(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on April 21.)
Earlier this month, officials from the ports of San Antonio, Texas, and Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, signed an agreement in Mexico City calling for information sharing, cooperation and the development of a logistics corridor between the two ports.
The pact likely will benefit Kansas City Southern, primarily by promoting the Class I’s International Intermodal Corridor as an efficient means of moving goods between Asia, Lazaro Cardenas and San Antonio, KCS officials believe. The agreement also will provide greater exposure to rail service provided by KCS subsidiaries The Kansas City Southern Railway Co. and Kansas City Southern de México S.A. de C.V., the officials said in a “KCS News” item posted on the Class I’s Web site.
KCS currently offers a one-stop border crossing procedure, which includes Mexican and U.S. customs requirements and a help desk in Lazaro Cardenas administered by business partner TCS. The Class I’s logistics chain is helping shippers save one to two days (via land and water) in overall transit times, KCS said.