Carta Porte Mexico: A Guide for International Logistics

Every truck that moves goods on a federal road in Mexico must carry a Carta Porte. This is not a customs document or a delivery note; it is a SAT-validated, digitally stamped fiscal record of who is moving what, from where to where, with which vehicle and driver. For freight forwarders, manufacturers, ecommerce platforms, and any business that ships goods through Mexican territory, the Carta Porte is the single document that determines whether the shipment is legal, traceable, and deductible.

This guide covers what the Carta Porte is, who is required to issue it, how the current version 3.1 differs from earlier versions, what fields it includes, and how the document affects international logistics into and out of Mexico.

What the Carta Porte is

The Carta Porte is a mandatory complement (complemento) to a CFDI that documents the transportation of goods within Mexico. It was introduced in 2021 and became enforceable in 2022. The current version, 3.1, is mandatory for all qualifying shipments.

The legal foundation is the Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal and a series of SAT publications that detail the field requirements. The objective is to give the SAT real-time visibility into the movement of goods across the country, both for fiscal compliance and to combat fuel theft, smuggling, and tax evasion in transportation.

Who must issue the Carta Porte

Two parties can be responsible for issuing the Carta Porte, depending on the commercial structure of the shipment.

Transportation companies (carriers)

When a transportation company is hired to move goods, the carrier issues a CFDI of type Ingreso (an invoice for the freight service) with the Carta Porte complement attached. The CFDI is issued to the customer paying for the freight service, and the Carta Porte documents the physical movement.

This applies to any company providing transportation services for hire: traditional freight carriers, courier services, last-mile delivery, intermodal operators, and dedicated fleet operators.

Owners moving their own goods

When a company moves its own goods using its own vehicles (or chartered vehicles where no transportation invoice exists), the owner issues a CFDI of type Traslado with the Carta Porte complement. This document has no monetary value and is not an invoice; it is a fiscal record of the internal movement.

Common cases include:

• A manufacturer moving raw materials from a warehouse to a production facility.
• A retailer transferring inventory between distribution centers.
• An ecommerce operator moving stock from a fulfillment center to a regional hub.
• An importer moving goods from a customs facility to a final warehouse.

When the Carta Porte applies

The Carta Porte is mandatory for transportation of goods by federal road, federal railroad, maritime, or air. The threshold criteria are:

Local-only movements within a single municipality, using vehicles that do not travel on federal roads, are generally exempt, but the boundary is narrow and subject to interpretation. Most commercial logistics operations end up requiring the Carta Porte regardless because they touch federal roads at some point.

There is no monetary threshold below which Carta Porte is waived. A single pallet shipped on a federal road requires the document, just as a full truckload does.

What the Carta Porte contains

The Carta Porte complement is structurally dense. The current 3.1 schema includes approximately 200 fields organized into sections.

Sender, recipient, and intermediaries

• Sender (Emisor) and recipient (Receptor) RFCs.
• Any intermediate party in the logistics chain (freight forwarders, customs brokers).
• The owner of the goods, when different from the sender.

Origin and destination

• Full address of origin (loading point) and destination (unloading point).
• Stops along the route, with timestamps for each.
• For international shipments, the country of origin or destination using ISO codes.

Goods being transported

• Description of each item, with the SAT product code from the Catálogo de Productos y Servicios.
• Quantity, unit of measure, weight, and dimensions.
• Commercial value, currency, and exchange rate when applicable.
• Hazardous materials classification when applicable.
• Customs documentation references for imported or exported goods.

Vehicle and driver

• Vehicle license plate, year, configuration, and SCT permit type and number.
• Trailer information for tractor-trailer configurations.
• Driver's RFC, name, and license number.
• Insurance company and policy details.

Route

• Distance and travel time.
• Federal roads to be used, encoded with SCT route identifiers.
• Border crossing information for international shipments.

Carta Porte 3.1 vs earlier versions

Carta Porte has gone through three major iterations since its introduction.

Version 3.1 is the only valid version today. Any CFDI issued with an older Carta Porte version is rejected by the PAC at stamping. The detailed structure of the current Mexican Carta Porte complemento is covered in the Spanish-language Carta Porte guide.

