Ports · Caribbean coast of Guatemala
Santo Tomás de Castilla: the Caribbean is 294 km away.
Guatemala’s Caribbean port and its neighbor, Puerto Barrios, on one page: who operates, how you get in, how much weight the road allows and when there is a ban on heavy trucks.
Santo Tomás → Guatemala
Port profile: who operates and what it moves.
Guatemala’s Caribbean coast has two neighboring ports: Santo Tomás de Castilla, state-owned, and the private terminal at Puerto Barrios. The profile puts them side by side.
| Item | Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla | Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | EMPORNAC (state-owned) | Chiquita Guatemala, S.A. |
| What it handles | Multipurpose: containers, dry and liquid bulk, liquefied gas, refrigerated cargo and ro-ro. | Dry and refrigerated (reefer) containers, general cargo and vehicles. |
| Coast | Caribbean coast of Guatemala | Caribbean coast of Guatemala |
| Official site | santotomasport.com.gt | puertobarrios.gt |
| Reference city | Ciudad de Guatemala | Ciudad de Guatemala |
| Distance by road | 294 km | 293 km |
| Road | CA-9 Norte | CA-9 Norte |
| Data quality | verifiedProfile taken from the operator or the authority. | verifiedProfile taken from the operator or the authority. |
Last reviewed: September 2026. Reference values. They have to be confirmed with the terminal operator before loading. Distances are indicative: those from WFP (PMA/WFP) were measured for a light vehicle and are not navigation data. View the 7 sources (some in Spanish)
EMPORNAC — Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla; Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios — nosotros; Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios — políticas de ingreso (22-jul-2026); PMA/WFP LCA — Guatemala, puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla; PMA/WFP LCA — Guatemala, Puerto Barrios; PMA/WFP LCA — Guatemala, road network (2016); PMA/WFP LCA — Guatemala, evaluación portuaria.
More data: Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios
- Private operator since 1990, with a contract until 2048 according to the operator itself.
- Static capacity of 3,078 containers, 4 mobile cranes and 500,000 TEU handled in 2021.
How to read this profile.These are reference values compiled from public sources: port operators, authorities and the press. They do not replace confirmation from the terminal operator or the traffic authority. Gate hours, appointments and road restrictions change without notice: they have to be confirmed with the operator before scheduling the load.
By road: CA-9 Norte.
The reference connection between Santo Tomás de Castilla and Ciudad de Guatemala, in figures; the route is drawn on the map at the top of the page. The distances are for planning; they are not navigation data.
294km
From Santo Tomás de Castilla to Ciudad de Guatemala, according to public sourcesindicative298km
The same stretch, measured on the OpenStreetMap road networkThe planner measures on the OpenStreetMap network, which is why its distance differs slightly from that of the public sources.
Road: CA-9 Norte.
Distance: Km 294 according to EMPORNAC’s official address and 295 km according to WFP; Puerto Barrios is 7.7 km away.
This profile does not publish truck times: they change with the departure time, the line at the gate and the state of the road.
What shapes the trip
Guatemala suspends the movement of heavy trucks on long holidays, with authorized routes to the ports, and restricts rush hours in the capital. A new ministerial agreement (acuerdo ministerial) is published every year: the list shows the last one verified.
Holy Week ban on heavy trucks
Acuerdo Ministerial 239-2026 (CIV): heavy trucks over 3.5 t are barred from the road from Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 12:00 to Sunday, April 5, 2026 at 23:59. Exempt: food, perishables, beverages, fuels, tow trucks and audiovisual equipment for authorized events. Authorized routes to ports: from km 290 of CA-9 Norte toward Puerto Barrios and Santo Tomás de Castilla, and from km 80 of CA-9 Sur “A” toward Puerto Quetzal. Validation by QR code at validacion.dgt.gob.gt.
Validity and source of the data: Holy Week 2026 (agreement published on March 16, 2026). A new agreement is issued every year, a few weeks ahead; in 2025 Acuerdo 538-2025 applied, with the same pattern. Agreement number, dates and exemptions: official source; hours, weight threshold and routes to ports: press reports, consistent with the official 2025 agreements.
Year-end ban on heavy trucks verified
Acuerdo Ministerial 2031-2025: vehicles with a gross weight over 3.5 t are barred from the road from December 24, 2025 at 12:00 to December 25 at 24:00, and from December 31, 2025 at 12:00 to January 1, 2026 at 24:00. Same exemptions and authorized routes to ports as in Holy Week.
Validity and source of the data: Year-end 2025 (agreement published on December 17, 2025). A new agreement is issued every year, a few weeks ahead.
Rush hours in Ciudad de Guatemala
There is a rush-hour restriction on cargo transport in Ciudad de Guatemala and neighboring municipalities. Confirm the current hours before scheduling the load.
Validity and source of the data: Existence confirmed in the SIECA/JICA Master Plan (August 2023); hours not verified.
