The quality of Brazilian highways has a direct impact on transport costs

Recently, the CNT – Confederação Nacional do Transporte published its 2019 survey with a current overview of the Brazilian road network. 108.863 kilometers of paved highways were analyzed across the country, including federal highways and the main state stretches. The characteristics evaluated were pavement, signaling, track geometry and critical points. Figure 1 brings the classification by its general condition. Only 41% obtained the classification “excellent” or “good”, evidencing the low quality of Brazilian highways.

Figure 1 – Classification of the General State of the highways.
Source: CNT – 2019. Adaptation: ILOS.

In the evaluation by criteria, what stands out as the main problem is the geometry of the track. This criterion looks for the presence of additional lanes, dangerous curves and shoulders. 76,3% of the surveyed extension was deficient in one of these items. This point has the main impact of reducing the speed of the roads, which causes longer trips. For cargo transport, this is extremely negative, as it reduces the number of journeys made per vehicle per month, reducing its utilization indicator. Consequently, transportation costs become higher.

With regard to signage, 48,1% of the stretches included in the survey are classified as “regular” or less, with intersection signs being the most serious case, absent in 49,9% of the kilometers traveled. The lack of these items has an impact on the high number of accidents on Brazilian roads. According to another survey carried out by the CNT, 190 accidents and 14 deaths occur per day on federal highways in the country.

The analysis of critical points takes into account atypical situations along the route, such as the fall of a barrier, collapsed bridge, erosion on the road and a large hole. This year, 797 stretches were identified, a number 75% higher than that found in the same survey carried out in 2018. 80% of the critical points were reported due to the occurrence of large holes. The poor quality of roads is due to lack of maintenance and poses a risk to the safety of users. In addition, it has an impact on operating costs, due to the increase in truck maintenance costs, increased travel times and higher fuel costs.

The CNT also segregated its analyzes according to the management of each route. Brazil has 20,3% of highways under concession management and 79,7% under public management. Figure 2 shows the overall quality of Brazilian paved highways for both forms of management. While the granted stretches present approximately 75% of their mileage in “excellent” and “good” conditions, this figure for stretches under public management is 32,5%, which is extremely discrepant. This fact leads us to believe that the concession system is more advantageous for users and responsible companies: the former for traffic on better quality roads, the latter for the profit obtained from toll plazas. However, it is worth criticizing that this model tends to work only in high-flow stretches, where the return for the management companies is guaranteed.

Figure 2 – Classification of the General State of the highways, by type of management.
Source: CNT – 2019. Adaptation: ILOS.

The material published by CNT confirms what we already expected: Brazilian highways present alarming conditions and this reflects both for legal entities and for individuals. The cost per trip increases, due to maintenance, time spent, fuel and even insurance, which adds to its value the dangerousness of the routes. Carriers pass this increase on to shippers, who consequently need to increase the price of their products to the end customer. We cannot forget, either, the risk to the lives of those who circulate on the country's highways.

If you are interested in understanding how the aforementioned factors impact transport operating costs, ILOS has a refresher course in Transport that discusses this topic, among other related ones.

Sources:

CNT – National Transport Confederation