Almost all the merchandise trucked into Yucatan from outside the Peninsula comes over a single bridge in Campeche. There’s a crack in that bridge, which will be closed for a year while it’s fixed.
The alternate route for truckers will delay shipments both ways and increase costs dramatically, said Wilmer Aviles Sierra, vice president of the National Confederation of Mexican Transporters (Conatram).
The situation is expected to last about a year. Groceries, fruits, vegetables and construction material are expected to be particularly hard hit.
“All this arrives by road and that in the end will reverberate,” he warned.
A fissure in the bridge, which connects Puerto Real and Isla Aguada, forced the authorities to close traffic to cargo and passenger vehicles, which will travel an extra 90 kilometers / 56 miles to enter or leave Yucatan.
The alternate truck route will represent a consumption of around 70 liters of gas costing 1,547 pesos per unit. Up to 500 trucks reach Yucatan daily from outside the Peninsula.
Delivery delays have reached up to six to seven hours. Many trucks are carrying perishable products, such as bananas, oranges, mangos and tomatoes.
The president of the National Chamber of Cargo Autotransport in the State, Francisco Rivas Gamboa, in an interview with a local media, confirmed that this problem doubled the cost of freight for products that leave the state.
Source: Punto Medio
