Why is Brazil so dependent on truckers?

After four days of blockades, Brazilian truckers have managed to bend the federal administration into accepting their demands for cheaper fuel. Michel Temer’s government will subsidize diesel from this point forward, something that will cost billions to an already cash-strapped administration. While part of the truckers’ victory can be attributed to the weakness and incompetence of the sitting cabinet (and its president), the truth is that Brazil is hostage to truckers.

Over 60 percent of all cargo in Brazil is transported by trucks. If we exclude crude oil and iron ore, which are not transported by road, that rate spikes to 90 percent. In an ideal system, trucks shouldn’t account for more than one-third of cargo transport.

That helps to explain why it took just four days for the truckers’ protests to create shortages of perishable goods and fuel in nearly all metropolitan areas. Major airports operated under the threat of lacking fuel. All auto plants are currently paralyzed, and over a million tons of grains could not be shipped abroad. And this list is only a handful of examples.

With consequences as dire as these, why is it that Brazil has...