Customs mission! Students help NASCAR cars cross into Mexico

The customs challenge encountered by hundreds of haulers during the NASCAR Mexico City Weekend was overcome by a transnational agency with the participation of engineering and business students from Tec de Monterrey’s Laguna campus.

Fifteen students traveled to Laredo, Texas, to help the Kalisch Alonso customs agency with immigration procedures for more than 100 trailers loaded with competing cars, equipment, and tools.

Ana Luisa Díaz, Camila Ramírez, and María Fernanda Martínez said that it was an enriching and challenging experience, as it involved participating in a customs process that took many hours.

“We were reviewing the customs declarations while another person handed over the (immigration) documents that the drivers needed, which we had to translate at the same time.

“Our job in general was to help facilitate customs procedures and provide support in any way we could,” said María Fernanda Martínez.

“It’s incredible to participate by working on such large projects.” - Ana Díaz

Run! NASCAR overcomes bi-national logistics challenge

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) brought the first points-scoring race outside the United States in modern history to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.

This event also represented a logistical challenge: transporting 132 haulers, operated by 264 drivers, from Michigan and North Carolina to Mexico City, a distance of 3,694 kilometers.

Among the haulers’ stops was Laredo, Texas, where logistics company Rock-it Cargo requested that the customs agency Kalisch Alonso handle the trailers’ immigration process.

The customs agency, which had previously collaborated on a project with engineers from Tec de Monterrey’s Laguna campus, returned to the university to request the support of the institution’s students.

Nancy López, Director of the International Business Program (LIN), said the students helped the drivers with the immigration and customs process for everything that had to cross the border.

Ana Luisa, a sixth-semester LIN student, said that at the end of the program, two haulers told them that it was reassuring to have their help, especially since they had never been to Mexico before.

“It was cool to hear them say that we could help them [...] It’s amazing to participate by working on such large projects,” she said.

In the end, Tec de Monterrey students in Torreón handled the customs process for more than 100 haulers, which arrived on time at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez racetrack on the morning of June 10.

The haulerswere distributed across nine different brands, including NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR central operations, Goodyear tires, and broadcasting.

NASCAR Mexico City Weekend was held on June 13, 14, and 15, featuring NASCAR Cup Series andNASCAR Xfinity Series point-scoring races.

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