U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is changing commercial crossing hours at the Port of Eagle Pass, Texas, in an effort to reduce long wait times and ease congestion for trucks entering from Mexico. The changes, which take effect Monday, prioritize loaded freight while shifting empty truck movements to later in the day — a move CBP says will better utilize morning capacity and speed up overall throughput, according to a CBP issued trade notice. Under the new schedule, northbound empty commercial conveyances will only be processed from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, according to the CBP notice. By pushing empty trucks to off-peak hours, CBP aims to: window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(‘/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1’, [[300, 100], [320, 50], [728, 90], [468, 60]], ‘div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0’).defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps.banner1).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0’); }); Reduce daytime congestion at inspection lanes Improve transit times for loaded freight Better align staffing and inspection resources with demand Increase predictability for shippers and carriers Meanwhile, laden shipments, in-bond freight and formal entries will continue to move during standard hours, with weekday processing beginning as early as 7 a.m., maintaining priority access to the busiest morning crossing windows. CBP officials said the changes are designed to address persistent congestion issues at Eagle Pass, where an influx of empty tractors has contributed to longer wait times at international bridges. “The lack of utilization of morning hours for laden shipments” was identified as a key bottleneck,…
