New road freight table promises maintenance of uncertainties

The 20th of January is coming and everything is moving towards the maintenance of uncertainty for companies in relation to road freight. In this week's news in Valor Econômico, the Minister of Infrastructure announces that the values ​​of the road freight table to be announced on the 20th will be readjusted by the IPCA, implying that the calculation methodology will be maintained, loading the already detected vices and discussed in a previous post.

It is known that, in the form in which it is found today, the freight table is often just decorative for companies. In conversations with executives, they admit to ignoring the amounts set by the government and hiring their transport through negotiations with suppliers. The risks of the fine exist, but, according to them, the values ​​in the table would often make their operations unfeasible. Thus, they continue as they always have, despite the legal uncertainty.

By the way, in the Brazilian Justice itself, the issue of fines for non-compliance with the road freight table is controversial. In December, the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Luiz Fux, granted an injunction suspending the application of fines for carriers that did not comply with the table. A week later, however, the Fux revoked its decision at the request of the Attorney General's Office (AGU), concerned about the repercussions of the measure among truck drivers. The issue is now before the Plenary of the STF, with no set date yet for analysis.

While the government does not reassess the table, nor does the STF judge the unconstitutionality of Law 13.703/2018, the lower courts have been granting an injunction to companies to prevent the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) from applying the fine for non-compliance with the table. Decisions are motivated by the fact that the table in force was built based on Provisional Measure 832, without listening to the sectors involved, as required by the new law. In the most recent case, the Federal court granted the injunction for the 150 companies associated with the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP) and the Center of Industries of the State (Ciesp).

Although there is an appeal against the injunction, it is further proof that the current environment is one of insecurity for all involved, companies and carriers. Everyone's concern about the risks of a new stoppage is legitimate, but fear cannot be the driver of the decision, nor a factor to postpone it, waiting for a miraculous economic recovery, which could leave the table in the background. It is up to the government to position itself technically and guarantee the best environment for the Brazilian market.