UPS Accelerates U.S.-Mexico Trade with New Ground Freight Service

UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced UPS CrossBorder Connect™, a ground freight service between the United States and Mexico designed to significantly ease heavyweight freight supply chain challenges for companies investing in cross-border trade.

The service bundles UPS’s transportation and customs brokerage expertise north and south of the border to boost speed to market, drive cost efficiencies and reduce supply chain risk.

UPS CrossBorder Connect is a contractual service that utilizes the trucking network that supports UPS’s North American Air Freight service. That network has been connected with trusted carriers in Mexico at eight important points along the U.S.-Mexico border. By integrating UPS’s brokerage capabilities, the service helps companies with the complex brokerage process and is designed to help reduce customs delays associated with border regulations, inspections and lengthy paperwork.

UPS also provides the option of bonded movements through the border to help enable faster crossing of goods.

“With the global rise in fuel and labor costs, near-sourcing has become an increasingly viable option for many businesses looking to reduce their production and supply chain costs and expand their market share,” said Steve Flowers, president, UPS Global Freight Forwarding. “For example, we’re seeing more high-tech and automotive companies now moving production closer to consumption points in North and South America, and UPS CrossBorder Connect can help them navigate the complexities inherent in U.S.-Mexico trade while containing costs.

“Our research clearly revealed the gaps in service options that exist for today’s customers,” Flowers continued. “With this product, we’ve improved visibility and predictability as well as reliability on one of the largest and most important U.S. trade lanes.”

Prior to this service offering, cross-border heavyweight freight shipping options were limited to air freight or conventional less-than-truckload (LTL) movements, providing shippers with little middle ground between air freight and standard heavyweight ground freight shipping. UPS CrossBorder Connect is a premium service that offers fast, reliable transit times, often in a timeframe of 3-to-4 days* between most major U.S. cities and Mexico, providing companies with another cost and speed option for their cross-border shipments.

As part of the company’s global freight forwarding offering, UPS CrossBorder Connect provides extensive coverage through full transportation and brokerage services at eight major border crossings: Otay Mesa and Calexico, Calif.; Nogales, Ariz., and El Paso, Laredo, McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville, Texas. Also, customers have visibility over UPS CrossBorder Connect freight shipments using Flex® Global View, including key milestone updates.

As a leading integrated global freight forwarder, this service complements UPS’s complete portfolio of domestic and international ground, air and ocean freight services including transportation, supplier management, customs brokerage and visibility technology solutions. To learn more about UPS's complete freight offerings, visit ups.com/globalfreight.

UPS (NYSE:UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight; the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the Web at UPS.com and its corporate blog can be found at blog.ups.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

* UPS CrossBorder Connect is not a guaranteed service, and transit times will vary based upon actual origin and destination. This service is also subject to UPS Supply Chain Solutions Air Freight Terms and Conditions of Contract.