Challenges? Many! Do you want to overcome them? More. Transportes Kugar del Papaloapan has projected a 30 to 40% growth in its vehicle fleet for the next five years and diversification into markets such as beer, containerized and specialized cargo.

In an interview with T21, Alfonso Tuccella, CEO, and José Roberto García Zavala, Commercial Director of the company, talked about some of the challenges they have faced and their future goals . Kugar (number 42 in the Top 100 of Autotransporte® ) also has a total fleet of 1,444 units.

“Obviously we want to explore all the new technologies that the market has. We have recently tested gas cars and also electric cars,” said García Zavala.

Both highlighted the company’s efforts in training operators , through its internal school and the use of advanced simulators, given the shortage of professional drivers in the sector.

However, they acknowledged that high turnover, which reaches 40%, makes it difficult to meet demand.

In terms of sustainability, Tuccella highlighted the installation of solar panels , waste recycling and certification as a clean industry, as well as the expansion of its infrastructure.

“We have invested a lot more in the northern part of the country. We are expanding towards the north and of course there are also talks of entering the United States market,” said Tuccella.

Challenges that remain in the sector

Insecurity in transportation and the critical conditions of road infrastructure in the center and southeast of the country marked the main challenges for Kugar in 2024. According to Alfonso Tuccella, the central and southeastern areas of the country continue to have very high rates of robberies .

“We have lost units and had to implement an internal convoy program, sending five or six trucks together and restricting operating hours. This impacts productivity,” he explained.

In addition, José Roberto García highlighted the lack of maintenance on key routes . “We are seeing that investment in repairing the road network has been minimal or non-existent in 2024. It has hit us very hard,” García commented.

Another challenge they faced in 2024 and that still persists is the lack of spare parts and inflation in truck and maintenance costs.

“The price of a new tractor-trailer has doubled in three years, and the time to obtain spare parts has been extended to three weeks, which halts operations,” said Tuccella.

Despite the difficulties, however, Tuccella stressed that its personalized service is one of the company’s strengths.

“We make tailor-made suits, it is not really a general service, it is a very precise service tailored to what they are looking for. We have world-class clients, where the demands are very high,” said Tuccella.

Finally, Kugar representatives agreed that the company will always be committed to innovation, sustainability and expansion to consolidate its position as a benchmark in the logistics sector.

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Following improved export prices and after having grown 2.6% in 2023, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) estimated that Mexican exports accelerated their pace of expansion to 4% in 2024, driven by mechanical devices, vehicles and their parts.

According to the 2025 edition of the Trade Trends Estimates for Latin America and the Caribbean report , this increase was due to demand from the United States, although Asia, especially Japan, India and Singapore, also contributed.

According to the analysis, coordinated by Paolo Giordano , sales to the remaining destinations contracted. “Mexico continued to be the engine of exports in the region. The growth rate of export values ​​accelerated, driven by better prices, while volumes grew slightly,” the study underlined.

It is explained there that the value of exports to the United States grew by 4.7% , while to Asia, not including China, it was 7 percent.

In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, the IDB announced that the value of exports expanded 4.1% last year compared to the previous year, after falling 1.6% in 2023.

The analysis stated that this increase was due to the stabilization of export volumes. “After the contraction observed in 2023, some countries began to register signs of improvement between the end of that year and the beginning of 2024. However, the evolution was differentiated at the subregional level,” the organization pointed out.

Despite the improvement, the IDB warned that it sees no signs that guarantee the growth trend will continue, due to the uncertainty that prevails in the global economy.

“The balance of risks for regional trade remains balanced and projections point to limited growth, in a context of high uncertainty regarding the global economy,” it said.

Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Guyana showed an improvement with increases of 18.1% , 18.7% , 14.6% , and 59.6% , respectively. On the other hand, among the countries that showed falls compared to the previous year were Brazil, Paraguay, Costa Rica and especially Panama, with decreases of 0.8% , 6.5% , 9.3% , and 73.3% , respectively.

The IDB report highlighted that the prices of the main commodities exported by Latin America and the Caribbean are on a downward trend, and this is expected to continue in a highly volatile environment.

In this regard, he pointed out that the price of soybeans fell by 22.1% in 2024, mainly due to the increase in global supply. Meanwhile, the price of sugar fell by 13.7% in that year.

Oil prices posted a slight negative trend throughout 2024, accumulating a contraction of 2.7% on average for the year. Iron ore prices fell by 9.2% in 2024 due to the weakness of the construction sector in China , and copper prices showed greater volatility, on average 9.4% above the level observed in 2023.

In 2024, the price of Arabica and Robusta coffee varieties was, on average, 57.7% higher than in 2023, placing the price at historic highs.

Regarding the volume of Latin American exports, the analysis estimated that in 2024 it will increase by 4% year-on-year, “marking an aggregate acceleration compared to the 2.6% average in 2023. The expansion responded mainly to the evolution of the volumes shipped by South American countries, which are estimated to have grown by 6.9 percent .”

The report predicts that looking ahead, trade performance in Latin America and the Caribbean is characterized by moderate growth prospects and high uncertainty.

Real global economic growth is expected to remain stable. However, the impact of the rebound in the region will be limited by the slowdown in China, the low level of activity in Europe and Latin America and weaker external demand compared to previous periods. “Although the region’s exports have overcome the contraction phase, there are still no signs of a sustained recovery,” the analysis detailed.

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