Laredo Moving & Storage d/b/a LMS International is a warehousing and distribution company that has positioned itself as a major import-export facility for commodities such as structural steel, steel bars and steel tubing, hot and cold rolled steel coils, steel plate, copper wire and rods, aluminum, lead, zinc and magnesium in the metals market. LMS International also handles commodities such as paper, lumber, plywood, particle board and oil field products. Our warehouse’s unique position on the Union Pacific Railroad, with a 45 car spot, has opened many opportunities to handle a large variety of products on an “as need” basis for many local forwarding agents and custom house brokers.

Laredo Moving & Storage Company was established in 1972 by Mr. Leon Hrncir. The company he had been employed by, Scobey Moving & Storage, decided to move out of the Laredo Market. Mr. Hrncir had been at Scobey as Terminal Manager and saw the potential that Laredo had to offer so he decided to stay. His first warehouse was located at 1908 Aduanales and had a 10,000 sq ft storage capacity. This warehouse was served with two 5,000 lb capacity forklifts. Laredo Moving & Storage was incorporated in 1981 and branched out into commercial storage around 1985. It was at this time that Mr. Hrncir’s son, Bill, was given that task of developing a commercial warehousing and distribution branch to diversify from the moving and storage industry.

Initially, Bill Hrncir was able to develop several small to mid-size commercial accounts and in 1990 he was able to develop a commercial relationship with the local Sam’s Warehouse. Laredo Moving & Storage provided storage for their wholesale operation into Mexico. Sam’s Warehouse stayed with Laredo Moving & Storage until they were able to build their own commercial export warehouse which was finished three years after the Laredo Moving & Storage-Sam’s relationship was established. It was during this three year period that Laredo Moving & Storage also branched out into the steel market, opening a third warehouse location in 1992. The second location was dedicated to Sam’s. It was also at this time that LMS International entered into a lease agreement with a warehouse management system provider, T-Logic, which allowed us to computerize our inventory control and give us an advantage over many of our competitors.

It was during this time that LMS’ primary steel customer requested rail access on the Union Pacific so that they could provide their customers with a second delivery option. In 1994, LMS, now doing business as LMS International, opened a fourth warehouse at 6101 Gilbert Road and moved the main office from 1908 Aduanales to this location.

During 1990 and into the early 2000, the steel market in the United States was booming, this created a large demand for importation of Mexican steel to meet the US steel demand. Based on this booming market and pressure from our customers, LMS International expanded its operations at the new Gilbert Road location by adding new warehouse space, warehouse 6B in 1996, serviced by a 20 ton crane which was able to extend over our rail spur to load and unload railcars. This addition opened new markets for our customers and soon afterwards (1997) LMS extended the addition and added a second crane, this one with a 30 ton capacity. The addition 37,000 sq ft of the crane served warehouse space was not enough to satisfy our growing customer base and their warehouse space needs. In December of 1997, LMS International acquired a new warehouse located at 5902 Riverside, warehouse 7A, and dedicated it to forklift handled material such as palletized steel coils, conduit pipe, non-hazardous chemicals, sheet rock, copy paper and household permanent storage vaults. In an attempt to ease pressure on the cranes at warehouse 6B, an addition was made in 1998 to warehouse 7B at 5902 Riverside in which a 30 ton crane was added. This addition allowed LMS International to service trailer related shipments at 7B and channel all rail related shipments to 6B. This strategy worked for a couple of years until due to increase demand for rail shipments LMS International was “forced” to expand warehouse #6 yet again.

In 2000 a second crane served addition, warehouse 6C, was constructed. This new addition is now being served by two 30 ton cranes and has the capability to access both the rail spur and to load and unload trailers in its drive through bay. The addition of all this extra storage and handling capacity came at a cost of losing dock spaces. To address this, in 2002 LMS International purchased a warehouse located at 6019 Riverside, LMS #1, this allowed us to add 14,500 sq ft of dock space with room for about 45 trailers and an additional 117,000 sq ft of storage space. This warehouse also has an additional 7,160 sq. ft. of rail dock space which allows LMS International to access an additional three railcars at a time. This rail dock space has allowed LMS International to expand its commodity base into paper rolls, lumber, plywood, copper, lead, zinc, aluminum and other forklift serviced products.

All these investments have positioned LMS International as the primary service provider for customers looking to receive or ship their commodities either via truck or especially via rail. It is LMS International goal to be the low cost, high quality, warehousing and distribution center for the Laredo area.