Mexico Energy Reform FAQs

Union Pacific’s gateway coverage allows the broadest and most direct access to Mexico of all the U.S. Class I railroads. LPG and petroleum products currently ship over the following gateways: Calexico, El Paso, Nogales, Eagle Pass, Laredo and Brownsville.

The border crossing you use will depend on where you’re shipping to in Mexico. A Union Pacific sales representative can help you identify the most efficient route based on your origin and destination. Please contact your Union Pacific representative or the Mexico Energy Reform Team for more information.

Union Pacific connects with the two major Mexican railroads: KCSM and FXE. By interchanging with these railroads, and with the help of transload facilities and short line railroads, we can access most energy markets in Mexico. To learn more about estimated transit times, please contact your Union Pacific representative or the Mexico Energy Reform Team, who will provide more information based on your shipment’s origin and destination.

Union Pacific works with a wide array of terminals, refineries and transload sites across the United States and Canada to design solutions for your Mexico shipping needs. To identify a loading site, please contact your Union Pacific representative or the Mexico Energy Reform Team.

Rates can be found here. Should you have any further questions, please contact your Union Pacific representative or the Mexico Energy Reform Team for more information.

The Union Pacific credit application can be found here. You must have a MyUPRR user ID and password to apply for credit.

Union Pacific has the ability to provide either Rule 11 or thru-rates depending on the particular shipping lane. Please contact your Union Pacific representative or the Mexico Energy Reform Team for more information.

Union Pacific can help connect you with a third-party transloader in Mexico. If you’d like to see a list of transload facilities in Mexico, our logistics partner, Loup, offers a “Find a Transload Facility” search on their website. If you have additional questions about finding an unload site, please contact your Union Pacific representative or the Mexico Energy Reform Team.

Despacho Previo is a process Union Pacific developed for clearing southbound rail shipments into Mexico to comply with the customs requirements set forth by the Mexican government. Despacho Previo aims to reduce congestion and interchange delays at the border, and allows for the interchange of run-through trains rather than individual cars expediting southbound shipments. The process applies to all car types, with the exception of intermodal equipment.

To learn more about exceptions to free time, please contact International Customer Care & Support, which provides 24/7 support.

A U.S. freight forwarder gathers and sends clearance documents. Please ensure that all shipments to Mexico are through-billed to the Mexico destination and that the waybill contains both the U.S. freight forwarder and the Mexican customs broker.

To learn about requesting permits for embargoes, please contact the Embargo Team.

Union Pacific adheres to AAR regulations on tank car shipments for LPG and petroleum shipments, and we accept the usage of all private tank cars in accordance with the FAST Act. Please reference the FAST Act for the latest information on acceptable rail cars.

Tank cars are privately owned and are not provided by Union Pacific. Should you need help finding a supplier to purchase or lease cars, please contact your Union Pacific representative.

Locomotive assets, crews and network capacity are all critical operational resources. Efficient use of these resources allows safe, reliable and efficient movement of freight for our customers. Accessorial charges are in place to incent the best of use of these resources. The associated fees and parties billed can be found in the Accessorial Charges Reference Guide.

A guide for opening service issues can be found through our Case Management system. Please direct any additional questions to International Customer Care & Support.