• 7 min de lectura
• 7 min de lectura
The recovery shown in May and June in road transport attention times in Mexico's main ports found a breaking point in July of this year. The Indicator of Average Road Transport Times in Ports (ITPAP) registered an average of 11 hours, 50 minutes, and 23 seconds, compared to 6 hours, 33 minutes, and 43 seconds observed a month earlier.
The difference represents an increase of 5 hours, 16 minutes, and 40 seconds, equivalent to 80.4%, and once again places the indicator close to the levels recorded during the months of greatest operational pressure so far in 2026.
For July, the ITPAP considered 2,327 road transport movements in the ports of Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Veracruz, and Altamira, with the support of GPS operating companies and road transporters. The behavior was generalized: all four facilities registered longer attention times compared to June, although with significant differences in the magnitude of the deterioration.
The trend was also reflected in each of the processes that make up the index. The average time corresponding to customs went from 3:13:12 in June to 5:44:56 in July, an additional 2:31:44. Maneuvers increased from 1:25:53 to 2:34:14, while waiting time advanced from 1:54:38 to 3:31:13.
Thus, practically half of the total time was again concentrated in customs processes, with a participation of 48.6%; waiting time represented 29.7% and maneuvers, 21.7 percent. The distribution maintains a pattern that the ITPAP has identified during previous months: regardless of the differences between ports, customs attention continues to be the component that absorbs the most time within the operational cycle.
The most pronounced change during July occurred in Manzanillo. The port had closed June with an average of 5:34:16, but a month later the indicator climbed to 12:50:27, a difference of 7:16:11.
The deterioration was distributed among the three components. Customs increased from 2:43:36 to 6:11:30; maneuvers went from 1:12:56 to 2:45:48; and waiting time advanced from 1:37:43 to 3:53:08.
With this result, Manzanillo not only moved from second to fourth place among the analyzed ports but also registered its highest average time in the first seven months of 2026, even exceeding the levels observed between February and April.
This behavior contrasts especially with May and June, when the facility had managed to stay slightly above five hours. Thus, July abruptly interrupted the improvement it had shown during the previous two months.
In Lázaro Cárdenas, the average time went from 8:28:25 in June to 11:58:58 in July, an increase of 3:30:33.
Customs advanced from 4:09:42 to 5:52:52; maneuvers from 1:51:02 to 2:36:49; and waiting time from 2:27:40 to 3:29:17.
The result also meant a change from the downward trajectory the port had achieved after April, when it reached 16:53:10, its highest record of the year. May had reduced the indicator to 9:31:19 and June to 8:28:25, but July brought it back to practically the 12-hour mark.
Altamira, which in June had presented the shortest time among the four analyzed facilities, also did not escape the general deterioration.
Its average increased from 5:19:46 to 9:36:28, a difference of 4:16:42.
The customs component went from 2:38:23 to 4:36:02; maneuvers increased from 1:05:17 to 2:06:48; and waiting time advanced from 1:36:06 to 2:53:38.
The variation moved Altamira from first to second place in the monthly ranking. Even so, its result remained below the 13:35:29 registered in March, the longest time episode for this port during 2026.
Within a July marked by longer times, Veracruz presented the smallest variation among the four ports and ended up leading the ITPAP ranking.
The average went from 6:15:26 in June to 7:13:01 in July, just 57 minutes and 35 seconds additional, compared to increases of more than three, four, and seven hours in the other facilities.
Customs increased from 3:04:10 to 3:32:16; maneuvers went from 1:26:50 to 1:37:58; and waiting time advanced from 1:44:25 to 2:02:47.
With this, Veracruz moved from third place in June to first in July, followed by Altamira, Lázaro Cárdenas, and Manzanillo.
| ##### Port | ##### June | ##### July | ##### Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ##### Veracruz | ##### 6:15:26 | ##### 7:13:01 | ##### +0:57:35 |
| ##### Altamira | ##### 5:19:46 | ##### 9:36:28 | ##### +4:16:42 |
| ##### Lázaro Cárdenas | ##### 8:28:25 | ##### 11:58:58 | ##### +3:30:33 |
| ##### Manzanillo | ##### 5:34:16 | ##### 12:50:27 | ##### +7:16:11 |
The reading of the first seven months allows for a better understanding of the July change. The ITPAP began January with 8:47:33, increased to 11:09:20 in February and to 12:56:32 in March, reaching 13:05:46 in April, the highest national average for the period.
Then came a considerable correction. May reduced the indicator to 7:01:07 and June deepened the improvement to 6:33:43, the best result recorded in 2026.
July reversed a significant part of that progress by standing at 11:50:23. This made it the third highest average time of the year, only below March and April, and returned the indicator to a double-digit level.
Beyond monthly fluctuations, the results again show the sensitivity of port operations to the different stages that road transport must complete within the facilities. In July, it was not a single component that explained the deterioration: customs, maneuvers, and waiting time increased simultaneously, although with different intensities between each port.
And those hours have a consequence that transcends the gates of the terminals. For transport companies, a unit stopped for longer reduces its capacity to complete trips, limits the productive kilometers it can travel, and forces them to allocate more assets to meet the same demand.
It is precisely this dimension that the ITPAP will begin to incorporate into its analysis: not only how long road transport remains in ports, but also what cost it has for companies and for the logistics chain to lose productivity during those hours.
The impact of port times does not end in operation. An exercise by T21 Business Intelligence dimensions the cost for transport companies to keep their equipment immobilized during the hours required for attention in each facility, considering three main components: fuel (diesel), operator, and truck.
With the average times considered in the exercise, Manzanillo presents the highest cost per unit, with around 4,934 pesos for each cycle affected by delays; followed by Lázaro Cárdenas, with 4,626 pesos; Altamira, with 3,701 pesos; and Veracruz, with 2,776 pesos.
Considering the cost per hour for each of the concepts, the cost for each concept per port is projected, according to the average monthly time registered by each truck in the referred ports.
| Port | Average time (decimal hours) | Diesel | Operator | Truck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manzanillo | 12.8 | $2,073 | $1,190 | $1,671 |
| Lázaro Cárdenas | 12.0 | $1,943 | $1,116 | $1,567 |
| Altamira | 9.6 | $1,555 | $893 | $1,253 |
| Veracruz | 7.2 | $1,166 | $670 | $940 |
The dimension changes when these costs are taken to the average daily road transport flow. Considering around 3,000 units in Manzanillo, 1,800 in Lázaro Cárdenas, 3,200 in Altamira, and 3,400 in Veracruz, the estimated joint impact reaches approximately 44.4 million pesos daily among the four ports.
Manzanillo would concentrate the greatest impact with 14.8 million pesos daily, followed by Altamira with 11.8 million, Veracruz with 9.4 million, and Lázaro Cárdenas with 8.3 million. More than a problem limited to waiting time, these figures allow us to dimension how port inefficiencies can be directly transferred to the cost structure of road transport and, eventually, to the rest of the logistics chain.
