MEXICO – Mexico seems to be moving forward with its decision to eliminate daylight savings time, potentially affecting trade with the U.S.
The energy committee of the country’s lower house of Congress approved a bill proposing to eliminate daylight savings time earlier this month. The bill now heads to the senate.
While furniture suppliers may not be as affected as companies that transport perishable goods, an effect still may be felt.
Chicago-based Redwood Logistics believes companies will have to adjust.
“Shippers are going to have to adjust, meet both with their suppliers, such as for buying raw materials in the U.S., or their customer base as well in order to meet lead times,” Redwood Logistics Mexico division president Jordan Dewart told FreightWaves. “For example, when the U.S. changes its clocks in April, you will be losing an hour crossing the border for half of the year. That time will have to be made up by getting up earlier, sending documents earlier. Over the course of a large-scale production, that one hour a day adds up.”
Most of Mexico’s border states with the U.S. intentionally stay in the same time zone as the U.S., so the effect of DST is already minimal. However, as the two countries initiate DST at different times, there are still a few weeks when there is no synchronization.
Many furniture suppliers, including A-America, New Classic and American Woodcrafters, flocked to Mexico over the pandemic to avoid skyrocketing ocean freight rates and COVID-related supply issues out of Asia.
But Mexico has its downsides. Labor is a chief problem. So is trucking.
“We thought domestic freight would be easy,” said A-America President Christian Rohrbach. “Nope. We see a lack of trucking, drivers, and a shortage of everything. It definitely is cheaper than overseas, but it isn’t a big advantage.”
