Thought you were a business professor? Do you think all items are shipped in full truck load lots. Why do you think trucking companies have freight terminals. I'll give you an example: a friend of mine has a dozen trucks and for years he hauled general motors freight. The companies in Mexico load a full trailer of their product. It was shipped to the boarder and mixed with other general motors freight then it was delivered to Memphis Tennessee, there it was unloaded and reloaded with different amounts going to different plants. The function of the terminal was to get the most load gong to the correct plant for a single drop. If the single load out of Mexico had gone to ten different drops it would have taken days extra and cost the shipper more for each drop. No way to run a just in time manufacturing business.
The same thing happens for sea containers, they come into a port of entry they are over weight and fully packed with the same item going to many different customers They are generally short hauled to a freight forwarder that unloads and reloads the items, are they are shipped by train where they still wind up with a freight forwarder. In short most businesses do not want 44,000 pounds of widgets at one time. Lesson over!
You realize that by your analysis that you are factoring in the costs associated with Mexican truckers?
If these costs and the wages paid to Mexican truckers are indeed lower than what is paid to American truckers is lower than what is paid to them, then we are better off. If not, the marker will reflect that and the Mexican truckers will lose out to Americans