Mexico
Carta Porte: what a US buyer needs to know
The complemento that turns a Mexican freight invoice into a legal transport document, and what happens to a load without one.
What it is
Carta Porte is a complement to the CFDI — Mexico’s electronic invoice — that describes the goods in transit: what is being moved, from where to where, by which vehicle, with which operator, and under which permit. It is issued by the party that moves the goods and it travels with them.
It is not paperwork that accompanies the shipment as a courtesy. Without it the load is moving undocumented as far as the SAT is concerned, and the exposure lands on both the carrier and the party that contracted them.
What it requires from a carrier
| Element | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| SICT permit | A federal transport permit, by service type. It is quoted on the document. |
| Vehicle and plates | The specific unit, not a fleet. A substitution changes the document. |
| Operator | Named, with their licence. Not "a driver". |
| RFC of both parties | Tax IDs, which is why a foreign buyer usually contracts through a Mexican entity. |
| Goods, by SAT code | A catalogue code, not a free-text description. |
Why it matters at the border
A cross-border move is usually three carriers: one to the border, a transfer, and one beyond it. The Carta Porte covers the Mexican leg, and the transfer is where documentation gaps appear — the US carrier has no reason to know what the Mexican leg needed, and the Mexican carrier is the one exposed if it was wrong.
This is why a carrier’s SICT permit belongs on their profile beside their USDOT number rather than in an email thread. Which authority numbers apply is a fact about the business, not about the country it is registered in.
No sign-up, no email address, no download form. If it is useful, it is useful.