The executive vice president of the National Chamber of Freight Transport (Canacar), Refugio Muñoz, said that, shortly, they will seek a rapprochement with the new Undersecretary of Transport, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, to resume the work agenda that has as main points : retake the creation of the general law of motor transport, the unit renewal program and the lack of operators.
“For us, the change is still a surprise. We had been working well with the team of former Undersecretary Carlos Morán, because we agreed on the need to create better conditions for the development of cargo transportation in Mexico,” he commented.
After knowing the changes, this Thursday morning, there was a meeting of the National Executive Commission of Canacar, where the associates requested a quick meeting to reposition their concerns, since there is confidence that there will be a good disposition.
In a brief comment, Jiménez Pons assured that he has been instructed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to “modernize and make the transport sector more efficient.”
As the first topic pending for Canacar is the discussion of the initiative for a general law on motor transport, to replace the current Law on Roads, Bridges and Federal Motor Transport, because a detailed regulation is required for the sector they represent. “The initiative is in the Chamber of Deputies. The aim is that by having a general law, liability limits are established at the different levels of government (federal, state and municipal) to put a stop to the intention of many entities and municipalities to over-regulate our activity, which ultimately affects the country’s economy,” explained Muñoz.
Secondly, there is the need to once again promote the unit renovation program (scrapping), which during the current six-year term has not been mentioned in this regard and is urgently needed to improve safety conditions on the highways, combat pollution and make services more efficient.
“The truth is that we have insisted on this issue, but there is no sensitivity yet,” added the representative of the freight carriers.
Regarding the lack of operators, Refugio Muñoz estimated that there is a deficit of about 50,000, which has limited the growth of some companies. As an alternative solution, he said that they have a project to involve youth scholarship holders building the future that could create about 5,000 drivers each year.
Another issue that is also present on the agenda is the consignment note, a document that the authorities require from the first day of this year where information comes from the carrier, the owner of the merchandise, the goods or merchandise, the medium and the transport mode. “It came into force in January and we already issued it. Although there is a trial period for the last day of March to be operating and issuing without sanctions. We are already complying, but other particularities need to be considered. There are advances in the rules, but we feel that there is a need to add two or three more and we will continue saying it”.
alejandro.delarosa@eleconomista.mx