Prime Gears Truck HouseUSDOT 2318417 · MC-793104 · LAREDO, TEXAS
A reefer trailer backed into a dock at night under sodium lamps.

Laredo, Texas · since 2012

Prime GearsTruck House

USDOT 2318417 · MC-793104 · SCAC PTKL
C-TPAT certified carrier · 14802 Mines Road (FM 1472), Laredo, TX 78045

One load number and one seal number, from the plant door in Apodaca to the dock in Elwood, Illinois.

Yard occupancy · Mines Road2026-08-28 04:41 CT
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291 / 412 spotsoccupiedreleasedheld
Northbound · gate to gatelive
  1. PT-26-11482semáforo VERDEAPODACA NL ELWOOD IL · caja directa · seal 0094117 · SCN matched · 04:51
  2. PT-26-11483semáforo ROJORAMOS ARIZPE COAH WILMER TX · transbordo · seal 0094118 · SCN pending · reconocimiento aduanero
  3. PT-26-11484semáforo VERDEJUÁREZ CHIH TOLLESON AZ · caja directa · seal 0094119 · SCN matched · 06:12
  4. PT-26-11485semáforo VERDESANTA CATARINA NL KANSAS CITY MO · caja directa · seal 0094120 · SCN matched · 05:38
  5. PT-26-11486semáforo VERDESALTILLO COAH OKLAHOMA CITY OK · caja directa · seal 0094121 · SCN matched · 07:04
  6. PT-26-11487semáforo VERDETIJUANA BC MIRA LOMA CA · caja directa · seal 0094122 · SCN matched · 03:19
  7. PT-26-11488semáforo VERDEGARCÍA NL JOLIET IL · transbordo · seal 0094123 · SCN matched · 09:47
  8. PT-26-11489semáforo ROJOAPODACA NL SAN ANTONIO TX · caja directa · seal 0094124 · SCN pending · detención 03:12
  9. PT-26-11490semáforo VERDEJUÁREZ CHIH ALBUQUERQUE NM · caja directa · seal 0094125 · SCN matched · 05:02
  10. PT-26-11491semáforo VERDERAMOS ARIZPE COAH MEMPHIS TN · caja directa · seal 0094126 · SCN matched · 06:55
  11. PT-26-11492semáforo VERDESALTILLO COAH ONTARIO CA · caja directa · seal 0094127 · SCN matched · 08:21
  12. PT-26-11493semáforo VERDEAPODACA NL ATLANTA GA · transbordo · seal 0094128 · SCN matched · 11:36

For carriers

Join the corrida

published rates · net 5 on POD · $0 factoring
detention billed off the gate clock

See what we pay

For shippers

Get a corridor quote

four line items · P50 4h51m · P90 19h20m at Laredo
one load number, three tractors

See the four line items

El Cruce

Everyone owns a leg.
Nobody owns the seam.

“El retraso nunca está en el puente. Está entre dos llamadas.”
The delay is never on the bridge. It’s between two phone calls. — Roy Villarreal
  1. CFDI · Carta Porte · DODA
  2. Carta Porte
  3. pedimento · semáforo fiscal
  4. ACE e-manifest · SCN · PAPS
  5. SCN matched · released
  6. BOL
  7. POD
PLANTAPODACA, NL
HIGHWAYMEX-85
PATIONUEVO LAREDO, TAMPS.
TRANSFISTAWORLD TRADE BRIDGE
PATIOMINES ROAD, LAREDO TX
OWNER-OPERATORI-35 NORTHBOUND
DOCKELWOOD, IL
PRIME GEARS AUTOTRANSPORTES DE MÉXICOOEA transportista terrestre
PRIME GEARS TRUCK HOUSE · TRANSFISTAC-TPAT · FAST lane
PARTNER CARRIER · MC 1104xxxla corrida
LOAD PT-26-11482SEAL 0094117

Three carriers. Two countries. The load number and the seal number never change.

A trailer crossing an elevated span at night, seen from below.

Roy Villarreal ran this span for nine years and about26,000 crossings before he owned anything. He had never driven farther north than Encinal.

World Trade Bridge, northbound queue

For shippers

What you are actually paying for

Every cross-border quote you have been given was one blended number. Ours is four, and here is one load worked to the dollar.

APODACA, NL → WORLD TRADE BRIDGE → WILMER, TXload PT-26-11482 · seal 0094117
  1. 01
    MEXICAN LINEHAULApodaca plant dock to the Nuevo Laredo patio, Prime Gears Autotransportes tractor.
    $1,180
  2. 02
    TRANSFER SERVICEThe transfista and the 1.6-mile crossing itself, World Trade Bridge.
    $340
  3. 03
    US LINEHAULMines Road patio to the Wilmer dock, partner owner-operator.
    $1,290
  4. 04
    TRANSLOADOnly if the program requires it. On caja directa this line is zero and the seal is never broken.
    $0
Total, door to door$2,810
A tractor staged on the yard beside empty flatbed trailers.
Mines Road · staged for the 05:00 tender

La Corrida

We are the customer
on the rate con

Not a broker. The standing northbound program out of four patios, for companies running one to three trucks.

