Mexico lifts empty-truck ban at Eagle Pass after 700 tractors stranded
Mexican customs authorities lifted the empty-truck restriction at the Eagle Pass–Piedras Negras crossing on Monday, ending a five‑day halt that left nearly 700 tractors stranded on the U.S. side. The move restores normal flow at a crossing that typically handles about 1,000 commercial vehicles daily and processes roughly $3.8 billion in annual trade.
The restriction, in place since September 9, had permitted loaded trucks to enter Mexico but barred empty trailers and tractors operating without trailers from crossing southbound. As a result, commercial traffic at the Eagle Pass international bridges fell from roughly 1,000 trucks per day to between 300 and 400, according to the city’s bridge director. The regional export manufacturing association estimated that the halt could have imposed logistics losses of up to $1 million per day on dependent manufacturers and carriers. The reversal followed talks on Monday between industry representatives, ANAM, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Mexican Consulate, and it also averted a planned trucker protest at the crossing.
Mexico’s National Customs Agency (ANAM) imposed the empty‑truck restriction on southbound crossings at Piedras Negras on September 9, allowing only freight‑laden trucks to pass. The measure was initially said to remain in effect until further notice, and by Monday nearly 700 tractors were stranded in Eagle Pass without a way to return to Mexico.
What we know
By Monday, nearly 700 tractors were reportedly stranded in Eagle Pass without a way to return to Mexico, according to Elías Tarín, president of the Consejo Binacional de Transportistas, according to news outlet Zocalo.
Patricia Mancha, international bridge director for the city of Eagle Pass, told the City Council on Monday that commercial traffic had dropped from approximately 1,000 trucks per day to between 300 and 400.
According to WorldCity data, Eagle Pass ranked as the nation’s 10th-largest border crossing in 2025 by trade volume in March and handled $3.77 billion in total trade.
On Sept. 8, the day before the restriction took effect, 996 tractor-trailers crossed the city’s international bridges, according to Mancha.
Alejandro Ruiz Rueda, president of the regional export manufacturing association INDEX, estimated the restriction could have caused logistics losses of as much as $1 million per day.