B‑1 driver pool down 25,000 squeezes US‑Mexico truck capacity

Market Context & Direct Impact

Cross-border trucking, not port throughput, is the binding constraint on US-Mexico freight. US enforcement of English-language and cabotage rules has squeezed carrier capacity, according to The Loadstar's 19 October report. It counts 25,000 fewer B-1 drivers since April of last year. Roughly 40% of US-Mexico commercial traffic runs through Laredo, and every blockage Uber Freight has logged this year occurred there. Official daily truck counts at that crossing range from 17,000 to 21,000, so the baseline itself is unsettled.

Equipment is not the shortage, and port dwell is not the trigger. Uber Freight's Zeid Houssami told FreightWaves that trailers are plentiful, with about nine available for each driver. ITS Logistics' Paul Brashier told The Loadstar that US gateways show little dwell and that trucking capacity is the gap. Brashier's remarks cover US container gateways generally, not the Mexico border. Uber Freight, in its 13 August update, labelled B-1 capacity a structural constraint, which suggests the squeeze is not seasonal.

Core Executive Takeaways

• Laredo concentration riskWith about 40% of US-Mexico commercial traffic at one gateway, a single backlog can reach a large share of cross-border loads.
• Recurring stuck loadsUber Freight has counted three occasions this year when shippers were left with 30 to 50 loads waiting.
• Drivers, not trailersWith about nine trailers per driver, the constraint sits in the driver pool, so contracts should secure driver-backed capacity rather than more equipment.

Strategic Playbook

1. 1
   Map Laredo exposure

   Export loads in Nuevo Laredo are already waiting on northbound B-1 drivers, per Uber Freight. List every northbound lane that crosses at Laredo, flag loads that depend on B-1 drivers, and ask each carrier which crossings and driver pools it relies on.

2. 2
   Qualify transload backup

   Most transloading currently happens at Laredo, with El Paso also in use. Pre-qualify a transload partner at Laredo and a second border site before the next backlog arrives.

Filed 09:26 GMT, 22 October 2026, for the first edition of 22 Oct.
As agents only.

Sources

1. Shippers eye transloading to ease truck constraints at US-Mexico borderThe Loadstar, published 19 October 2026
2. Uber Freight: US-Mexico capacity crunch could 'get worse before it gets better'FreightWaves, published 24 August 2026
3. No post-peak easing at US container gateways, despite drayage woesThe Loadstar, published 15 October 2026

Claims ledger: 10 facts and where each comes from

• US enforcement of English-language proficiency and cabotage rules has hit cross-border trucking capacity, per The Loadstar on 19 October 2026.¹
• The pool of B1 drivers who move freight from Mexico into the US has been reduced by 25,000 between April 2025 and October 2026.¹
• The Laredo crossing handles about 40% of US-Mexico commercial traffic, and all of Uber Freight's counted blockages occurred there.¹
• Official daily truck crossings at the Laredo bottleneck vary between 17,000 and 21,000 trucks a day.¹
• Uber Freight counted three occasions this year when shippers reliant on B1 drivers got stuck with backlogs of 30, 40, sometimes 50 loads.¹
• Most transloading is happening at Laredo, with firms also using El Paso and some using more than one border point.¹
• Uber Freight's Zeid Houssami said the problem is not trucking equipment, with something like nine trailers available for every driver.²
• In its 13 August 2026 cross-border market update, Uber Freight described B-1 capacity as a structural constraint.²
• Export loads in Nuevo Laredo are increasingly being delayed while waiting for northbound B-1 drivers, according to Uber Freight.²
• ITS Logistics' Paul Brashier said US gateways are not seeing a significant amount of port dwell and that the shortfall is trucking capacity.³

Every figure above is tied to a cited source that was checked on the day of filing. Found an error? Tell the desk.