Consultant report
Mexico freight assessment
In September 2016, the ICCT commissioned The Sustainable Transport and Emissions Services Company to conduct an assessment of Mexico’s freight sector, with a focus on the on-road trucking industry. This project was carried out under the Climate and Clean Air Coalition’s (CCAC) Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles and Engines Initiative. This project is part of a broader effort to develop and harmonize green freight efforts on a global scale in order to get maximum reductions of black carbon and improved efficiency from freight transport. To carry out the research, TSTES and the study team followed the data collection and analytical methods described in detail in the ICCT’s Freight Assessment Blueprint document, which provides guidance and best practices on executing each of the key elements of a freight assessment.
The primary objective of this report is to develop a much deeper understanding of the on-road freight system in Mexico. This freight assessment provides information in a number of areas, including market dynamics, opportunities and barriers for truck fuel-saving technologies and operational measures, and the potential benefits of building a more robust and extensive Transporte Limpio program, and harmonizing it with the SmartWay program in the U.S.
A key feature of this project was interacting with as many local stakeholders and experts as possible. The primary means of data collection was conversations with individuals, organizations, and companies that have unique knowledge of a particular aspect of the trucking sector in Mexico. The project was nationwide in scope, focused on freight transportation by tractor-trailers, and inclusive of the various actors that impact the freight system: government regulators, manufacturers and industry associations, shippers, trucking fleets, third party logistics firms, fleet associations, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and testing facilities. The following are the main focus areas of the project:
- Truck and trailer sales markets
- Operational characteristics of the trucking sector
- Truck and aftermarket equipment acquisition
- Payback of investments
- Equipment ownership patterns
- Institutional framework and policy options
- Comparisons to the US and Canada
This research builds up the knowledge base of government agencies and other stakeholders in Mexico who are developing strategies for reducing the environmental impacts of the trucking sector and gives these decision-makers better tools to evaluate how a green freight program fits into the overall portfolio of policies aimed at the freight sector.
Staff contact: Ben Sharpe