RATES
Published per lane, per equipment, dated and signed by Roy every Monday. Nobody in this industry publishes.
PAY
Net 5 on POD scan. Cost to you: $0. Scan by Wednesday 18:00 CT, the money lands Friday. In 2025 Prime Gears carriers paid $0 in factoring — $1,106,000 they kept.
WHAT IT COSTS US
So you know: we carry about $433,000 outstanding at any moment, roughly $39,000 a year. A promise whose cost you can't show is a promise you can't keep.
DETENTION
$65/hr after two hours, billed off the patio gate clock, not off an argument. Paid to you whether or not we collect it. In 2025 we failed to collect $214,000 and paid it anyway.
DEADHEAD
11.4% empty on Corrida Fija against 16.7% nationally, because we hold southbound reposition instead of selling it.
NO
No contract, no forced dispatch, no registration fee, no monthly minimum, no dispatch commission.

Corrida Fija

96companies41loads / truck, 2025

Prime Gears is the primary customer.

Corrida Abierta

178companies30loads / truck, 2025

Prime Gears is not the primary customer.

We publish both. Showing only the first would be a lie of omission, and you would do that arithmetic in four seconds anyway.

We verify your CDL, your medical card and your insurance. Nothing else. We accept ITIN for payment.

We are not a law firm and we are not notarios. We give no immigration advice. If somebody tells you they can get you a CDL, they are lying to you.

El Recibo

Every January
we hand you one sheet

This is what the corrida was worth in dollars — and what you paid us for it.

EFRAÍN S.
Carrier
1104xxx
MC
Corrida Fija
Tier
01 JAN 2025 – 31 DEC 2025
Period
41
Loads
  1. FACTORING NOT PAID41 loads settled net 5 at $0. At a 3.5% market factoring rate you would have paid this.
    $3,197
  2. DETENTION COLLECTEDBilled off patio gate timestamps at $65/hr after a two-hour grace, paid whether or not Prime Gears collected it.
    $5,900
  3. EMPTY MILES NOT RUN11.4% empty against a 16.7% national average, on your Prime Gears-loaded miles only.
    $4,780
  4. INGLÉS DE BÁSCULAForty minutes a week with Sgt. (ret.) Daniel Salinas.
    $0
  5. LA MESA DE IDENTIDADDaily monitoring of your MC on SAFER.
    $0
Total value$13,877
What you paid Prime Gears$0

El Semáforo

A crossing time is
a distribution

crossing-time index · published every Monday 06:00 CT
week 399 · 24 August 2026 · free, no signup

Green light is four to eight hours. Red adds twenty-four to forty-eight. Anyone quoting you a cross-border ETA is quoting you the P50 and hoping.

0–2
2–4
P504h51m4–6
6–8
8–12
12–16
P9019h20m16–20
20–24
24–32
32–40
P9941h40–48
48+
gate-to-gate hours, World Trade Bridge northboundcleared greenreferred red
GatewayNB P50NB P90NB P99SB P50SB P90SB P99
WORLD TRADE BRIDGELAREDO, TX4h51m19h20m41h3h12m11h04m26h
COLOMBIA SOLIDARITYLAREDO, TX3h38m9h47m22h2h51m7h19m17h
YSLETA–ZARAGOZAEL PASO, TX5h22m16h41m37h3h47m10h12m24h
OTAY MESASAN DIEGO, CA2h56m8h33m19h2h14m6h02m14h

Method

Measured: our own gate-to-gate scans at four bridges, northbound and southbound. Not measured: anyone else’s freight, or time spent before a tractor reaches our patio. Sample this week n = 273 loads. Published every Monday since 7 January 2019. If the number is wrong, tell us and we’ll correct it in the next issue.

Open the archive →

Los Patios

Four yards.
Three gateways.

Each gateway is a different business, with different freight, different brokers and a different clock. We run all three and we say which is which.

LAREDO, TX

68%

14802 Mines Road (FM 1472), Laredo, TX 78045

11
acres
412
spots
18
doors
Bridge
World Trade Bridge
Downstream
I-35 → San Antonio → Wilmer/Alliance → Oklahoma City → Kansas City → Joliet/Elwood IL
Freight
Appliances, auto parts, steel, packaged consumer goods
Yard manager
Jesús "Chuy" Rentería

opened 2012

NUEVO LAREDO, TAMPS.

