Trucking is an essential activity for the Mexican economy and for daily life in the country: more than 80% of domestic goods are transported by road, it accounts for more than 57% of total trade, and it contributes 3.7% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, one of its biggest challenges remains the recruitment and retention of drivers.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) estimates that by 2025 there will be a shortage of 99,000 operators in Mexico, resulting from multiple structural factors affecting the sector.

Based on this reality, the Drive Is Great certification , created in 2023 by VI-Human and Grupo T21 , recognizes organizations that have developed strong cultures and effective operator management models.

Its objective is to recognize companies that have successfully strengthened internal trust, consolidated institutional practices, and promoted the comprehensive development of talent as a strategic focus.

Companies that share a commitment to professionalization, quality service, and the consolidation of models focused on the well-being of their employees.

The certification assesses four main areas:

– Development of new workforce.
– Operator retention strategies.
– Employer brand strengthening.
– Training, development, and safety plan.

In its third edition, and within the framework of Transportation Awards 2025 , Drive Is Great recognized the following companies according to the areas evaluated:

MexAmerik Group :
– New Operator Development.
– Operator Retention Strategies.
– Employer Branding Development.

Trareysa :
– Development of New Operators.
– Training, Capacity Building and Safety.

Pathway :
– Operator Retention Strategies.
– Training, Development and Safety.

Xihutec :
– Development of New Operators.
– Training, Capacity Building and Safety.

501RT Revolutionizing Transportation :
– Training, Education and Safety.

Gomsa :
– Operator Retention Strategies.

HG Transportaciones :
– Development of New Operators.

Companies that were recertified in 2025 were also recognized ; that is, those that obtained their certification for the first time in 2023 and again met the criteria of the model:

García’s Trucking Transport :
– Training, Development and Safety.
– Employer Branding Development.

Career path:
– Development of New Operators.
– Development of Employer Branding.

Zinergia :
– Training, Development, and Safety.
– Employer Branding Development.

In addition, the following companies with current certification were recognized :
– Super International Transport .
– FEMA Transport .

With this edition, Drive Is Great reaffirms the importance of building environments where operators can develop with stability, security and professional growth, while reinforcing the competitiveness of the trucking industry in Mexico.

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Because the operator shortage doesn’t start when the engine is started, but long before, with insufficient training rooms, delayed licensing, and training that fails to keep pace with the industry. 

“The reality is that it’s a beautiful, exciting industry. And it’s very noble,” says Einar Palomino, CEO of  VI Human  and president of Drive Is Great, the certification of best practices with operators promoted by Grupo T21 and VI Human. 

Palomino acknowledges that fewer and fewer young people are attracted to professional driving. “This also has a part to do with why there’s a shortage of operators , because driving is no longer attractive to young people,” he explains. 

The problem is structural. While freight transport is consolidating as the backbone of the economy, contributing 5.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generating more than 2.3 million direct jobs, according to the 2024 Basic Statistics on Federal Trucking published by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT) , the pace of training new operators continues to fall far short of the sector’s demands. 

According to the same document, more than 222,000 general and specialized cargo trucking permit holders were registered in 2024. However, the issuance of licenses has not grown at the same pace. “The sector is growing tremendously. It’s growing very strongly. But there are no operators because there’s no one to train them,” warns Palomino. 

This highlights a gap between the sector’s operational demand and the institutional capacity to incorporate new drivers. 

“One company in every 200 has a unique training project,” he warns. The rest compete for the same available operators, without investing in training new profiles.

In some isolated cases, companies have begun to adopt and sponsor Industrial Work Training Centers (Cecatis), allowing students to access practical classes and graduate with guaranteed formal employment. However, these efforts remain the exception rather than the norm nationwide.

“There are training centers that take an operator with 30 years of experience and appoint him as an instructor, even if he doesn’t have teaching skills,” warns Miguel Guzmán Negrete, general director of PISVI Mobility , a center for comprehensive road safety planning studies. 

“Not every excellent driver is a good teacher,” he adds. Most training programs continue to teach using traditional approaches, failing to adapt to changes in mobility or integrate approaches to road safety, risks, and new technologies. 

If you wish to continue reading this text, we invite you to consult the July 2025 edition of T21 magazine,  clicking here to review the electronic version .

