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San Antonio, Texas Freight Shipping Quotes
Freight Shipping in San Antonio
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that Texas shipped the most freight (by value) of any state in 2017. Totals for the year came in at $654,087 million for inbound freight, $1,561,969 million for domestic freight, and $708,661 million for outbound freight. Texas also moved the most outbound van and reefer loads in 2020, as well as the second most flatbed loads.
A lot of this freight activity takes place in the San Antonio area thanks to:
- KellyUSA, a major logistics port located in the city
- San Antonio International Airport, which offers nonstop flights to all major cities
- Two major freight railroads that service the area, linking San Antonio to both Mexico and St. Louis
- A Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), which reduces or even eliminates taxes and duties on goods exported from the area
San Antonio’s location is also key: By air, the city is only 50 minutes from Houston and Dallas and one and a half hours from Mexico City. Additionally, San Antonio serves as the processing, packaging, and distribution center for crops grown throughout the rest of Texas.
Despite all of this freight activity, typical travel times in San Antonio are slightly shorter than national averages — good news for anyone shipping freight into or out of the area.
Major Industries and Commercial Activity in San Antonio
Major industries in San Antonio include manufacturing, government, and services — more specifically, health care, business, and tourism.
The four military bases located in San Antonio — including the largest military base in the U.S. — are responsible for the prevalence of government workers there. Nevertheless, the medical and biomedical sectors make up the largest part of the San Antonio economy, and the esteemed South Texas Medical Center employs as many as 25,000 people.
As of 2020, San Antonio is home to three Fortune 500 companies: Valero Energy, USAA, and Rush Enterprises. Toyota Motor Corp. also operates a truck manufacturing plant in the city.
San Antonio is a major producer of processed foods, food handling equipment, airplane parts, structural steel, steel forms, storage batteries, semiconductors, cement, and rolled aluminum sheets.
A large variety of agricultural products also pass through San Antonio to be processed and distributed, including vegetables, citrus fruits, watermelons, pecans, dairy products, poultry and poultry products, and livestock. Produce season is heaviest in Southern Texas from April to July, during which time carriers may have reduced capacity.
California, Louisiana, Michigan, and Oklahoma are Texas’s top interstate trading partners.
How Weather Impacts Freight Shipping in San Antonio
Texas had the most extreme weather events of any U.S. state between 2007 and 2016 (32 severe storms, six droughts, five wildfires, three floods, and two hurricanes), underlining the importance of planning ahead and checking the forecast when scheduling shipments here.
While recent weather-related events in Bexar County are limited to droughts, the effects of disasters that occur elsewhere in Texas (such as hurricanes) can be far-reaching. Texas is particularly hurricane-prone (it has had the second most major and total hurricanes of any U.S. state since 1851), so keep this in mind during hurricane season (June 1-November 30).
Freight Carriers in San Antonio
The most common occupation in the state of Texas is truck driving, meaning that shippers are typically able to find a carrier for their deliveries.
Convoy’s digital freight network includes nearly 50,000 trucks that service nearly 1,000 facilities in San Antonio, giving us (and you) a leg up when it comes to finding the safest and most reliable carriers.