The union of cargo transporters in Colombia started 2026 on the wrong foot and with a warning that puts the country’s supply trembling.

Anderson Quiceno, president of the Freight Transporters Association, launched a call for help to the National Government, denouncing that the sector is being “suffocated” by a perfect storm of high costs and freight rates that do not rise.

According to the leader, thousands of families that depend on trucks today are working at a loss, even sacrificing the basic sustenance of their homes to be able to keep the vehicles rolling on the national highways.

The crisis of cargo transporters is worsened by the automatic increase in the prices of tolls, ACPM, oils and maintenance services, items that skyrocketed with the new year.

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Quiceno explained that, while operating expenses skyrocket, the rates they are paid to move merchandise remain stagnant at values ​​from previous years.

Added to this financial imbalance is the ordeal of road infrastructure: closures, collapses and blockages force drivers to make detours of up to 400 kilometers, which represents an extra cost of $500,000 additional pesos in fuel for each trip, money that comes directly from the trucker’s pocket.

Given the lack of solutions at the dialogue tables with the Executive and the growing institutional instability, the union declared itself a Permanent Assembly. Truckers demand a structural review of the fuel formula and real regulation of the oversupply of vehicles before the end of the current mandate.

The union leader was emphatic in warning that, if the shortage is not stopped and conditions worthy of profitability are guaranteed, the country is heading towards an imminent national strike that could paralyze the territory’s main road arteries.

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