Baez of San Diego-based Bali Express Services.

“I believe that electrification is the way and Bali Express is committed to that ideal to make the company 100% sustainable by 2035, or 2040,” Baez said.

“What I like about electric trucks is that my operations team, my dispatchers, require that effort and dedication that focus to be a more efficient company, a company with a faster response with a more efficient route. We reduce costs, we reduce expenses, the client is more satisfied, so I think that adhering to new technologies is a challenge but it is possible, and it encourages you as a company to be better day by day.”

NADBank’s two-day annual summit included federal, state and municipal authorities, along with business organizations, academia, financial institutions, investors, project developers and experts, from both the U.S. and Mexico.

In addition to Baez, the panel also included Daniel Covarrubias of Texas A&M International University; Victor Salazar, chief commercial officer at Trayecto; and Jorge Gutierrez Topete, director of Baja California’s Institute of Sustainable Mobility.

Topete said the Mexican state of Baja California’s efforts to integrate sustainable practices into both freight and passenger transport emphasizes the importance of incentives over penalties in shifting fleets toward lower-emission technologies.

The Institute of Sustainable Mobility of Baja California promotes and develops a zero-emission mobility strategy for Baja California, as well as collaborating with U.S. programs across the border in the San Diego region.

“Incentives are always better than punishments, and that’s what we’re looking for: to find the economic model, because ultimately everything we’re going to talk about today is part of the economic model,” Gutierrez-Topete said, pointing to successful financing of Euro 6 clean-energy buses in Tijuana as a blueprint for scaling public and private fleet conversions.

“If the economic model doesn’t work, change won’t happen.”

Experts explored opportunities for innovation in cleaner and more efficient cargo trucks at the North American Development Bank’s 2025 summit in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo: NADBank)

In Texas, Covarrubias stressed the role of new infrastructure and research in preparing for a more sustainable border economy. 

Covarrubias is the director of the Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development at the A.R. Sanchez School of Business at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas.

With Laredo handling roughly 40% of U.S.-Mexico trade, Covarrubias urged for “smart borders” that integrate technology into new bridge projects. 

“We’re talking about crossings between the U.S. and Mexico at the World Trade Bridge and the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge. You’re talking about 16,000 to 18,000 tractor-trailers crossing daily between the two countries,” Covarrubias said.

“We’re conducting the first and only pilot — a study on electric cargo vehicles, with the idea of ​​being able to conceptualize what is the smart border entry? These new bridges, this new infrastructure on these new bridges, are they going to be the same as the ones we have now or do we have to reimagine them, rethink them based on technology? We have the unique opportunity for these bridges to be based on technology and change the process of being able to make those resources more efficient.”

Salazar shared Trayecto’s decade-long experiment with natural gas-powered trucks, which has grown from five units in 2015 to more than 600 today.

Trayecto is the biggest freight transportation company in Mexico. Trayecto, based in Monterrey, Mexico, has more than 4,000 trucks and 10,000 trailers.

“Currently, we make around 14,000 journeys per month between the different crossings,” Salazar said. “That’s a huge responsibility. We understand that we need to invest not only in the engines, which perhaps contribute most to reducing our carbon footprint, but also in water conservation initiatives.”

Salazar said Mexico lacks government incentives for green transport, pushing companies to find private solutions such as building their own fueling stations.

“All we want to do is have a positive impact on the cross-border community,” Salazar said, adding that Trayecto is also testing electric trucks despite range and charging challenges.

Baez highlighted Bali Express’s milestone as the first trucking company to operate electric Class 8 trucks across the U.S.-Mexico border, an initiative supported by NADBank financing. 

The company has since launched a “green corridor” linking the Port of Long Beach with factories in Tijuana and San Diego, logging more than one million clean miles last year.

“We have to do it for the love of the planet,” Baez said, sharing that while electric trucks remain about 15 cents per mile more expensive than diesel, efficiency gains and smart routing are closing the gap.

Panelists agreed that a mix of technologies — including advanced diesel, natural gas, electric, and eventually hydrogen — will be needed to reduce emissions in North American freight. But they cautioned that without coordinated incentives, infrastructure, and investment, progress could stall.

“The air we breathe doesn’t recognize borders, and neither does the water we drink,” Topete said.