Freight Transportation: Between Uncertainty and Reinvention

Freight transport in Mexico is much more than a logistical service, it is the backbone of foreign trade, the silent engine that connects factories, ports, customs facilities, and consumer centers. In a country where more than 80% of goods are moved by road, talking about trucking means talking about competitiveness, national security, and economic stability.

As we enter 2025, the industry stands at a critical juncture. The convergence of global factors — tariffs, geopolitical tensions, driver shortages, and growing threats to road security — forces us to rethink strategies. At the same time, it opens up unprecedented opportunities to reposition Mexico as a reliable logistics partner in North America.

The International Front: Tariffs, USMCA, and Geopolitics

The United States remains Mexico’s main trading partner, but also its largest source of uncertainty. The imposition of new tariffs — 100% on semiconductors, 50% on steel and aluminum, and 25% on automobiles — has shaken the manufacturing and transportation industries. General Motors reported profit declines exceeding 30%, while Stellantis acknowledged multimillion-dollar losses due to rising input costs.

The political backdrop is even more unsettling. The White House has announced preliminary studies ahead of the USMCA review, which could lead to tougher rules of origin or even pressure to repatriate automotive manufacturing to states such as Michigan and Ohio. For Mexico, the risks are clear: reduced automotive flows, stricter customs inspections, and tariff volatility.

Yet, opportunities remain. Carriers capable of ensuring regulatory compliance, documentation traceability, and integrated logistics services can offer their clients a crucial advantage: operations shielded from tariff penalties. In this sense, Mexican trucking plays a strategic role not only as an executor but also as a logistics adviser, guiding industry through turbulent times.

Driver Shortages: The Human Challenge

Few industries depend as heavily on human capital as freight transport. Without drivers, trucks and routes cannot operate. Today, North America faces a growing shortage of drivers: accelerated retirements, competition from more attractive professions, and new regulations, such as English-language proficiency requirements in the United States, threaten to deepen the deficit.

In Mexico, the challenge is twofold. On the one hand, the profession must be dignified: higher wages, reduced downtime at yards and customs, safer working conditions, and greater social recognition that restores prestige to the trade. Mexico alone faces a deficit of nearly 90,000 driver vacancies. On the other hand, it is urgent to build structured labor mobility schemes that allow Mexican drivers to participate in cross-border corridors, leveraging the B1 visas and bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

If new generations are not attracted to the profession, the future of Mexican logistics will be at risk. This is where government, the private sector, and organizations such as CANACAR must work together, generating training programs, certifications, and campaigns to revalue the profession.

Security: The Shadow Over Logistics

Cargo theft in Mexico has evolved from opportunistic crime into sophisticated criminal operations. Common tactics now include fake blockades, armed convoys, signal jammers, and even "express kidnappings" of drivers. The human and economic costs are enormous.

The government has responded with measures such as the “Zero Theft” plan on priority highways and the closure of clandestine access points along corridors like Mexico-Queretaro and Mexico-Puebla. However, real solutions demand more:

• Technological infrastructure: dynamic arches, secure rest stops, real-time tracking systems.
• Inter-institutional coordination: National Guard, state police, prosecutors, and customs working under a unified framework.
• Business collaboration: private investment in preventive security and joint emergency-response protocols.

At the heart of it all lies the right to free transit. Every illegal roadblock, unauthorized checkpoint, or unjustified delay translates into millions in losses and erodes investor confidence in Mexico as a logistics hub.

Economy and Inflationary Pressures

Mexico’s economy has shown resilience in 2025, with GDP expected to grow around 1%, above initial forecasts.

However, the risks are evident: declining inventories in the United States, rising import tariffs, and a historic trade deficit with China exceeding US$119 billion.

Freight transport sits at the center of this inflationary storm. Every increase in logistics costs ultimately filters through to consumer prices. The key to managing this environment is efficiency:

• Fleet renewal, using clean technologies to reduce fuel consumption.
• Route optimization, through advanced analytics and big data.
• Customer collaboration, designing logistics schemes that are more resilient and less vulnerable to external disruptions.

Infrastructure and Productivity: Building the Future

Strengthening road infrastructure is perhaps the most powerful lever for boosting productivity. Closing illegal access points, investing in surveillance towers and drones, and deploying security forces are positive steps. But further progress is needed in:

• Expansion and modernization of strategic corridors.
• Creation of more secure and fully equipped rest stops.
• Simplification of customs and border-crossing procedures.

Productivity depends not only on modern highways but also on dignified conditions for drivers: reduced waiting times, fair compensation, and recognition of their role as logistics professionals.

Leading in Times of Uncertainty

Mexican freight transport faces 2025 with enormous challenges, but also with a unique opportunity: reinvention. Trade tensions with the United States, the driver shortage, and road insecurity should not be seen merely as threats, but as catalysts for transformation.

This sector has demonstrated resilience for decades. Today, the task is to go further: to become architects of national competitiveness, not only as providers of transport, but as strategic partners for industry and trade.

The future of Mexico’s foreign trade will be decided on its highways. And success will depend on our ability to respond with vision, innovation, and unity. If history has taught the trucking industry anything, it is that even in the most adverse times roads always find a way forward.