Last reviewed: September 2026. Reference values. They have to be confirmed with the traffic authority before dispatch. View the 7 sources (cataloged in Spanish)
DGT Guatemala, Acuerdo Ministerial 239-2026 (16-mar-2026); DGT Guatemala, Acuerdo Ministerial 538-2025 (8-abr-2025); DGT Guatemala, Acuerdo Ministerial 2031-2025 (17-dic-2025); SIECA/JICA (2023), Plan Maestro Regional Indicativo de Movilidad y Logística, apéndices (archivo 1); La Red 106.1 (16-mar-2026); Centra News (16-mar-2026); Infobae (17-mar-2026).
Weight you can load: the road decides.
The limit is not set by the container alone: the road sets it. In Guatemala, for international cargo, the gross vehicle weight (tractor, chassis, container and cargo together) has a maximum that depends on the axles of the combination.
37,000kg
Maximum gross weight · 2-axle chassis (T3-S2)41,000kg
Maximum gross weight · 3-axle chassis (T3-S3)16,000kg
Maximum on the tandem axle20,000kg
Maximum on the tridem axleRegulation: Acuerdo Gubernativo 379-2010 (Reglamento para el Control de Pesos y Dimensiones de Vehículos Automotores y sus Combinaciones). Weighing tolerance: overweight is not allowed; only a 5% load imbalance between axles is accepted (according to the Dirección General de Caminos, 2012).
How much cargo the container has left
From the gross weight, subtract the tractor, the chassis and the empty container. What is left is the payload: an indicative calculation with reference tares and the limit of the Central American Agreement, which governs international cargo in Guatemala. Confirm it with the actual tare of the equipment before dispatch.
| Container | 2-axle chassis (T3-S2) | 3-axle chassis (T3-S3) |
|---|---|---|
| 20’ standard | 23,000–23,244 kg | 26,000–26,350 kg |
| 40’ standard | 21,600 kg | 24,600 kg |
| 40’ HC | 21,400 kg | 24,400 kg |
| 40’ HC reefer | 19,919 kg | 22,867 kg |
Last reviewed: September 2026. The country’s legal limit and our own payload estimate with reference tares; they are not data from GoTruck’s equipment. The container’s plate and the limit of each axle group prevail. View the 7 sources (cataloged in Spanish)
Dirección General de Caminos de Guatemala — presentación de oct-2012 (alojada por un tercero; no es el texto legal); SIECA / COMITRAN — Acuerdo Centroamericano sobre Circulación por Carreteras, versión 2014; SIECA — Situación actual de los protocolos (vigencia por país); Maersk — Central America transport weight regulations (4-dic-2025); Crowley — Guatemala export weight restrictions (16-mar-2015); Seaboard Marine — Equipment; ONE — Container Specifications.
Notes on the regulation: axles, overweight and genset
- The weights and axles shown are those for international cargo (37 t = 5 + 16 + 16; 41 t = 5 + 16 + 20): they are firm, they match the Central American Agreement, in force for Guatemala, and Maersk publishes them.
- Domestic dry cargo, according to the Dirección General de Caminos (2012): T3-S2 37,960 kg (5,000 + 16,480 + 16,480) and T3-S3 42,080 kg (5,000 + 16,480 + 20,600). Indicative figures.
- Indicative record: the domestic figures, the length, the tolerance and the procedures come from a 2012 DGC presentation; the text of A.G. 379-2010 could not be read in the official source.
- Overweight detected: the vehicle does not continue until the excess is removed or the imbalance corrected; there are 24 hours to remove the excess and scale staff do not guard the cargo (according to the DGC, 2012).
- Santo Tomás de Castilla: a 2015 shipping line notice states that the port weighs export containers on entry and that the excess is transloaded or moved to 3-axle chassis; current validity not verified.
- Reefer container: the genset weighs 621 to 830 kg without fuel, and that weight is subtracted from the cargo allowed.
How each payload figure was estimated
- 20’ standard, 2-axle chassis (T3-S2): 37,000 kg − tractor and 2-axle chassis 11,650 kg − container 2,300 kg. Tare derived from a 2015 Crowley table (equipment in Guatemala). The maximum is the figure from that same table, not an independent confirmation. High risk of exceeding the 16 t tandem. Applies to Guatemala (international cargo), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 20’ standard, 3-axle chassis (T3-S3): 41,000 kg − tractor and 3-axle chassis 12,700 kg − container 2,300 kg. Tare derived from a 2015 Crowley table (equipment in Guatemala). The maximum is the figure from that same table, not an independent confirmation. Applies to Guatemala (international cargo), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 40’ standard, 2-axle chassis (T3-S2): 37,000 kg − tractor and 2-axle chassis 11,650 kg − container 3,700 kg. Tare derived from a 2015 Crowley table (equipment in Guatemala). Applies to Guatemala (international cargo), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 40’ standard, 3-axle chassis (T3-S3): 41,000 kg − tractor and 3-axle chassis 12,700 kg − container 3,700 kg. Tare derived from a 2015 Crowley table (equipment in Guatemala). Applies to Guatemala (international cargo), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 40’ HC, 2-axle chassis (T3-S2): 37,000 kg − tractor and 2-axle chassis 11,650 kg − container 3,900 kg. Tare derived from a 2015 Crowley table (equipment in Guatemala). Applies to Guatemala (international cargo), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 40’ HC, 3-axle chassis (T3-S3): 41,000 kg − tractor and 3-axle chassis 12,700 kg − container 3,900 kg. Tare derived from a 2015 Crowley table (equipment in Guatemala). Applies to Guatemala (international cargo), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 40’ HC reefer, 2-axle chassis (T3-S2): Operator data, not our own calculation: maximum cargo Crowley published in 2015 for a 40’ reefer container with its equipment in Guatemala, on a 2-axle chassis (43,914 lb). Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
- 40’ HC reefer, 3-axle chassis (T3-S3): Operator data, not our own calculation: maximum cargo Crowley published in 2015 for a 40’ reefer container with its equipment in Guatemala, on a 3-axle chassis (50,413 lb). Indicative estimate, not a legal limit: the container plate and the limit of each axle group govern, and the axle group limit is usually reached before the gross total; the total assumes the front axle loaded to its maximum, which rarely happens. It is confirmed with the actual tare of the equipment.
