Landstar System yesterday announced the opening of the new Landstar U.S./Mexico Logistics Service Center in Laredo, Texas. The company has provided Mexico cross-border services out of Laredo since 1999, and has moved its operations to this new, expanded logistics center.
The 31,000-square-foot logistics facility is located on a 50-acre site that accommodates 450 trailers and provides room for future expansion. It’s one of the largest facilities of its kind in Laredo, the company says, with a 30-door cross-dock comprised of more than 20,000 square feet, designed to bring efficiencies to both less-than-truckload (LTL) and transload services. This complements Landstar’s LTL business by allowing consolidation of several LTL shipments into one truckload before crossing the border into Mexico.
The new yard, meanwhile, represents more than double the capacity of Landstar’s previous facility. The secured, C-TPAT-certified site also features a a dedicated platform and heavy/specialized freight area with a custom 120-ton, stand-alone bridge crane, the company says.
The crane assembly during the construction at the Laredo site.With a 35-foot-high and 37-foot-wide clearance area to accommodate the ability to transload many of the largest super loads, the bridge crane is “unique to the cross-border market,” said Landstar Transportation Logistics Vice President of Mexico Operations Steve Wisnieski. “It is used to transfer oversize, heavy and specialized loads between various types of platform equipment coming to and from Mexico. Landstar commissioned and directed the design of the new bridge crane to meet our current and future needs, and to allow load transfers to happen safely and efficiently.”
Service center interior features include conference rooms and meeting space for Landstar customers and agents, and a state-of-the-art area for Landstar business capacity owners (BCOs), the company’s term for truck owner-operators leased to Landstar. The BCO area includes a lounge, media center, computer room, laundry and much more, all designed with comfort and accessibility in mind.
Landstar Transportation Logistics Executive Vice President of Operations Eric Meyer added that the expansion comes in response to customer needs. “Landstar is known for its high level of service and extensive geographic coverage,” he said, “servicing the Mexico market using more than 1,000 van and platform trailers to accommodate the broad range of commodities that comprise cross-border trade. The facility will better serve Landstar’s customers, capacity providers and agents, and we believe it will position Landstar as the premier freight transport provider of cross-border operations.”
