Before the Border: A Smarter Way to Move Temperature Controlled Freight Between the U.S. and Mexico

Moving temperature-sensitive food between the U.S. and Mexico is one of the most complex logistics challenges in North America. Perishable commodities, like produce and protein, must maintain precise temperature conditions across long distances, while also navigating strict regulatory requirements on both sides of the border. Border congestion, fragmented carrier networks, and time-consuming inspections create costly delays that threaten product integrity, compress shelf life, and leave shippers with limited predictability during seasonal demand surges or tight delivery windows.

In traditional models, temperature control is often treated as a transportation issue when in reality, it is a border-readiness issue.

For producers, shippers, and retailers, the stakes are high: a disrupted cold chain means more than spoiled product. It means lost revenue, missed commitments, and diminished market access.

How Americold Solves It for You

Americold, in collaboration with Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), is delivering a more reliable, efficient, and compliant cross-border cold chain solution. One that is designed specifically to eliminate the friction points that have long complicated U.S.–Mexico food logistics.

At the center of this network is Americold’s world-class import-export hub in Kansas City, purpose-built and strategically co-located with CPKC’s intermodal terminal. This direct adjacency enables seamless transfer from temperature‑controlled storage to CPKC’s single‑line rail network, creating a more predictable launch point for cross‑border shipments.

The facility serves as a consolidation and launch point for cross-border shipments, providing precision temperature control and rigorous handling standards that safeguard products within exact temperature ranges whether moving southbound into Mexico or northbound into the U.S.

One of the solution’s most powerful differentiators is onsite USDA and SENASICA inspection services completed in Kansas City fully integrated into the rail-enabled flow of freight before shipments ever reach the border.  

SENASICA, Mexico’s National Service of Health, Food Safety and Quality, oversees agri-food imports to ensure strict regulatory compliance. By managing inspections, documentation, and certifications upstream, Americold helps customers avoid the congestion and delays that routinely impact truck traffic at the U.S.–Mexico border.

By shifting inspections upstream, shipments move through Laredo with minimal dwell time, avoiding the congestion that continues to disrupt traditional, border-dependent models and protecting product integrity while accelerating delivery timelines.

CPKC’s single-line, direct rail service is central to this advantage, minimizing handling and eliminating handoffs, reducing the risk of spoilage, temperature excursions, or theft that can arise in more fragmented transport networks.

“This partnership is strengthening the most important part of the food supply chain – reliability for our customers,” said Bryan Verbarendse, President, Americas at Americold. “By combining Americold’s temperature-controlled expertise with CPKC’s single-line rail network, we’re creating a faster, more predictable, and more resilient cross-border solution. It’s a smarter way to move food, and a meaningful step toward building a North American cold chain that delivers every day.”

Together, Americold and CPKC are setting a new standard for cross-border cold chain performance, delivering faster market access, longer shelf life, and greater confidence for food shippers operating across North America.