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Currently, 80.7% of the freight transport companies registered with the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) belong to the truck driver (from one to five units), this type of entrepreneur accumulates 22.9% of the fleet, according to figures to 2023 from the Basic Statistics of Federal Motor Transport.

Small companies represent 16.4%, medium-sized companies 2.2% and large companies 0.7% of the total number of companies. However, the latter own 30.8% of the total national fleet, which totaled 1,331,921 units at the end of last year.

Due to their nature and creation processes, the vast majority of freight transportation companies are family organizations run by a single person who operates the entire company, either on an empirical basis or through an academic preparation process.

Under the shelter and strict supervision of their founder, many of these companies have achieved financial success and prestige with their clients . Taking this into account, it is “normal” that trucking companies continue to operate as they have done until now, as organizations with a family structure.

Strictly speaking, and if we stick to the results, changing from a family-owned transportation company to one with corporate governance can be considered almost unnecessary.

However, transportation has faced profound changes in recent years. Einar Palomino, CEO of VI Human and President of Drive is Great, commented that this evolution has been stimulated by the ability of companies to establish financial guidelines that help them guarantee healthy finances, and subsequently, guidelines for continuity in terms of their capacity for growth based on controlled leverage.

Palomino explained that the second factor that today forces us to open the window of change is the training of new and good operators . “Transportation per se becomes a financial and people business. Whoever has the ability to have a financial vision, accompanied by the ability to have the right people behind the wheel, has guaranteed continuity,” he said.

Although applying the good practices of an institutionalized company may seem far away for companies under the truck-man scheme, it may not be so far away for small companies that at some point in their history have begun to distinguish the implementation of new structures , the acquisition of digitalization and technology tools.

“These types of companies are the ones that are beginning to be candidates for establishing a different way of working and it is precisely at this point that the transformation of family transport companies into companies under corporate governance can take place. Although strictly speaking there is no defined size of company or fleet for an institutionalization model to be incorporated,” says the general director of VI Human and president of Drive is Great.

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For just over three years, Transportes Garcia’s Trucking (TGT), ranked 87th in the Top 100 of Autotransporte® , has been experiencing a new era led by Florencia Vázquez, the company’s current general manager, who has more than 20 years of experience in logistics and auto transport.

Under Vázquez’s leadership, the company has transitioned from a family business to a company with corporate governance. Among its most recent achievements is the completion of all the Drive is Great certification areas, which is promoted by VI Human and Grupo T21 .

This certification recognizes the best practices of the trucking industry and helps in the development of operators. It verifies more than 100 points that companies must meet to be considered an excellent place for operators to work .

In this way, TGT is certified in all areas of Drive Is Great, which consists of the following:

1. Development of New Operators.
2. Training Training and Safety.
3. Operator Retention Strategies.
4. Employer Branding.

This year, TGT has been certified in the development of new operators, operator retention strategies and employer brand development, as well as in the areas of training, capacity building and safety.

Thanks to her career, the general manager of TGT has accumulated a great deal of knowledge in dealing with operators , which has been a fundamental point for the company to draw up growth plans supported by the talent behind the wheel.

“We are developing operators in a well-structured way, focusing on safety and technology. Our school has theoretical and practical training plans, but with a human vision. Currently, 50% of our staff are graduates of our academy,” explained Vázquez.

To date, TGT continues to strengthen its operator retention strategy, which ranges from fair salaries, as well as having a psychology area, family get-togethers, scholarships for children and now the Drive is Great certification.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the strategy is the creation of a podcast in which the general manager herself establishes communication with the operators . This has become a space for coexistence, in which topics such as security, health, nutrition, among others, are discussed. This proposal has evolved to become an interview space with some operators, a tool that has stimulated closeness between them and the general management.

“This helps us to be a solid company that is making good progress towards achieving our goals,” said Vázquez.

The company’s medium-term plans are to grow the fleet, going from 200 motor units to 500 , this includes its own fleet and the business model with permit holders who will offer the service with TGT quality.

A transportation engineer by profession, Florencia Vázquez has collaborated with companies such as Walmart and Grupo Modelo , which has provided her with the knowledge and tools to apply her knowledge in planning, dealing with and developing operators, setting up new businesses, logistics, transportation and imports.

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