Truckers Tell Senate: Tariff Law Ignored, Ask for Contracts, Resources and Enforcement

Frente Amplio de Camioneros representatives told a Senate committee on June 4, 2021, that licensed truckers have been sidelined by municipalities and private contractors who award hauling work without respecting tariff schedules and permits, leaving many operators financially unsustainable.

The group asked senators to use Resolution No. 83 as a vehicle to require agencies and municipalities to provide lists of contractors and hauling contracts from the last two years, to forward contracts to the Negociado de Transporte y Otros Servicios Públicos before they take effect, and to supply the Negociado with additional resources to enforce existing law.

The case, presenters said, rests on existing statutes and regulatory instruments. "Las constantes violaciones del gobierno central y municipal a la ley ciento cinco de mil novecientos noventa y seis... han permitido un esquema de corrupción en la otorgación de las subastas," said Carlos Rodríguez, a Frente coordinator, summarizing the group's written submission and earlier circulars from the Negociado.

Witnesses recounted long-running enforcement problems and litigation dating to earlier tariff reforms. Carlos Chetín of Camioneros Unidos…