PLAYA DEL CARMEN. The shortage of heavy vehicle drivers in Mexico continues to increase. From the 50,000 that were needed two years ago, the number has now risen to 54,000, said Daniel Covarrubias, director of the Texas Center for Border and Enterprise Development.
"As long as the demand to send products to the United States continues, the need to put more trucks on the road will grow, and for that, more operators will be needed," said Leonardo Gómez, executive president of the National Private Transportation Association (ANTP).
At the 24th National Private Transportation Forum, Gómez said that this association is already working on generating instructors to develop trained drivers. These drivers will no longer rely solely on experience passed down but will be trained according to the current transportation needs, which include handling new truck technology, traffic regulations, and even basic knowledge of the English language.
The director said that with nearshoring, some highways are already becoming congested with trucks, and greater infrastructure is needed. "But with better characteristics, and that is connected with railroads, ports, and airports, to have an increasingly efficient multimodal transportation system."
He added that transporters already have the technology in trucks to be more efficient, "but we lack the fuel that these units require, as clean diesel has to be imported."
He also mentioned that to have competitive transportation, a modern fleet is needed, and for that, a scrapping program is necessary to help reduce the fleet's average age, which is currently 19 years old.
"A program directed at the Independent-Truck Owner," the director concluded.