Trucks may be banned from entering the Port of Santos; understand the details

With the Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) signed between the Port Authority of Santos (APS) and the Federal Highway Police (PRF) last month, trucks may be banned from entering the Santos dock outside scheduled times. The ACT aims to facilitate information sharing for joint planning actions, including monitoring vehicles destined for the Port that travel on federal roads from their origin. The measure is expected to be implemented in September.

APS states that it already has an agreement for information exchange with Ecovias, the concessionaire that manages the state highways of the Anchieta-Imigrantes System, the main access to the Baixada Santista. In other words, the PRF would complement the monitoring.

APS President Anderson Pomini says that the initiative seeks to provide solutions to logistical problems, such as trucks entering cities. This occurs, for example, when a vehicle arrives well before its scheduled entry time at the Organized Port Polygon. Therefore, banning entry to the Santos dock outside of scheduled times is a possibility.

Another issue the partnership aims to address is traffic bottlenecks. Pomini cited the Ecopátio area on the Cônego Domênico Rangoni Highway in Cubatão as an example.

“This system will provide truck drivers with information so that they can wait in waiting areas to be built at the entrance of the Anchieta Highway, before the descent, to avoid the bottleneck that usually occurs at Ecopátio”, explains the APS president.

According to Pomini, APS’s plan is to organize the fleet on a larger scale. To this end, more agreements are expected to be formulated in the near future with other entities, such as local traffic companies and highway administrators. “We want to involve all agents from institutions responsible for truck traffic in general”.

According to the PRF, the actions outlined in the agreement also include improvements in mobility, combating traffic violence, and crime. For this purpose, APS will have access to Alerta Brasil, the PRF’s monitoring system. Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Police will be able to access the truck scheduling system of the Port of Santos.

“Many road cargos destined for the Port of Santos travel on federal highways before reaching Via Anchieta”, said the Port Authority in a statement. According to APS, the main federal route to the Port is Régis Bittencourt (BR-116), which connects São Paulo to Curitiba.

Next is Presidente Dutra, also BR-116, which connects São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. Then comes the Fernão Dias Highway (BR-381), which connects São Paulo to Belo Horizonte and serves the Campinas region for the Port of Santos. APS also highlights the Doutor Manoel Hyppólito Rego (Rio-Santos) Highway.

Other important federal highways for the Port are BR-153, the Transbrasiliana, which connects the state of Tocantins to Paraná and crosses the state of São Paulo from north to south, between the municipalities of São José do Rio Preto and Ourinhos, and BR-364, which originates in Mato Grosso.

Training and awareness In addition to truck monitoring, the ACT includes organizing awareness and training courses for truck drivers. “It is necessary to take care of the main asset, which is not the truck engine, but the mental and physical health of all these professionals who provide a significant service to Brazil”, says the APS president.