Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Hundreds of local truck drivers joined in a nationwide protest Monday stressing Riviera Maya highway traffic. Large industrial-sized vehicles were seen stretched for more than two kilometers on roads between Cancun and Playa del Carmen in support of the protest.
The move was part of a nationwide trucker’s protest led by the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar) who cite insecurity, extortion, and high operating costs as the reason.
Canacar president Augusto Ramos Melo reported two days before the protest that truck drivers around the country would be “raising the voice of the freight transport industry” on Monday.
“All the truckers in the country are speaking with one voice. We are representing ourselves and raising the voice of the freight transport industry,” he said in a video Saturday.
He also said drivers across all 32 states with the Cámara Nacional del Autotransporte de Carga (Canacar) would be participating. According to Ramos Melo, the trucking industry is halting talks with federal authorities due to persistent problems with insecurity and extortion on the country’s highways.
The union representative also indicated that more than 10 percent of the vehicle fleet is currently out of service due to a lack of operational resources.
Ramos Melo explained that the protest is taking place in Mexico’s slow lanes without completely blocking highway traffic and has estimated around one million trucks have participated across Mexico.
