NOGALES, AZ – A diesel fuel truck explosion on a Mexican bridge will have “minimal to non-existent” interruption of eastbound produce trade from west Mexico to Texas, according to Dante Galeazzi, chief executive officer and president of the Texas International Produce Association.

“The incident affects a portion of the highway in the state of Durango, near the western coast of Mexico," he said. "Delays may occur for product origination from states like Sinaloa or Sonora and heading to Texas, but not enough to prevent the flow of product from those shipping points to reaching the Texas points of entry.”The Sonoran Business Sensor on Jan. 15 posted this photo of a diesel tanker accident site on the Durango-Mazatlan highway. The Sensor indicated that 9,000 square feet of the highway – in both directions – were damaged on the cable-stayed bridge. This new highway is a fast route from Mazatlan to Reynosa, Mexico, bordering Pharr, TX. Photo courtesy of Sonoran Business Sensor.

The diesel tanker exploded along the Durango-Mazatlán Highway on the night of Jan. 13. The resulting fire seriously burned about 9,000 square feet of the highway leading from outside El Carrizo tunnel to a high suspension bridge.

“Regarding the delays, anytime transit time is increased in the supply chain it increases the cost to get product to market," Galeazzi said Jan 16. "In this case, some companies will also have to account for the additional driving time to circumvent the closed portion of the Durango-Mazatlan highway. That time is most likely to translate into 24 hours of advance notice on top of existing order guidelines so that the product needs can be communicated to the farm or packinghouse with enough time for the truck to drive the additional miles and make arrival by the required time to fulfill the order.”

Galeazzi, whose office is in Mission, TX, said Mexican news reports on Jan. 16 indicated that the Mexican highway authority was going to immediately have personnel on site to evaluate the damages, but that the El Carrizo bridge would remain closed for the time being.

The $2.2 billion, four-year-old highway, Mexico Highway 40D, is a fast, safe connection between Mexico’s west coast produce production areas and south Texas.

Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, based in Nogales, told The Produce News that “depending upon how long it takes them to fix the bridge, it will certainly impact the winter produce season.”

Jungmeyer noted, “When there is a six- to eight-hour delay each way, that changes the dynamic. But, that said, the industry is quick to adapt. I’m sure the Texas shippers have plans to minimize the impact to their operations. It’s important to keep the flow to the retailers, who rely on consistency and availability.”