Blvd. Luis Donaldo Colosio, Nuevo Laredo

6
acres
180
spots
6
doors
Bridge
World Trade Bridge (south side)
Downstream
MEX-85 → Monterrey · MEX-40D → Saltillo · MEX-57 → SLP/Querétaro
Freight
Staging and interchange for the northbound program
Yard manager
Elsa Peña Barrera (documentation)

opened 2014

EL PASO, TX

21%

Zaragoza Rd, El Paso, TX

3
acres
96
spots
4
doors
Bridge
Ysleta–Zaragoza, FAST lane
Downstream
I-10 west → Tucson → Phoenix/Tolleson · I-25 → Albuquerque → Denver
Freight
Electronics, harnesses, machinery, medical
Yard manager
Beto Salcido

opened 2017

OTAY MESA, CA

11%

Siempre Viva Rd, San Diego, CA

4
acres
128
spots
6
doors
Bridge
Otay Mesa
Downstream
SR-905 → I-805/I-15 → Chula Vista, Mira Loma, Rialto, Moreno Valley
Freight
Medical devices, televisions, consumer electronics
Yard manager
Diana Quiñones

opened 2021

A tractor parked among stacked containers in a yard.
Interchange · bonded trailer-days · gate scans timestamped

We do not move produce.

Not Pharr, not Nogales, not Mariposa. Different physics, a different inspection stack (APHIS PPQ, FDA Prior Notice), different brokers, and hours that do not tolerate dwell. We would be bad at it.

We send the call to Sáenz Produce Logistics, Rio Bravo Cold Chain, and Nogales Fresh Forwarding.

La Gente

Trust is a person,
not a logo

People check a carrier by asking someone’s name. Here are the names, and the numbers that reach them directly.

  1. 01

    ROGELIO "ROY" VILLARREAL CANTÚ

    Founder · 14 years

    Signs the rate sheet by hand every Monday.

    +1 956 555 0112
    Direct
    05:00–19:00 CT
    Staffed
    Laredo, TX
    Based
  2. 02

    ELSA PEÑA BARRERA

    VP of documentation · 13 years

    Runs La Mesa de Documentos. 1,107 SCN mismatches caught before departure in 2025.

    +52 867 555 0140
    Direct
    06:00–18:00 CT
    Staffed
    Nuevo Laredo, Tamps.
    Based
  3. 03

    KARINA ESCAMILLA MÚZQUIZ

    Head of dispatch · 9 years

    La voz de la corrida. If you have run a Prime Gears load, you have talked to her.

    +1 956 555 0127
    Direct
    05:00–23:00 CT
    Staffed
    Mines Road, Laredo
    Based
  4. 04

    JOSÉ REFUGIO "CUCO" ALMAGUER

    Head of transfistas · 19 years

    About 38,000 crossings. Interviews every man who works the span.

    +1 956 555 0133
    Direct
    04:00–16:00 CT
    Staffed
    World Trade Bridge
    Based
  5. 05

    NAYELI CAVAZOS TIJERINA

    La Mesa de Identidad · 7 years

    Calls you at 06:00 if somebody edits your MCS-150.

    +1 956 555 0149
    Direct
    06:00–18:00 CT
    Staffed
    Mines Road, Laredo
    Based
  6. 06

    SGT. (RET.) DANIEL SALINAS

    Inglés de Báscula · Since July 2025

    Thirty years, Texas DPS Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Laredo roadside.

    +1 956 555 0155
    Direct
    Sat 07:00–11:00 CT
    Staffed
    Mines Road, Laredo
    Based

On the corrida

  • EFRAÍN S.Fort Worth, TXMC 1104xxxdry van10 years on the corrida
  • MARISOL T.Joliet, ILMC 1287xxxreefer6 years on the corrida
  • J. GUADALUPE R.Laredo, TXMC 0998xxxdry van13 years on the corrida
  • HÉCTOR M.Oklahoma City, OKMC 1156xxxdry van4 years on the corrida

Every dispatch seat is bilingual by hiring requirement, not by department. 74 employees: Laredo 39, Nuevo Laredo 23, El Paso 6, Otay Mesa 6.

Dos Días

Two days that
changed how we run

Straight from the operating log, with the dates. A company this old has scars, and the scars are the proof of age.

APRIL 2022

The Texas DPS 100% inspection blockade

Texas DPS began enhanced inspections on every commercial vehicle crossing from Mexico. The World Trade Bridge queue went from hours to days. We rerouted 61 loads to Colombia Solidarity, held 40 at the Nuevo Laredo patio rather than let them sit on the bridge burning reefer fuel, and called every customer before the customer called us.

61
LOADS REROUTED
40
HELD AT PATIO
9 of 9
CUSTOMERS CALLED FIRST

FEBRUARY 2026

Tariff whiplash

The IEEPA tariff terminated and a Section 122 10% took its place. Overnight, USMCA certification of origin was worth 10% of load value on every affected SKU. La Mesa de Documentos re-certified origin on 340 SKUs across nine customers in eleven days. Elsa did not go home much that month.

340
SKUs RE-CERTIFIED
9
CUSTOMERS
11
DAYS

Dispatch +1 956 555 0127

WhatsApp +1 956 555 0127

Karina Escamilla Múzquiz · 05:00–23:00 CT Mon–Sat