The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT) confirmed on Tuesday that the ordinance requiring road markings on freight and passenger vehicles will not be mandatory, nor will there be any penalties for those who fail to do so.
The regulation, published on February 7 in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) , requires owners of federal trucking fleets to identify their units—with the alphanumeric data corresponding to their license plates —using decals, paint, or tarps, depending on the vehicle’s configuration.
With this measure, federal authorities aim to combat the growing insecurity on the country’s roads , arguing that beaconing would provide greater visibility for transportation units through the use of video surveillance, drones, or helicopters, and would give police forces a greater opportunity to quickly locate them in the event of a crime.
“We are not obligated to do the impossible, it is an initiative and we have the idea of covering more than 90% of the units that are located, but those (units) for which there is no possibility due to their characteristics, are not obligated to do the impossible (…) it is not punishable, it is a provision that exists, that arose from the request of the National Guard, but it will not be punishable,” said Paulino Herrera, executive director of Supervision of the General Directorate of Federal Motor Transport (DGAF) , an office integrated into the SICT, during the monthly meeting of the Mexican Intermodal Transport Association (AMTI) .
The regulation published in the Official Gazette (DOF) established a 90-day deadline to identify the units, starting February 8. Paulino Herrera stated that the measure has been well received by the transportation sector; according to the official, the National Chamber of Passenger and Tourism Transportation (Canapat) has stated that it has made “great strides” and that they hope to complete it before the upcoming Easter holiday period.
“What we’re being told so far, for example, is that most of the units being deployed to the National Guard ‘s Balam operation —the National Guard is currently reporting a figure of 6,700 units—are already marked,” Herrera said.
According to a press release distributed this Tuesday, March 11, “the SICT aims to mark and identify a fleet of 1.8 million vehicles , both motor vehicles and trailers, that circulate on the federal highway network.”
According to data from the DGAF, as of the end of January 2025, the fleet of federal freight transport vehicles in Mexico consisted of 1,441,492 units, divided into 726,109 motor units, 714,727 towing units, and 656 industrial cranes.
Regarding the business structure of federal freight transport , the authority has registered 215,473 companies, of which 80.2% are micro-enterprises (with one to five units), 16.8% are small (6 to 30), 2.3% are medium-sized (31 to 100) and 0.7% are large (more than 100).
In terms of passenger and tourism , the DGAF has a vehicle fleet of 186,423 units.
Cost of marking, in dispute
Paulino Herrera commented to the AMTI membership that the comments received from the transportation sector prior to publication in the Official Gazette (DOF) were related to the cost of marking, which, according to the official, represents an amount of 300 to 400 pesos per unit for some companies if carried out manually and with templates, although other companies report higher costs if the application of reflective labels is considered.
“But that’s not the case. We haven’t been told that costs exceed 1,500 pesos per unit, including trailers in some cases,” he said.
These data contrast with the information that T21 has obtained from trucking companies that report that the market cost is higher, around two thousand 500 pesos for matte paint , but if it is requested in gloss paint as recommended by the authority, the cost rises to five thousand pesos per truck due to the type of quality of the materials.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s freight transport sector continues to suffer from road safety issues. Data from Overhaul , a risk management company, indicates that in 2024, 12,300 crimes were reported to authorities nationwide, with Puebla accounting for 23% and the State of Mexico 22%, placing them as the states with the highest number of highway cargo thefts.
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