Five Tips to Grow Your Mexico and Canada Business
Practical, high-impact moves to kickstart your Mexico and Canada business this week.
You just signed up for Cargado.
Or maybe you can’t stop looking at those ridiculous LinkedIn posts from me and Miguel and thinking:
“Alright, I need some Mexico or Canada freight in order to sign up for Cargado.”
Fair. But here’s the thing — you’ve already got it.
You just don’t realize it yet.
Most brokers I talk to think cross-border freight is some mystical world filled with customs paperwork, driver swaps, and problems waiting to happen. But what’s actually keeping most people from jumping in isn’t complexity — it’s unfamiliarity.
When I lead our Mexico 101 sessions, I tell people this:
Cross-border isn’t hard. It’s just new.
And once you get a few reps in, it becomes one of the highest-margin, stickiest, and most interesting parts of your business.
So here’s your playbook. Five things you can do this week to start growing your Mexico or Canada business — no new hires, no giant rollout plan, no excuses.
1. Start at the border — and then go beyond it
Here’s your first clue: your customers already have Mexico freight. They just stop short.
If you’re moving loads into Laredo, Pharr, Brownsville, or El Paso, those shipments are probably crossing into Mexico right after delivery. But someone else — a forwarder or a partner — is handling that leg, marking it up, and taking the credit.
You can take it back.
Ask your customer:
“What happens to that freight once it gets to Laredo?”
Nine times out of ten, the answer will uncover opportunity.
If your customer’s moving Birmingham to Laredo, offer to handle Birmingham to Monterrey instead. That one step eliminates a handoff, reduces damage risk, and builds loyalty — because now you’re solving their entire move, not half of it.
The same principle works northbound.
If you’re already hauling into Detroit, Buffalo, or Seattle, you’re right next to a Canadian market that trades more with the U.S. than any country on earth except Mexico. Stop thinking of those borders as endpoints — they’re gateways.
The best cross-border brokers didn’t start with a Mexico division. They started with one customer and a single question.
2. Hunt by industry, not geography
Mexico freight doesn’t show up randomly. It clusters around certain industries — the ones building, assembling, or finishing products on both sides of the border.
Here are your high-probability targets:
If you have a customer in any of those spaces, odds are they already have cross-border freight.
Instead of asking “Do you ship to Mexico?” — ask,
“Do you have any suppliers or customers in Mexico or Canada?”
That’s how you uncover real volume. There is way more freight moving from Mexico to the U.S. than in the other direction.
Then do a little research. Most mid-to-large manufacturers publish their supplier maps or plant footprints right on their websites. Pull that list, make a few calls, and you’ll have a lane list by the end of the day.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Just go where the trade is already happening — you’ll find opportunity hiding in plain sight.
3. Build relationships before you need them
Everyone’s first fear with cross-border is paperwork.
Let me save you from losing two weeks of your life: don’t get buried in it.
You don’t need to know every pedimento code or tariff line. You just need one customs broker and one trusted carrier who do. And your customer provides the customs broker!
Here’s the real game: know who to call when something goes sideways.
When a truck gets flagged at the bridge, or a driver runs out of hours, or a document’s missing — your customers don’t want to hear excuses. They want to know someone’s handling it.
That’s where relationships win.
Ask your carriers:
“Who do you prefer to work with on the customs side?”
They’ll give you names. Build that relationship early.
That way, when you book your first load, you already have your “fix-it” people lined up.
You don’t need a department. You need a phone number.
4. Quote like a pro
Most people lose money on their first Mexico load because they quote it like a domestic move.
Don’t.
Cross-border quoting is about variables — not just distance. You’re factoring in a border crossing, a clearance window, and the fact that you’ll often be working with two drivers (a U.S. and a Mexico side).
Here’s your checklist:
Origin and destination
Border crossing city (Laredo, Pharr, Nogales, etc.)
Commodity and trailer type
Weight and load value
Who handles the crossing
Clearance time (add 1–3 days)
This one habit saves your margin.
If you’re using Cargado, you can see real cross-border rates instantly — not guesses, not “domestic rate + 500 bucks.” You get actual bid-driven market data for both spot and contracted freight, so you can quote confidently and stay competitive without racing to the bottom.
Because quoting confidently isn’t about being cheap — it’s about being right.
5. Stop waiting. Just post it.
This is the simplest advice but also the most important: stop overthinking it and just post your first lane.
Ask your customer:
“Do you have any cross-border freight right now?”
Then get the lane details — even if it’s just one load.
Post it on Cargado.
You’ll get live bids from vetted carriers, see real pricing data, and start to understand how the market works.
That’s how everyone starts.
Mexico and Canada freight are still wildly underserved. There’s far more demand than supply. The people who win are the ones who start — not the ones who wait until they feel ready.
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be present.
What You’ll Realize After Your First Load
Once you move your first cross-border load, everything changes.
You realize:
Margins are 2–3x higher than domestic freight
The relationships you build are stickier — customers don’t churn when you’re solving their hardest problem
You didn’t need a new team, just better tools
That’s why we built Cargado.
Our customers start small — one lane, one customer — and within weeks they’re managing steady Mexico and Canada volume. The same people who used to say “we don’t touch cross-border” are suddenly leading their company’s expansion strategy.
You don’t need to be the biggest. You just need to be the first in your office willing to figure it out.
Final Thought
Cross-border isn’t a new category of freight — it’s the next frontier of the same job you’re already great at.
It’s relationship-driven, high-margin, and repeatable.
Find one lane.
Call one customer.
Post one load.
Then do it again next week.
That’s how you grow your Mexico and Canada business.
And when people in your office ask how you did it, tell them the truth:
“I stopped waiting and just started.”
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I share stories, data, and playbooks from the front lines of nearshoring — and how tools like Cargado are helping brokers quote, cover, and manage freight across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
Because the brokers who win the next decade are the ones who start building cross-border relationships today.