I-10. I-35. I-37. Nowhere else in Texas do all three meet. That's exactly why San Antonio has quietly become one of the state's most important freight hubs, not because of size alone, but because of where it sits. The city is positioned at the intersection of three major interstates, within a short haul of the busiest inland port on the U.S.-Mexico border, and inside one of the fastest-growing metro regions in the country.
For business owners evaluating where to base distribution or which freight transportation company to trust with their supply chain, San Antonio's geography is worth understanding on its own merits.
The Interstate Advantage: I-35, I-10, and I-37
San Antonio's freight relevance starts with its highways, specifically with the fact that it sits directly on three interstates that each serve a different strategic purpose.
I-35 is the backbone of what's often called the NAFTA (now USMCA) corridor, running from Laredo on the Mexican border north through San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth before continuing to Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and eventually the Great Lakes region. For any business moving freight between Mexico and the central United States, I-35 through San Antonio is very likely part of that route.
I-10 runs east-west, connecting San Antonio to Houston and the Gulf Coast in one direction and to El Paso and Southern California in the other. This gives San Antonio-based freight a direct line to two of the busiest port and distribution markets in the country without leaving a single interstate.
I-37 connects San Antonio south to Corpus Christi, linking the city to Gulf Coast shipping and the energy and petrochemical freight that moves through that port.
Few Texas cities sit at the convergence of all three. That combination is a big part of why San Antonio functions less like a regional stop and more like a distribution crossroads for freight moving in every direction: north-south between Mexico and the Midwest, and east-west between the Gulf Coast and the Southwest.
Port San Antonio: A Multimodal Logistics Asset
Much of San Antonio's freight infrastructure is anchored by Port San Antonio, a former Air Force base redeveloped into a 1,900-acre logistics and industrial complex. What makes it notable for shippers isn't just its size. It's that it combines three transportation modes in one location.
The Port's Railport facility connects directly to Union Pacific and BNSF Railway lines, giving tenants rail access without needing a separate drayage move to reach a rail yard. On the highway side, the Port offers direct truck access to I-10, I-35, and I-37, so freight arriving by rail can move onto the interstate system with minimal friction. And through Kelly Field, Port San Antonio operates the region's largest runway for industrial air cargo, rounding out ground, rail, and air connectivity in a single logistics ecosystem. For businesses that rely on more than one mode of transportation or want the flexibility to switch between them, that kind of multimodal access in one location is uncommon.
Proximity to Laredo: The Busiest Land Port in the Western Hemisphere
San Antonio's location roughly 150 miles northeast of Laredo puts it within a short truck haul of the single busiest land port of entry in the Western Hemisphere. Port Laredo recorded $353.94 billion in trade in 2025, a year-over-year increase of nearly $15 billion, with more than 97% of that trade tied directly to Mexico. That volume makes the Laredo border crossing the primary gateway for U.S.-Mexico commerce, and nearly all of that freight (inbound or outbound) moves by truck at some point in its journey.
For businesses with supply chains that touch Mexican manufacturing, agriculture, or cross-border retail, that proximity matters in very practical terms: shorter transit times between the border and inland distribution, easier access to drayage and cross-dock capacity, and a shallower learning curve for carriers who already run that corridor regularly. A freight transportation company based in San Antonio isn't just "near" the border. It's positioned on the direct route nearly all of that trade has to take to reach the rest of the country.
The Role of Trucking in Regional Supply Chains
Rail and air matter, but trucking is what actually connects them to the businesses that need the freight. Nationally, close to three-quarters of everything the country consumes moves by truck at some point. That share is arguably even more pronounced in a corridor like San Antonio's, where freight crossing at Laredo has to reach a rail yard, a warehouse, or a final destination that no train or plane can reach directly. Trucking is the connective tissue between Port San Antonio's rail and air capacity, the Laredo border crossing, and the businesses across Texas and the Texas Triangle (San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth) that depend on that freight arriving on schedule.
For logistics managers, this is the practical takeaway: a strong trucking partner isn't a commodity service bolted onto the "real" infrastructure of ports, rail, and highways. It's the piece that makes all of that infrastructure usable for an actual business trying to get product from point A to point B.
What This Means for Your Business
If your company ships freight to, from, or through Texas, San Antonio's combination of interstate access, multimodal port infrastructure, and proximity to the busiest border crossing in the hemisphere is more than a geography lesson. It's a reason to evaluate freight partners based in the region. A carrier operating out of San Antonio has shorter deadhead distances to the border, direct highway access to the Gulf Coast and the Midwest, and firsthand familiarity with the lanes that move the bulk of Texas's cross-border and interstate freight.
GH Logistics has operated as a San Antonio-based, asset-based carrier for 25 years, running dry van, refrigerated, and power-only freight across a network that reaches all 48 states. We know this corridor because we run it every day.
Looking for a freight partner who understands San Antonio's role in your supply chain? Contact our transportation team to talk about your lanes and freight needs.
Contact our team