Principles Problems of Transport in Colombia

PRINCIPALES PROBLEMAS DEL TRANSPORTE EN COLOMBIA

==========

PRINCIPLES PROBLEMS OF TRANSPORT IN COLOMBIA

The headaches caused by freight transport have become reiterative in the country. In 2008 there was a truck immobilization that lasted 16 days; in 2009 another 11 and last Friday ended a cessation that lasted for 15 days. In all three cases, the protest was made for the non-compliance of the freight table, which is a price guide for the hiring of transport. But beyond that, the truckers denounce a "price war", an oversupply of the car park and the lack of teeth of the Government to enforce the norms. The picture is the same, only now that the State already has a transport policy in order to modernize the sector and make it efficient. This policy is underway and includes that the market is governed by the law of supply and demand. The agents of the sector have several coincidences, on the one hand, are aware of the need to modernize, but on the other, they believe that the first thing to do is to overcome the inefficiencies that exist in the chain. The government does not have the infrastructure to support the changes it is implementing. There is no way to prevent freedown of freight from becoming abuse. The Superintendency of Ports and Transport is a centralized entity and has no presence in the regions, even the information on the sector are fragmented, he said. The Government responded that the new policy includes changes also within the State, with more staff and access to more information. The truth so far is that the country migrates to a law of supply and demand in transport and with inefficiencies or not, the new policy has no reverse.

One of the most recurrent issues in the country are transporter strikes. Every year there are one or two protests that cause injuries to the economy and to travelers.

This year is no exception. In recent days the Colombian Association of Trucks (ACC) and the Association of Freight Carriers (ATC) announced the immobilization of vehicles, while the Colombian Federation of Freight Carriers (Colfecar) acknowledged that the situation is critical.

Conveyors complain about high operating costs, gasoline prices, poor road conditions and toll prices. the price of gasoline is 7,800 pesos and one of the most expensive pejaes in the country, has a value of $ 13,300 pesos. For the devaluation of the weights the transporters can not buy new spare parts, tires and vehicles Colombia has the most expensive toll in Latin America after Brazil and Chile

Another problem is the oversupply of wagons. During the oil boom several shipping companies acquired new tankers to meet the high demand of the companies. But with the fall in oil prices, lower production and construction of pipelines, many of these trucks are parked or used to transport another class of goods, exercising greater