Truck dispatch in San Diego, CA

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Freight in San Diego

Otay Mesa, inside the city on the Mexico border, is the only port for commercial trucks in the western San Diego region, according to the city's community plan. BTS counts 990,111 trucks entering the U.S. there in 2025 (1,059,759 in 2024), the second most of any port on the Mexico border after Laredo. Caltrans' freight plan says it handles the third-highest value of trade among U.S.–Mexico land ports ($53.5 billion in 2021), with plastics and rubber, paper, electronics and electrical machinery, cars and light trucks, food, grain and farm products. The city plan explains how it works: goods are transferred at truck depots in Otay Mesa, short-haul drayage trucks make the actual crossing, and long-haul trucks pick up at the yards, which sit mostly northeast of the port and along Siempre Viva Road. A second crossing, Otay Mesa East, is being built with a new SR 11 toll road; SANDAG lists it as in progress.

The Port of San Diego runs two cargo terminals with on-dock rail. The 96-acre Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal handles refrigerated containers, breakbulk and bulk, with about 300,000 sq ft of on-dock temperature-controlled space. Dole vessels call at the port every week, and San Diego Refrigerated Services stores food in about six million cubic feet of cold space. The 135-acre National City Marine Terminal is the port's roll-on, roll-off terminal, where Pasha Automotive Services processes imported vehicles. On the farm side, San Diego County's 2024 crop report totals $1.67 billion; nursery crops (bedding plants, ornamental trees and shrubs, and indoor plants) make up about $1.08 billion, and avocados $99.4 million. Inland, Caltrans counts about 18,500 trucks a day on I-15 at SR 78 in Escondido and about 12,800 on I-805 in Chula Vista.

Major shippers and freight hubs

Listed for context from official sources. Fleetorica isn't affiliated with these companies or groups, and we don't claim them as customers. Port tenants are from the Port of San Diego's own pages; farm values are from the County of San Diego's 2024 crop report release.

Main routes and truck traffic

The highways most loads in and out of San Diego run on: I-5, I-805, I-15, I-8, SR 905, SR 125, SR 11, SR 94, SR 52.

I-5 runs north along the coast through Oceanside and Camp Pendleton to Orange County and Los Angeles, and south to the San Ysidro border. I-805 parallels it inland from San Ysidro to Sorrento Valley. I-15 runs north through Escondido to Temecula, the Inland Empire and Las Vegas, and I-8 runs east over the mountains to El Centro, Yuma and Arizona. SR 905, a six-lane freeway opened in 2012, links I-5 and I-805 with the Otay Mesa port, and SR 125, the South Bay Expressway, is a toll road from SR 905 north to SR 54 in Spring Valley.

In Otay Mesa, the city plan names Britannia Boulevard and La Media Road as the designated truck routes to the port, with SR 905, Otay Mesa Road, Airway Road and Siempre Viva Road running east–west. Trucks heading into Mexico are inspected by Mexican customs, so the city separates loaded and empty trucks into different southbound queues. Near the border, Caltrans counts about 2,130 trucks a day at the SR 905 truck entrance to the port, 91% of all traffic there.

Lane planner: what a load out of San Diego really pays

Pick a lane, type the broker's offer, and see your miles, driving time, fuel and what's left after dispatch.

Miles are estimates (straight-line distance × 1.13). Check your truck GPS before you accept a load. Driving days assume the 11-hour driving limit.

Who hauls out of San Diego

About half of the for-hire carriers based in San Diego run a single truck or less. That's who we work for: owner-operators and small fleets who want a dispatcher handling the load boards, broker calls and paperwork. One FMCSA record lists power units but no trucks or tractors, so we left it out of the truck count.

Largest for-hire carriers based in San Diego

By trucks reported to FMCSA, from the Company Census File for companies with a physical address in San Diego, CA, as of October 28, 2026. Listed for reference only; Fleetorica isn't affiliated with these companies. Check any carrier or broker with our carrier and broker lookup.

Truck parking and weigh stations

Both rest areas are in Caltrans' rest area data as of October 2026. Space counts are truck/bus spaces from Caltrans' 2011 rest area master plan, the latest per-site count Caltrans has published. The plan notes there is no rest area on I-5 south of Aliso Creek, and the next one north is Tejon Pass, 147 miles away. Source

Caltrans' 2022 truck parking study lists San Diego among its very high priority regions. Its San Diego district (District 11) has 1,185 truck spaces against peak demand of 938, yet about 437 trucks parked outside designated spots at the peak hour. Source

Caltrans' 2023 freight plan says the Port of San Diego, Caltrans District 11 and SANDAG are looking for truck parking near the working waterfront and near the Otay Mesa port, and that the Truck Net truck stop near the Otay Mesa port got California's first public chargers for heavy electric trucks in March 2023. Source

Weigh stations

CHP's Otay Mesa Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility, on Enrico Fermi Drive next to the border, inspects commercial vehicles entering California from Mexico, checking equipment, loading and driver qualifications, and it also oversees the Tecate facility on SR 188, about 18 miles east. Source

Heading north, the San Onofre scales check I-5 in both directions about 13 miles north of Oceanside; CHP says about 180,000 commercial vehicles pass through each month. On I-15, the Rainbow scales near Fallbrook check both directions and are open 24 hours. Caltrans lists PrePass and Drivewyze as bypass systems in California; trucks without a bypass must pull into any open station. Source

Freight calendar for San Diego and California

When freight picks up in and around San Diego. Bars show the months; each line links its official source.

What we book, by truck type

Dry van

Cross-border freight from Otay Mesa yards, from electronics to paper and plastics, plus port imports, ships north all year. We look for the reload before you deliver.

Reefer

Produce and food cross at Otay Mesa, fruit and frozen food come through the Tenth Avenue terminal, and avocados and nursery plants ship from the county. Your reefer unit must be reported in CARB's ARBER system.

Flatbed

Breakbulk such as steel coils moves out of the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, and construction keeps flatbeds busy. We check securement and tarp needs before we book.

Power only

Otay Mesa truck depots stage trailers waiting to cross or to head north. We confirm the trailer, the pickup number and that the trailer meets California rules before you hook.

Box truck

Parcel, grocery and final-mile deliveries across San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido and Oceanside keep 26-foot box trucks busy.

How we dispatch here

• Before your first California load we confirm a 2010 or newer engine, Clean Truck Check compliance and, for reefers, ARBER reporting
• Fleetorica dispatches on the U.S. side: we book loads from Otay Mesa yards and confirm the pickup number and yard hours, not the border crossing itself
• Heading north on I-5 you'll pass the San Onofre scales, and on I-15 the Rainbow scales, which CHP runs 24 hours, so we plan legal weights before pickup
• Caltrans rates San Diego a very high priority for truck parking, with about 437 trucks parked outside designated spots at the peak hour, so we lock in your 10-hour break before you roll
• California trucks with three or more axles must stay in the far-right lane or a marked truck lane, so we plan transit on I-5 and I-15 at truck-lane speeds

State rules, permits and taxes are on our California dispatch page.

Pricing

A percentage of the load's gross, quoted for your truck and lanes, charged only on loads we book. No contract, and your first load is free.

Other cities we cover in California

Bakersfield · Fresno · Los Angeles · Ontario · Sacramento · Stockton

Questions carriers ask