Mexican customs authorities have lifted a five-day restriction that prevented empty commercial trucks from crossing into Mexico through Eagle Pass, Texas, after the measure left hundreds of tractors stranded on the U.S. side of the border.
Mexico’s National Customs Agency (ANAM) restored southbound crossings for empty trucks on Monday, Sept. 14, after the restriction was introduced on Sept. 9.
Under the measure, loaded commercial trucks continued to enter Mexico, while empty trailers and tractors operating without trailers were prohibited from crossing from Eagle Pass into Piedras Negras. The local customs administration had initially said the restriction would remain in place until further notice, according to Periodico La Voz.
By Monday, nearly 700 tractors were reportedly stuck in Eagle Pass and unable to return to Mexico, according to Elías Tarín, president of the Consejo Binacional de Transportistas, as reported by Zocalo.
Tarín said the permits held by the Mexican carriers affected by the restriction prevented them from simply rerouting their tractors through another border crossing, including Del Rio, Texas.
The interruption also had a significant effect on commercial traffic through the Eagle Pass international bridges.
Patricia Mancha, the city of Eagle Pass’ international bridge director, told City Council members Monday that commercial traffic had fallen from roughly 1,000 trucks a day to between 300 and 400.
WorldCity data shows that Eagle Pass ranked as the 10th-largest U.S. border crossing by trade volume in 2025 in March, handling $3.77 billion in total trade.
Among the main commodities imported from Mexico into Eagle Pass by commercial truck are commercial delivery trucks, passenger cars, beer, motor vehicle parts and household appliances such as refrigerators, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Mancha said 996 tractor-trailers crossed Eagle Pass’ international bridges on Sept. 8, one day before the restriction began.
The Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass gateway typically processes about 1,000 commercial vehicles each day, including loaded trucks, empty trailers and tractors traveling without trailers.
The restriction also created additional costs and operational difficulties for manufacturers and transportation companies that depend on the crossing.
Alejandro Ruiz Rueda, president of the regional export manufacturing association INDEX, estimated that the disruption could have generated logistics losses of up to $1 million per day.
ANAM has not publicly released a detailed explanation for targeting the Piedras Negras crossing with the restriction.
The decision raised concerns among transportation companies and customs brokers because empty equipment is an essential part of the cross-border freight cycle. After Mexican trucks deliver international shipments into the U.S. border region, tractors and trailers often need to return empty to Mexico so they can be used for the next load.
Mexico’s national trucking association, CANACAR, warned during the disruption that carriers were dealing with higher costs, equipment accumulation and growing uncertainty around their operations.
Industry pressure preceded the reopening
The restriction was reversed after transportation industry representatives met Monday with Mexican and U.S. officials to address the consequences of the measure.
Tarín said representatives met with ANAM, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Mexican Consulate to outline the risks and potential consequences of keeping the restriction in place.
Later that same day, customs authorities in Piedras Negras issued a notice confirming that empty commercial vehicles could once again travel from the United States into Mexico.
The reopening also prevented a possible trucker protest.
Transporters had discussed blocking access to the Piedras Negras commercial crossing on Monday in response to the restriction. The planned demonstration was canceled once customs authorities reinstated empty-truck movements.
ANAM’s notice effectively restored the normal movement of empty cargo vehicles from Eagle Pass into Piedras Negras.
Separately, Mexico’s Tax Administration Service and ANAM reported this week that an electrical problem affecting government servers caused intermittent outages in the country’s DODA customs-clearance document system on Monday and Tuesday.
Officials said the system had been fully restored by 11 a.m. Tuesday and was operating normally as of Wednesday.
That computer-system outage was unrelated to the empty-truck restriction at Piedras Negras.
Why it matters: Cross-border trucking relies on the rapid repositioning of tractors and trailers. Restricting empty equipment disrupted the movement needed to support subsequent loads, even as loaded trucks continued to cross the international bridges linking Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras.
