Longer trucks: Anexo R's first change in 30 years

What changed

Replaces Annex R of Decree 779/95 in full — the Traffic Law regulation that sets weights and dimensions for freight transport — with a new annex (IF-2026-58308528-APN-SSTAU#MEC), after 30 years without an update. Maximum lengths are set at 19.60 m for a tractor unit with semi-trailer, and the road-train scale at three configurations: B1 23.40 m, B2 26.50 m and B3 31.25 m. The text also includes explicit promotion of dedicated CNG vehicles and pure or hybrid electric vehicles. Article 2 delegates to the Transport Secretariat the power to keep updating the annex as technology evolves, so that the next revision no longer requires a decree. One antecedent worth keeping in mind so as not to read too much into it: road trains do not start here — in August 2025 the government had already widened their circulation across the road network, and 75-tonne units have been running since then. What 2026 rewrites is the catalogue of configurations and their dimensions, not the permission for them to run. verif · Jul 31, 2026 ↗

In force

In force since 31/07/2026: the decree states that it «shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the OFFICIAL GAZETTE». verif · Jul 31, 2026 ↗

Who it affects

Anyone moving heavy freight by road, which across the observatory's five provinces is almost everyone: frac sand and tubulars towards Vaca Muerta, reagents and supplies up to the puna salt flats, ore and concentrate down to the ports. Also hauliers and the workshops that build and adapt equipment, because an approved configuration determines which fleet gets bought. thesis · Jul 31, 2026

The norm

Decreto 689/2026 (DECTO-2026-689-APN-PTE), signed on Jul 30, 2026 by MILEI, Luis Andrés Caputo and Diego César Santilli, published in the Boletín Oficial on Jul 31, 2026 (notice 345225). It replaces Anexo R of Decreto 779/95, which implements the Ley 24.449 traffic law. verif · Jul 31, 2026 ↗

Our reading

Road trains were already running: what changes here is the entire catalogue of configurations and dimensions, frozen since 1995, and the fact that from now on the Transport Secretariat updates it without needing a decree. This is deregulation in its purest form (R4): it cuts freight costs, which are among the heaviest lines in the accounts of a satellite supplier based far from its customer, and it counts most where there is no rail — the road to Añelo, the approaches to the puna, the corridor to Punta Colorada. thesis

Where it lands, province by province5

Neuquén The corridor to Añelo moves frac sand, tubulars and equipment by road with no rail alternative. More capacity per trip eases a bottleneck the province's own road programme already acknowledges. favorable opening and deregulation thesis

Río Negro The stretch towards Punta Colorada and the Golfo San Matías concentrates the construction freight of the export corridor. It is the long haul where a larger configuration pays off most. favorable opening and deregulation thesis

Salta Reagents and supplies for the salt flats climb to the puna by road from a long way off, and freight is a high share of the delivered cost. The real effect depends on which mountain routes the province approves for each road-train class. mixed opening and deregulation thesis

Catamarca Same mechanism as Salta on the approach to the puna, with a more demanding alignment: here provincial route-by-route approval matters more than the national rule. mixed opening and deregulation thesis

San Juan The San Juan cordillera moves project freight over mountain routes and road junctions; the approved configuration determines which fleet contractors buy. mixed opening and deregulation thesis

Longer trucks: Annex R updated after 30 years

What changed and who it applies to

Our reading

Where it lands, province by province5

The other rules on this subject36

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