Mexican Truckers Suspend Strike Across 19 States, Warn Blockades Could Return

Mexico's truckers have suspended a nationwide strike that blocked highways at 38 locations across 19 states — but the deal they signed with the Interior Ministry (Segob) commits the government to nothing more than negotiations, and carrier leaders say blockades will resume if talks stall.

The suspension, agreed after negotiations between Segob and four trucking organizations, covers talks on highway security, infrastructure, taxation, labor regulations and social security. The four groups at the table: the National Chamber of Freight Transport (CANACAR), the Honorable Mexican Alliance of Transport Organizations (HAMOTAC), the Mexican-American Federation of Transporters (FEMATRAC) and the Organization for the Integration of Conventional Rights (INDECO).

Leaders were blunt that this is a pause, not a settlement.

What started the blockades?

Demonstrations began Monday, with truckers protesting cargo theft, extortion, violence against drivers and rising operating costs. Segob counted 38 protest sites in 19 states, with 691 vehicles and 858 participants. CANACAR disputed that tally and claimed the movement reached all 32 Mexican states — a gap of more than a dozen states between the official and industry counts that neither side has reconciled.

The grievances are not abstract. According to media reports citing CANACAR representatives, 15 truck drivers have been killed in Mexico this year, including three in Veracruz and two in San Luis Potosí.

At a Tuesday news conference after talks with federal officials, HAMOTAC national president Carlos García Álvarez thanked striking truckers and credited them with forcing officials to negotiate. FEMATRAC president Lauro Rincón Hernández put security first among the industry's demands.

"We cannot continue to endure more highway robberies, more loss of property, more truck drivers murdered," Rincón Hernández said, according to Mexican transportation publication T21.

García Álvarez, speaking to Mexican journalist Azucena Uresti, said the suspension followed months of discussions with federal officials — but that highway insecurity remains unresolved. "It seems like a crime to be a transport worker," he said.

What the fear factor means for recovery of stolen trucks

Two structural problems surfaced in the talks that numbers alone don't capture. Drivers and fleet owners are reluctant to report crimes because they fear retaliation from criminal organizations, which means official theft statistics likely understate the problem. The industry also reports difficulty recovering stolen commercial vehicles even after authorities locate them — a recovery-chain failure the negotiations have yet to address with any concrete mechanism.

Four negotiating tracks, no deadlines yet

The carrier groups outlined four negotiation areas with federal agencies:

• Fiscal policy and fleet modernization — tax incentives, financing and measures to help carriers replace aging trucks
• Highway security
• Highway infrastructure
• Labor regulations and social security

CANACAR president Augusto Ramos Melo said the industry wants simplified social security requirements and cheaper options for small carriers and independent operators. Talks will also cover proposed workweek reductions and how driver hours and overtime are calculated.

Ramos Melo emphasized that small businesses dominate Mexican trucking, which makes regulatory and administrative costs disproportionately heavy. He said the organizations will push for agreements with defined timelines rather than open-ended discussions — a caveat worth holding onto, since no timelines have been set so far.

Will the blockades come back?

FEMATRAC's representative in Guanajuato, Irma Serrano, told Mexican outlet La Silla Rota that national leaders briefed regional representatives on the agreements. The suspension, she said, is temporary and depends on whether authorities commit to specific deadlines. No date has been announced for renewed demonstrations — which is not the same as saying they are off the table.

For shippers and forwarders moving freight through Mexico, the risk is asymmetric: the strike suspension restores highway flow today, but the underlying trigger — cargo theft, extortion and driver murders — remains fully in place, and 858 protesters across 19 states have demonstrated they can mobilize again on short notice. Whether the four negotiating tracks produce dated commitments, or simply more conversations, will decide if North American supply chains face a second round of blockades.