Some companies’ stories begin with a business plan. Transportes Sixtos ‘ story began much earlier, when a mother decided to trust her son.
Before buying his first truck, Julio Pérez Sixtos, currently the company’s CEO, spent years looking for an opportunity to start his own business. He found it when his mother, María Gema Sixtos Barrón , decided to believe in his project and use the family savings to buy the first truck. That decision not only marked the beginning of Transportes Sixtos, but also changed the course of the family’s life.
“From that moment on, I felt an enormous responsibility. I couldn’t let myself down anymore, much less her,” Julio Pérez told T21.
When it came time to formally establish the company in 1999, Julio decided to register it in his mother’s name. This was no coincidence, as the first truck had been made possible thanks to the savings she decided to invest in the project. Thus, Transportes María Gema Sixtos Barrón was born , the origin of what is now known as Transportes Sixtos.
The decision reflects a way of understanding business where trust is as important as hard work . Julio often returns to that story when talking about the company’s origins, because he believes that growth began long before the first client: it started with the trust his mother placed in him.
Perhaps that’s why, when asked what has allowed the company to endure for more than two decades, he doesn’t mention business strategies or large investments. He talks about the orderliness he learned from his mother , the discipline to reinvest rather than spend, and the daily work of a team that understands that results are built every single day.
Over time, that first truck grew into a company specializing in hydrocarbon transportation. Today, it transports fuel oil, gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and other refined products, in addition to handling general cargo operations with flatbeds, dry vans, and tank trucks made of carbon steel and stainless steel. Its fleet travels the length and breadth of the country, supplying industries such as construction, rail, and shipping, and has operated at Mexico’s main refineries and ports.
However, Julio avoids measuring growth by fleet size.
“We don’t want quantity; we want quality,” he stressed.
For him, staying competitive means upgrading equipment, investing in security, and responding to the trust that customers place in them every time they deliver their merchandise.
“When a client entrusts us with their product, they are putting part of their assets in our hands. That trust must be repaid with hard work,” he stated.
He applies that same logic within the company.
Transportes Sixtos remains a family business. His mother continues to be involved as a director; his stepfather, one of his brothers, his son Manuel, and his daughter are also part of the daily operations, each in different roles.
But the family doesn’t end there.
Julio Pérez spoke with the same pride about the operators and the administrative staff. He explained that behind each unit there is a family waiting for their weekend pay and that this reality should never be forgotten.
“We know what it means to put food on the table. That’s why we try to be very serious with them,” he said.
Like any company in the sector, the company also adapted to the changes that specialized transport has experienced : new regulations, investments to modernize the units, the technological transition in fuel management, insecurity on the roads and the growing shortage of operators.
Pérez acknowledged that none of these challenges have a simple solution. Therefore, rather than discussing formulas, he emphasizes an idea he repeats several times during the conversation.
“I always look for ways to make things happen,” he said.
It’s not a slogan. It’s how he claims to have faced every stage of the company, from the purchase of the first truck to the investments that specialized transport demands today.
When speaking about the company, Julio summed it up in a single word: “blessing .” Not because of the growth it has achieved, but because, he affirmed, it has been the livelihood of his family, allowed him to fulfill dreams that once seemed distant, and today represents a source of employment for more than 100 families who depend , directly or indirectly, on its operation.
Because in the end, for Julio Pérez Sixtos, transportation has never been just about moving cargo. It has been a way to honor the trust his mother placed in him and to demonstrate that a single truck could become the beginning of a family story.
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