Dry van trucking in Texas from the West Coast

Texas freight in a dry van

El Paso’s economy is tied to the plants across the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, which assemble electronics, auto parts, appliances and medical devices for the United States market. Components arrive at El Paso warehouses by the vanload, cross for assembly, and come back as finished goods that ship out again in 53 foot vans. Retail and grocery distribution for west Texas and southern New Mexico adds its own flow.

Dallas and Fort Worth form one of the largest distribution markets in the country, with warehouses ringing the Metroplex that load and unload vans around the clock. Far to the south, Laredo is the largest land port on the border with Mexico, and its warehouses handle trade freight in vans before and after the crossing.

Texas size and weight rules for a van

Texas allows 14 feet of height, but above 13 feet 6 inches the driver is responsible for making sure the truck clears every bridge and structure. Width is 102 inches, and a semitrailer may be as long as 59 feet, not counting the hitch, so a 53 foot van is comfortably legal.

Gross weight is 80,000 pounds including enforcement tolerances, with 20,000 on a single axle, 34,000 on a tandem and the bridge formula. Trucks running on natural gas or battery power may carry up to 2,000 pounds more, to 82,000.

Texas has no ports of entry for domestic trucks; the ports named in its size and weight law are the crossings on the Mexican border. A weight enforcement officer, including a Department of Public Safety trooper, who believes a loaded truck is overweight can weigh it on portable or fixed scales or send it to the nearest scale. Vans loaded within the legal limits have nothing to worry about there.

Our Texas lanes

Los Angeles to El Paso is the Texas lane we run regularly: dry vans that load around Carson, Torrance and the rest of the South Bay, roughly 810 miles of Interstate 10 through Phoenix and Tucson, and two days for one driver. Our own tractors pull many of these vans. Vans also come into El Paso from Yuma and the Imperial Valley, and we quote El Paso to Los Angeles, El Paso to Phoenix and El Paso to Las Vegas for the trip back west.

From El Paso, partner carriers take vans east several times a year on El Paso to Dallas, following Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 across west Texas. We also quote El Paso to Laredo, El Paso to Denver and Fort Collins, and longer runs east when a shipper needs them.

Wind, ice and the border peak

Spring brings strong west winds to El Paso and the Interstate 10 corridor, with blowing dust that can slow traffic and close stretches of road for a time. In north Texas, a winter ice storm can shut down the Dallas and Fort Worth highways for a day or more, and trucks stop until the roads are treated.

The months before the holidays are a busy stretch on the border, when plants in Ciudad Juarez ship finished electronics and appliances for the retail season, and van capacity out of El Paso tightens. Plan those loads early.

El Paso keeps Mountain Time, while Dallas, Fort Worth and Laredo are on Central Time, so set each appointment by the clock at that dock.

Booking a Texas van

Send the pallet count and size, the weight and the delivery hours. When the freight is headed for a Juarez assembly plant, name the El Paso warehouse or transfer yard that receives it; that is where we deliver, since cross border trucking is not something we offer. For Dallas and Fort Worth, give us the appointment number, since large warehouses there work by appointment.

The shipper seals the van and writes the seal number on the bill of lading. One dispatcher follows the truck across four states from Southern California, keeps you updated and sends the signed receipt when it delivers. Start on the quote form.