Tucked along the Arroyo Colorado in Cameron County, the Port of Harlingen may not be the first thing people think of when it comes to the Rio Grande Valley economy, but its impact is undeniable. Under the leadership of Port Director Walker Smith, the Port has grown into a critical hub for international trade, local job creation, and long-term regional prosperity.
“The Port of Harlingen provides access to the region to economical and efficient multimodal transportation: barge, rail, and truck,” Smith said. “It connects the Rio Grande Valley to the United States via the marine highway and intracoastal waterway systems, as well as internationally.”
It also serves as a vital link to Mexico through Foreign Trade Zone No. 62 — one of the largest in the country — and through its overweight corridor. In 2023 alone, Port operations generated more than $4.6 billion in economic activity for Texas and supported over 25,000 jobs statewide.
Yet the Port’s success doesn’t come without complexity. Running a port, Smith said, requires tremendous coordination behind the scenes. “At our highest point in the last five years, we had more than 800 vessel calls to our port,” he said. “That means coordinating more than 800 ships and more than 3 million tons of cargo through our 125-foot-wide channel and 400-foot-wide turning basin.”
Each vessel requires precise planning, especially when not all commodities move at the same pace. “It’s a lot more than just sending a ship, docking, and unloading,” Smith said. “Moving goods through takes a lot of communication and planning.”
That precision has fueled substantial growth. Since 2017, the Port’s waterborne tonnage has increased by 190 percent, driven primarily by the exportation of fuel to Mexico. Today, fuel accounts for 87 percent of the Port’s annual tonnage, and approximately 70 percent of the fuel used in the RGV comes through the Harlingen Port.
That growth has translated into new infrastructure. “We’ve upgraded roads to concrete to accommodate heavy-weight traffic, added truck queuing areas, improved drainage, and enhanced lighting and traffic systems,” Smith said. “Soon, we’ll be renovating docks through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Port Infrastructure Development Program.”
At peak periods, tenants at the Port have loaded 200 to 400 trucks daily — a level of activity that’s prompting plans to extend the Port’s overweight corridor to better connect with U.S. Highway 281 and Hidalgo County’s corridor. “Overweight corridors allow operators to move more cargo at once, minimizing the number of trucks on the road by a 2-to-1 ratio,” Smith said. “They also improve safety by keeping trucks off major highways, reducing speeds, and limiting travel to daytime and fair weather.”
The Port serves as a crucial lifeline for economic development, extending far beyond just logistics.“Being an economic catalyst for our community is one of our top priorities,” Smith said. “We like to say, ‘better ports mean better business.’”
The numbers bear that out. According to an Economic Impact Study by Martin & Associates, Port-related activity supports 956 direct jobs, 1,255 induced jobs, 216 indirect jobs, and over 22,000 related user positions. It also generates more than $1 billion in total personal wages and consumption expenditures and $79 million in local and state tax revenue.
While the stats are impressive, Smith said the most rewarding part of his work isn’t about tonnage or trucks — it’s about people.
“The most rewarding thing is the impact we are making on our community,” he said. “Being an outlet for people in our community to find, not just a job, but a career to help make the Rio Grande Valley a better place to live for everyone.”
As global trade demands grow and infrastructure continues to evolve, the Port of Harlingen is positioned not just as a link in the supply chain but as a central force shaping the Valley’s economic future.