Carta Porte for international logistics

For foreign companies and international logistics operators, the Carta Porte has specific implications that go beyond domestic shipping.

Imports into Mexico

Goods arriving at a Mexican port, airport, or land border crossing enter Mexican customs and become subject to customs clearance through a pedimento (the Mexican customs declaration). Once cleared, the goods are typically moved by Mexican carriers to their final destination, and that movement requires a Carta Porte.

The Carta Porte for imported goods must reference:

• The pedimento number assigned at customs clearance.
• The country of origin of the goods.
• The customs facility where clearance occurred.
• The commercial value and currency from the pedimento.

The foreign exporter does not issue the Carta Porte; the Mexican carrier or the Mexican entity moving the goods does. However, the Carta Porte cannot be properly composed without the customs data, so coordination between the foreign exporter, the customs broker, and the carrier is essential.

Exports from Mexico

Goods being moved from a Mexican origin to a port, airport, or border crossing for export require a Carta Porte for the domestic portion of the journey. The Carta Porte references the future export pedimento and the foreign destination.

For foreign trade transactions, the exporter typically also issues a CFDI with the Comercio Exterior complement at the time of the sale. The Carta Porte documents the movement; the Comercio Exterior complement documents the sale. They are distinct complements with distinct purposes.

Cross-border trucking

Tractor-trailer combinations that originate in the US or Canada and continue into Mexico (or vice versa) face specific Carta Porte requirements. Mexican law allows certain configurations under bilateral agreements, but the Mexican-registered vehicle moving the goods within Mexico must comply with Carta Porte.

In practice, most cross-border freight follows the drayage model: the US carrier delivers to a border facility, the load is transferred to a Mexican carrier, and the Mexican carrier issues the Carta Porte for the Mexican portion. The customs broker coordinates the documentation across both jurisdictions.

Penalties for non-compliance

Operating a vehicle on federal roads without a valid Carta Porte exposes both the carrier and the owner of the goods to consequences:

• Vehicle detention. Federal road inspections can detain the vehicle until the documentation is regularized. The associated downtime cost often exceeds the regulatory penalty itself.
• Fines. SAT can impose fines per missing or incorrect Carta Porte, scaling with the value of the goods being transported.
• Loss of deductibility. The customer paying for the freight service cannot deduct the expense if the Carta Porte is missing or invalid, which transfers commercial pressure back to the carrier.
• Cargo seizure. In serious cases, particularly involving hazardous materials or undeclared international goods, authorities can seize the cargo.

The combination of these consequences makes Carta Porte compliance a hard operational requirement, not an administrative formality.

Carta Porte compliance flow

The XML and a printable representation must accompany the cargo. Drivers carry the document (typically as a PDF on a tablet or printed copy) and present it on demand at federal road inspections.

How Fiscalapi handles Carta Porte

For carriers and shippers integrating Carta Porte into their logistics systems, Fiscalapi exposes endpoints to generate CFDIs of type Ingreso (carrier billing) and Traslado (owner transferring own goods) with the Carta Porte 3.1 complement attached. The integration handles the full schema, including route encoding, vehicle and driver data, hazardous materials classification, and international fields for imports and exports. The Fiscalapi documentation covers the Carta Porte fields and validation rules, and the GitHub repository includes Carta Porte integration examples in multiple languages.

Frequently asked questions

The compliance reality for international logistics

For international logistics into and out of Mexico, the Carta Porte adds a layer of fiscal documentation that has no direct equivalent in most other jurisdictions. The Bill of Lading documents the contract of carriage; the Carta Porte documents the SAT-recognized fiscal record of the same movement. Both are required, and one does not substitute for the other. Logistics operators that move goods through Mexico need a CFDI infrastructure capable of generating compliant Carta Porte complements at the cadence and volume of their operations, integrated with their TMS, customs, and ERP systems. The cost of treating it as a paper-pushing exercise is paid in detained vehicles, missed deliveries, and customer claims that escalate quickly.