Supporters once advertised a powerhouse trade bloc of three closely knit economies. From day to day, you don't know what's going to happen. It's contrary to the logic of Nafta. That's a major problem in today's hurry-up economy, where retailers and manufacturers demand clockwork precision in transportation to keep factories running and store shelves full. Many companies complain if freight is just 15 minutes late and can hardly imagine waiting hours for urgently needed goods.
Some improvements are already on the way, including rail yards, ship berths and bridges.
But many other plans are bogged down by complex bureaucratic rules or local resistance. Meanwhile, some bridges and other facilities built in recent years are in little-used places or have bad connections. A crossing in Calexico, Calif., waited months for a highway to be built on the Mexican side. For a while, the U.S. road connected to nothing but sand dunes. Nafta itself didn't make any provisions for new infrastructure.