Private trucking companies will provide 3,500 tanker trucks to transport gasoline to states affected by the current shortage, the National Chamber of Trucking (Canacar) has announced.

Pemex yesterday approved a strategy developed by Canacar to speed up the supply of gasoline.

In a statement, Canacar said that “in the next 48 hours, a strategic plan that strengthens the distribution of fuel by highway will be implemented.”

Tanker trucks will begin operating “24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the protection of the Federal Police,” it explained.

The government has committed to providing 8,300 police officers and 1,400 vehicles to guarantee security, Canacar said. The 3,500 private tanker trucks will be supplied by 150 companies.

“The 150 companies . . . are ready to provide professional and efficient service to immediately restore . . . fuel distribution in affected areas,” Canacar said.

Pemex has committed to making its fuel terminals more efficient and to speed up the loading and unloading of trucks.

The state oil company is making greater use of tanker trucks to distribute fuel because the federal government has closed several major pipelines as part of a strategy to combat fuel theft.

But the changed distribution method has caused fuel shortages at gas stations in more than 10 states because Pemex has been unable to transport product quickly enough in its own tankers.

The National Trucking Chamber said that a working committee made up of representatives of different divisions of Pemex, the Federal Police, the railway industry and Canacar will be formed to monitor the new distribution strategy, “recognizing that some pipelines will be opened gradually, either intermittently or permanently.”

Source: El Financiero (sp)