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Mexico's truckers call indefinite strike from Monday over robbery, roads and tolls
Freight groups led by Canacar say they will protest on the move without blocking highways. The government has offered talks, and the Senate may take up the toll tax change on Tuesday.
Key points
- Cargo transport groups plan an indefinite stoppage from Monday, 26 October.
- They want action on highway robbery and extortion, bad roads and a cut to a toll tax credit.
- Organisers say about 10 lakh trucks could join, a figure no one has independently checked.
Mexico’s freight truckers plan to begin an indefinite strike on Monday, saying years of highway robbery, extortion and crumbling roads have pushed them to the limit, and that a tax change in next year’s budget is the last straw.
The national cargo chamber Canacar is leading the stoppage, joined by groups including Hamotac, Fematrac and Indeco. Organisers say they will protest on the move rather than block highways or toll plazas, though some closures are still possible.
“We do not want to stop Mexico, we want Mexico to listen to us,” Canacar said in a social media post. The groups say they want “concrete answers rather than more working tables”.
Besides crime on the roads, their complaints include heavy regulation and shrinking tax incentives. The 2027 revenue law would lower the income ceiling for a toll tax credit from 300 million pesos (about US$16.1 million) a year to 250 million pesos. Javier Borrego Adame, a deputy from the ruling party, floated a higher ceiling of about 400 million pesos before withdrawing the proposal. Senate president Higinio Martínez said debate on the measure could start on Tuesday.
The interior ministry said on Friday that it “recognises the drivers’ concerns” and offered talks, asking the groups to put dialogue first so that the public and the movement of goods would not suffer. The organisers have asked President Claudia Sheinbaum to step in, but no meeting had been announced by Saturday.
Canacar president Augusto Ramos Melo and Hamotac leader Carlos García Álvarez are among those behind the action. Organisers expect about 10 lakh trucks to take part; how many actually join will become clear only once the strike starts.