Drivers of semi trucks and trailers who fall foul of a new law banning their circulation in the Guadalajara metropolitan area during certain hours of the day will pay a hefty price.
The fines are expected to range between 8,000 and 12,000 pesos, Jonadab Martinez, president of the Mobility Commission in the Jalisco Congress, announced last week.
Legislators approved the bill (Plan de Regulación del Transporte de Carga) that will prohibit the entry of semi trucks and trailers into the city at determined times. Although the legislation does not specify the restricted hours, it is widely accepted they will be between 6 and 9 a.m., from Mondays to Fridays.
The bill also sets an annual fee – as yet undetermined – for trucks to enter the city limits, a move heavily criticized by representatives of the transportation sector. The yearly fee could be as high as 36,000 pesos, legislators acknowledge.
The law will take effect on January 1, 2020, Governor Enrique Alfaro has confirmed.
Merchants from Guadalajara’s Abastos (wholesale) Market are among the fiercest critics of the new tariff for trucks and restrictions on morning deliveries. They warned legislators that the measures will have significant economic repercussions, and potentially affect the quality of the merchandise that is brought into the city from all over the country.
Salvador Hernández Navarro, president of the Abastos Merchants’ Union (UCMA), noted that the sprawling market located next to the yellow Millennium Arches receives 21,000 tons of food each day and 60,000 visitors, and not only impacts the lives of Guadalajara residents but millions of people throughout Mexico. He said the extra costs involved in transporting merchandise to Guadalajara will inevitably be passed on to the consumer.
Chief among the concerns of the retail sector and the market’s merchants – many of whom run small, family operations – are the lack of facilities on the periphery of Guadalajara where truck drivers can hang out during hours when they are unable to enter the city.
“The Macrolibramiento, which everyone says is the solution, has only one bathroom and toilet, no gas station, no services, no security, nothing,” noted Manuel Sánchez Benavides, vice president of the National Transportation Confederation (Conatram).
Although Conatram has agreed to the restrictions, the organization has made it clear that it is strongly opposed to the imposition of entry tariffs and will take legal action if necessary.