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Metro record

Lumper services in Nogales

Nogales is Arizona's produce gateway: winter fruit and vegetables cross at Mariposa, and lumping companies here work cold docks against a season that runs October to May.

26 lumping companies on the record

Lumping companies serving Nogales, AZ

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Dock labor in Nogales, AZ

Agencies on the record
26
Dispatching to the metro directly
0
Covering the whole state
3
Nationwide operators
23
Places inside the market
8

Nogales sits at the Mariposa Land Port of Entry, the commercial truck crossing rebuilt by the General Services Administration and the main produce gateway on the Arizona border, while the DeConcini crossing downtown carries passenger traffic. Loaded trailers leave Mariposa on SR 189, which the Arizona Department of Transportation rebuilt with direct ramps to Interstate 19, then run north through Rio Rico and Tubac to Tucson, where I-10 splits toward Phoenix and toward El Paso. Union Pacific's Nogales branch line ends at the border and interchanges with Ferromex on the Sonora side.

Trailer unloading concentrates in the cold storage and forwarding houses along Mariposa Road, Frank Reed Road and Target Range Road, with newer distribution buildings in Rio Rico. The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas has been headquartered in Nogales for decades, and the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports Nogales as a shipping point for west Mexican tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, bell peppers, eggplant, grapes and melons. Customs brokerage, federal inspection and cold chain handling all sit within a few miles of the crossing, so third-party unloading is a routine line item rather than an exception.

Demand follows the crossing season. From October through May, lumper crews and freight unloaders strip hand stacked cartons off Mexican trailers, restack them to domestic pallets, stage lots for inspection and cross dock into reefers bound for national grocery distribution centers. Volume thins in summer, though maquiladora plants in Nogales, Sonora keep floor loaded auto parts, electronics and medical device freight moving north year round. Crews here are typically bilingual and used to loads never built to a US pallet pattern.

Last reviewed September 2026

Nogales, AZ on the record

  1. Mariposa is the commercial truck crossing at Nogales, expanded and modernized by the federal government, while the DeConcini crossing downtown handles passenger and pedestrian traffic.

    Source: U.S. General Services Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry information

  2. State Route 189 is the truck route linking the Mariposa port of entry to Interstate 19, rebuilt with grade separated ramps under ADOT's SR 189 improvement project.

    Source: Arizona Department of Transportation, SR 189 improvement project

  3. Nogales is a reported shipping point for west Mexican tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, bell peppers, eggplant, grapes and melons crossing during the fall through spring season.

    Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service shipping point and movement reports

  4. Union Pacific's branch line to Nogales terminates at the border and interchanges with Ferromex, which serves Sonora and the Pacific corridor into Sinaloa.

    Source: Union Pacific system and interchange maps; Ferromex network map

  5. The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, the trade group for importers of Mexican produce, is headquartered in Nogales.

    Source: Fresh Produce Association of the Americas

  6. Interstate 19 between Nogales and Tucson is signed in kilometers rather than miles, the only mainline interstate signed that way.

    Source: Arizona Department of Transportation

Inside the Nogales, AZ market

Mariposa Road corridorFrank Reed Road warehouse districtTarget Range RoadRio RicoTubacAmadoNogales International Airport industrial areaNogales, Sonora

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Questions about dock labor in Nogales, AZ

When is the busy season for dock labor in Nogales?

Roughly October through May, with the heaviest weeks from December into April, when USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports peak crossings of Mexican tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. Summer is the slow half of the year.

Why do so many Nogales loads need repalletizing rather than a straight unload?

Trailers from Sinaloa and Sonora often arrive hand stacked or on pallets that do not match domestic 48 by 40 patterns. Crews break the load down, restack to US pallets, sort by lot for federal inspection, then cross dock to outbound reefers.

Is there work outside the produce season?

Yes, but thinner. Maquiladora plants in Nogales, Sonora ship auto parts, electronics and medical devices north through the year, and much of that freight moves floor loaded, which keeps hand unloading work steady in the manufacturing warehouses.