Before the gate: appointments and entry.
What each operator publishes for whoever arrives with the truck. Where it says an item is not published, the operator does not make it public: you have to ask for it.
Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla
- EMPORNAC offers an appointment system for export cargo (24/7 scheduling), public container lookup, the “Puerto Seguro” permit system and a port status dashboard.
- Appointment rules, windows and gate hours: not published.
Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios
- Since Jul 22, 2026, export trucks may enter within the 5 days before their vessel berths (previously 60 hours); international transit has no restriction.
- The operator states that port services are available 24 hours a day.
Last reviewed: September 2026. Taken from what each operator or authority publishes; what is marked as indicative comes from secondary sources cited in the profile. Hours are always checked with the operator. View the 3 sources (cataloged in Spanish)
EMPORNAC — Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla; Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios — nosotros; Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios — políticas de ingreso (22-jul-2026).
Before sending the truck.Gate hours, appointments and requirements change without notice. They have to be confirmed with the terminal operator on the same day. The documents for the trip are listed in Documents: DUCA-T, waybill.
GoTruck in Guatemala: the regional dry van gets there.
This page is a reference profile for anyone planning cargo through Santo Tomás de Castilla. Guatemala is a destination for GoTruck’s regional dry van, which leaves Costa Rica with a waybill (carta de porte) and under customs transit (in-bond).
Santo Tomás and Barrios: neighbors, not the same.
How many kilometers is it from Santo Tomás de Castilla to Ciudad de Guatemala?
About 294 km by road, on CA-9 Norte, as a reference value. Detail of the sources: Km 294 according to EMPORNAC’s official address and 295 km according to WFP; Puerto Barrios is 7.7 km away. This profile does not publish truck times: they change with the departure time, the line at the gate and the state of the road.
Are Santo Tomás de Castilla and Puerto Barrios the same port?
No. Santo Tomás de Castilla is operated by EMPORNAC (state-owned). Terminal Ferroviaria Puerto Barrios is operated by Chiquita Guatemala, S.A. (private operator since 1990, with a contract until 2048 according to the operator itself).
How do you get into Santo Tomás de Castilla and Puerto Barrios?
EMPORNAC offers an appointment system for export cargo (24/7 scheduling), public container lookup, the “Puerto Seguro” permit system and a port status dashboard. Appointment rules, windows and gate hours: not published. At Puerto Barrios: since Jul 22, 2026, export trucks may enter within the 5 days before their vessel berths (previously 60 hours); international transit has no restriction.
How much weight does Guatemala allow for a container by road?
In Guatemala, for international cargo, the maximum gross vehicle weight (tractor, chassis, container and cargo together) is 37,000 kg with a 2-axle chassis (T3-S2) and 41,000 kg with a 3-axle chassis (T3-S3). As an indicative reference, a 40’ HC container has 21,400 kg left for cargo with 2 axles and 24,400 kg with 3 axles; the actual figure depends on the tare of the equipment assigned. Run the numbers with your pallet in the load calculator.
Are there bans on heavy trucks on the way to Santo Tomás de Castilla?
Yes: Guatemala suspends the movement of heavy trucks during Holy Week and at year-end, by ministerial agreement (acuerdo ministerial). A new agreement is issued every year, a few weeks ahead, with authorized routes to the ports. The details of the last agreement published are under By road.
Does GoTruck move containers at Santo Tomás de Castilla?
This page is a reference profile. What GoTruck offers to Guatemala is the regional dry van, which leaves Costa Rica with a waybill (carta de porte) and under customs transit (in-bond). If your cargo goes from Costa Rica to this area, tell us what you need to move.
After the port: the border crossing and the route.
Cargo to Guatemala? Tell us.
The regional dry van leaves Costa Rica and crosses through to Guatemala. Tell us what you are moving and where it is going.