If what the country was looking for with the leasing of trucks was to achieve greater efficiency in the cutting and transportation of sugarcane, during the extremely complex situation the Cuban economy is going through, it can be said that in Las Tunas the project is going smoothly.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- In the short term after the implementation of the measure -it is part of the 93 approved to save the sugar agroindustry-, the evidence indicates that the decision to group the drivers and operators of combined sugar cane mills under a single command is affecting the Majibacoa and Antonio Guiteras sugar agro-industrial companies, the only ones in the Balcón de Oriente that produce sucrose for domestic consumption or the basic food basket.

This is the intuition of Dik Rodríguez, head of the Basic Business Unit (UEB) of Services to Sugarcane Agriculture in Majibacoa, who praised the initiative of inserting the driver in the payroll of the combined platoon, with all the duties and rights he has as a full member.

"I rented 15 trucks to assist the CASE 8800, CCA-5000, and Mecanizada 2 combined platoons, and I can assure you that their drivers have fit in so well in the union that a big family has been formed, very united, capable, and aware of their responsibilities for the harvest. In my opinion, it was the piece that was missing to energize management and get the maximum possible productivity out of each team and each day," he says.

And he adds: "Look if it is true that, on normal working days, when there is no lack of fuel or when there are other problems, the truck drivers are making more than the four trips planned for each date."

Besides sharing this perception, Yosbel Avilés Arias, director of the basic transport unit (UBT) Majibacoa, recognizes that when the platoon leader assumes the management of the contracted trucks, the dissatisfactions that, campaign after the campaign, revolved around the unstable incorporation of the vehicles to the field were solved.

"These, among others, were the most recurrent complaints that have ceased to be heard with the implementation of this variant," explains the manager.

Although what has happened so far in Majibacoa may be a faithful copy of the results derived from the leasing of 50 trucks in the Antonio Guiteras company, Maikel Díaz Ramírez, director of the UBT in that economic enclave, points out that although there is still a long way to go before mechanized harvesting meets the requirements of the industry, it is already a fact that this way can improve the supply of sugarcane, increase efficiency and generate income that benefits the workers.

That is why, according to Benedicto Peña Guerra, head of Production in Tranzmec's Territorial Division, "we must maintain the demand to perfect this task and continue to strengthen La Palabra Empeñada political-productive movement (The Promised Word), an instrument of commitment that has allowed a coefficient of technical availability of 82 percent and to bring out important reserves in the individual and collective work that are recognized in weekly emulation checks."