SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The demand for truck drivers in Baja California is strong and as many as 1,000 job openings are available, but industry leaders are struggling to fill them.
Israel Delgado Vallejo, vice president of the National Chamber of Freight Transporters in Tijuana, said they can’t compete with what drivers get paid in the U.S.
“Unfortunately it’s a reality in Mexico that many drivers don’t want to work on Mexican highways,” he said.
Furthermore, drivers who work north of the border, including those with visas to cross the border, are paid in dollars.
For drivers like Issac Velasco, that’s more of an incentive.
“The difference is the dollars,” said Velasco, who spoke with Border Report after dropping off a load of televisions at a warehouse in Otay Mesa Wednesday morning. “There are a lot of loads that we move.”
Trucks and drivers at a warehouse in Otay Mesa, north of the border. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)
Velasco stated that Baja struggles to find truckers because of the prerequisites companies look for in drivers, such as three years of experience and the ability to get a visa to cross the border.
“There are openings, but not 1,000,” he said.
Velasco disputed the number of job openings mentioned by Delgado Vallejo, saying demand in the industry is slower than normal, and was made worse by recent wet weather in the region that created a lot of flooding in the Tijuana area.
“We need the sun to come a bit more,” he said.
Velasco said that 40,000 pesos a month, or about $2,400, is not enough of an incentive to get drivers to apply, something with which Delgado Vallejo begrudgingly agrees.
“Drivers can make four times as much in the United States,” Delgado Vallejo said. “But the consequences for Mexico are great. This affects the supply chain here and in the exterior, since 80 percent of goods and products are moved by trucks. Not having enough operators is going to complicate things gravely.”
Delgado Vallejo said they are looking at providing more training for those willing to drive trucks, and that they are aggressively recruiting women as well to fill the void.
“The speed in which this shortage has been created has left production and the border economy in jeopardy, it’s become a dire situation.”
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