The trip may be scheduled, the cargo waiting, and the customer awaiting delivery. But if something goes wrong, the truck doesn’t move. A brake failure or a malfunction in the satellite monitoring system is enough to halt the operation, even if it means waiting for days. In hydrocarbon transport , arriving on time matters, but arriving safely is even more important .
“When they tell me about the brakes and the satellite system, I tell them, ‘No, it’s malfunctioning.’ The vehicle won’t go out. It won’t go out, even if it takes us a week,” stated Julio Pérez Sixtos, general director of Transportes Sixtos , in an interview with T21.
Behind that decision lies an activity that has transformed over the years. Sixtos recounts the time when the trucks arrived at the Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) facilities and the product entered the tank from the top, through what were called “garzas” (herons). With modernization, that method of loading changed, and the filling process moved to the bottom.
What might have seemed like just a change in the process also ended up affecting the equipment. The carriers had to modify valves, incorporate electronic lines controlled from the cab, and make adjustments to control air and vapor leaks.
And each transformation came with investment . When simple configurations gave way to full-featured ones, he explained, the impact was again felt in costs.
“Now the expense was double. It was quite an issue, but it was what we had to do and we pulled it off,” he said.
For Pérez Sixtos, that’s one of the key differences in moving these types of products. It’s not just about transporting cargo from one point to another, but about doing so under conditions that reduce risks for those involved in the operation and for those who share the road.
“We are a specialized, highly specialized job that deserves to have all the safety standards for the good of the community, for those of us who travel on the road,” he stated.
The cost is no longer just in the equipment.
But the requirements for transporting hydrocarbons are no longer focused solely on the vehicles. For Julio Pérez Sixtos, one of the current challenges lies in the number of regulatory changes and administrative burdens that companies must incorporate while maintaining operations.
“The entire sector has had many ups and downs and has undergone many reforms, many regulations, and, in truth, many administrative burdens,” he stressed.
The businessman described the moment as a “wave of many things at once ,” which forces companies to stay up-to-date and allocate resources not only to equipment, but also to training their staff and, when necessary, to external advice.
“We train our staff, or we pay for consulting if we don’t understand something, to be prepared to see how the regulations from the government, the Tax Administration Service , and the National Energy Commission are coming ,” he explained.
For Pérez Sixtos, remaining competitive in this market requires constant adaptation. In addition to the investments made over the years to keep pace with technical and security changes, they now need the time, knowledge, and resources to respond to new regulations.
The challenge lies in doing so without neglecting an operation that, due to the nature of the products transported, does not allow for shortcuts in terms of safety.
Staying in a different market
This adaptation is also taking place in a market that no longer offers the same conditions as years ago. Pérez Sixtos recalls a time when the products they transported were in considerably higher demand. Today, he says, the work continues, but the available volume represents less than half of what they saw back then .
He explained that a truck can remain in operation for four or five years before it is necessary to think about replacing it, since allowing the fleet to age can make it much more expensive to later recover the rate of renewal.
The strategy is to maintain equipment that is one or two years old and continue improving the trailers as well. The goal, he said, is to be able to offer service anywhere in the country with the certainty that the unit will be in good enough condition to complete the route.
The operator, another challenge of specialization
But having the right equipment only solves part of the equation. Finding the right person to operate it has become another challenge . Pérez Sixtos acknowledged that the shortage of drivers already poses a problem for the trucking industry, although in his case the challenge lies particularly in finding suitable candidates for a specialized operation.
The problem extends beyond a single company. According to the International Road Transport Union (IRU) , Mexico has a driver vacancy rate of 14% , the second highest among the markets analyzed, second only to Uzbekistan, with 15%.
According to the expert, part of the current shortage has deeper roots. For years, he recalled, many drivers trained as assistants, working alongside experienced drivers until they acquired the necessary skills to drive. This training system began to disappear due to changes in economic and safety conditions , but also because the companies themselves stopped allowing assistants in their vehicles.
The response has begun to shift towards operator schools and training centers driven by the sector itself, an alternative in which Pérez Sixtos identified successful cases and which, he considered, can contribute to training new operators.
The challenge, however, doesn’t end with simply adding more people behind the wheel. In an activity like hydrocarbon transportation, training operators capable of meeting technical and safety requirements is also part of the specialization .
After years of changes in equipment, processes, and operating methods, the challenge remains the same: ensuring that every trip departs under the necessary conditions to reach its destination. Because in this sector, specialization lies not only in the vehicle that moves the cargo, but also in the hands responsible for transporting it by road .
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