Jorge, a driver with over 20 years of experience and a highly skilled professional in his field , waited on a road in Cuautitlán Izcalli, State of Mexico, for the moment he could access the yard of the client who was to receive his merchandise. That May 10th, Jorge was sending messages to congratulate his mother and the mother of his children, because this demanding profession makes it difficult to be with his family on those holidays.
Shortly after 8:00 p.m., Jorge was the victim of a crime. The criminals quickly entered his tractor-trailer and, at gunpoint , forced him out while they set up jammers to block the signal. This attempt was unsuccessful, as the trucking company’s control tower successfully countered the jammers. The robbery was thus thwarted.
What could have been a success story turned into a tragedy. Days after the incident, Jorge was no longer driving his tractor-trailer; instead, his coffin was inside the vehicle as a kind of tribute. The assailants who had attacked him, in their frustration, beat him to death .
“The meetings with prosecutors and the agreements reached with various governments are not doing any good, insecurity is at its worst level, and what’s worse, they continue to kill our operators, that is the number that we should be publishing as a sector,” says a frustrated transport businessman about the situation that prevails in Mexico.
In response to the publication of official figures from the Mexican government on cargo theft, which show progress and even suggest a decrease of up to 20% so far in 2026 compared to the previous year , all transporters agree that this reduction is not being reflected in the figures, and that it is very easy to report figures that do not match reality.
“Drivers are not a statistic ,” reads an image circulating on social media, where transport business owners are raising their voices in outrage, demanding that these are people who go out to work and deserve to return home. “We demand safety. We demand respect. We demand that they be able to return,” the image emphasizes.
T21 spoke with several business owners about this situation, and the common theme was the indignation at the lack of response from authorities and union representatives to raise awareness that the insecurity situation translates into the death of people, not just the loss of vehicles or merchandise .
On May 17, the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar) posted on its social media:
“At Canacar, we deeply regret the incidents that continue to claim the lives of truck drivers… Driver safety must remain a priority. Therefore, we reiterate our commitment to continue working in a coordinated and institutional manner to implement actions that strengthen road safety.”
According to an analysis by The International Road Transport Union (IRU) , the shortage of operators in Mexico will exceed 108,000 jobs in 2028 , and Mexico is one of the countries where there is a severe difficulty in filling these jobs ; among the factors that influence this is precisely the insecurity experienced by the road transport sector .
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