Redwood Logistics has acquired EELCO, a Laredo, Texas-based customs brokerage and warehousing provider, a move aimed at strengthening Redwood’s cross-border logistics platform.
The deal comes as cross-border supply chains between the U.S. and Mexico grow more complex due to nearshoring trends, evolving tariff policies and stricter trade compliance requirements.
“We’ve built a very strong cross-border presence over the past eight years, but we had been offering customs brokerage through partners,” Jordan Dewart, president of Redwood Mexico, told FreightWaves in an interview. Redwood Mexico is the cross-border shipping arm of Chicago-based fourth-party logistics provider Redwood Logistics.
“The complexity of customs compliance has increased so much that customers want us to own and operate that service rather than subcontract it. We went to the market and tried to find a partner that would match Redwood’s brand and be able to deliver those services that our customers need, and we found the perfect partner with EELCO.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Redwood’s acquisition of EELCO adds licensed customs brokerage services, Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) warehousing and decades of border operations expertise to Redwood Mexico, the company’s cross-border logistics unit.
EELCO has more than 30 years of experience handling customs and logistics services along the southern border and operates a 250,000-square-foot warehouse and FTZ facility in Laredo, one of the busiest trade gateways in North America.
EELCO’s brokerage operations on both sides of the border were a major factor in the deal, Dewart said.
“They have seamless customs brokerage in both directions — U.S. and Mexican customs — along with compliance and consulting services,” Dewart said. “It really fits into what we’re trying to build with Redwood Mexico.”
Redwood Mexico has spent more than a decade developing cross-border logistics services and currently manages over 40,000 annual shipments across the U.S.-Mexico border through a network of more than 300 carrier partners.
Longtime border logistics provider
EELCO was founded in 1991 by Eduardo Lozano and has grown into a major customs brokerage and logistics provider serving manufacturers and importers moving freight between the U.S. and Mexico.
The company handled more than 114,000 customs transactions in 2023 and recently expanded its footprint with the logistics warehouse in north Laredo. It features 47 dock doors, four ramp doors, 247 trailer spaces and over 40,000-square-feet designated for foreign trade zone warehousing.
EELCO’s large warehouse campus in Laredo played a key role in the acquisition, Dewart said.
“We wanted a large footprint for warehousing and cross-dock operations,” Dewart said. “That location gives us excellent access to Interstate 35 and the World Trade Bridge, which is critical for cross-border freight.”
In 2024, EELCO opened a 250,000-square-foot logistics warehouse in North Laredo, along Interstate 35. (Photo: EELCO)
Lozano and his wife, Marta Patricia Lozano, will remain involved with the business following the acquisition, Dewart said.
Eduardo Lozano said the acquisition allows EELCO to expand its capabilities while maintaining the customer relationships and border expertise it has built over the past three decades.
“Thirty years of port relationships and expertise don’t disappear in an acquisition — they’re amplified,” Lozano said in a news release. “Within Redwood’s network, our customers will still get the specialized knowledge they rely on, now backed by greater technology and infrastructure.”
Maintaining EELCO’s longstanding customer relationships was a priority in the transaction, Dewart said.
“Their customers have told us the same thing — please don’t change anything,” he said. “So we’re not looking to disrupt those relationships that have been built over the last 30 years.”
Compliance and trade rules driving demand
The acquisition comes at a time when companies are paying closer attention to customs compliance and trade rules as tariffs, enforcement measures and nearshoring trends reshape North American supply chains.
Dewart said many shippers historically treated customs brokerage as a routine administrative function but are now reevaluating their strategies.
“Customs brokerage was on autopilot for a very long time,” Dewart said. “But tariffs forced companies to really understand their supply chains and who their customs broker is.”
He added that compliance requirements tied to trade agreements such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) are also increasing the importance of brokerage expertise.
Cross-border freight outlook improving
Dewart said Redwood is also seeing early signs of tightening capacity and rising freight rates in Mexico as manufacturing investment and cross-border demand increase.
“We’re starting to see equipment tighten and transportation rates begin to rise,” Dewart said. “This is probably the most optimistic we’ve been about the Mexico cross-border freight market in the last two years.”
He expects stronger demand later in the year as companies continue shifting production closer to the U.S.
“Nearshoring has been pushing supply chains toward North America,” Dewart said. “Compliance and cross-border logistics strategy are going to be major focus areas for companies in 2026.”
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