A scenario that until now seemed confined to Central Asia or the Philippines is expanding to a country thousands of kilometres away: Brazil. In March 2026, the portal trans.info published statements by Marcelo Toledo, founder of M/Brazil, according to which the agency has signed agreements with 17 European transport companies planning to hire more than 2,000 Brazilian drivers over the course of the year. The news was later picked up by the International Association of Movers (IAM), which confirmed the picture of rapid growth in the phenomenon, while noting that the figures are attributed to the agency and not to independent institutional sources.
The context for this development is a structural shortage of professional drivers in European road transport. According to a study commissioned by the European Commission and coordinated by the IRU (International Road Transport Union), the deficit in the EU road sector alone amounts to around 500,000 workers, a figure expected to rise in the absence of corrective measures on wages, working conditions and the attractiveness of the profession for young people in member states.
M/Brazil – also known as Caterer Brazil – presents itself as a Brazil-based recruitment company with more than 30 years’ experience in the international sourcing of road freight drivers. Toledo is described in company materials as the “first Brazilian specialist in international driver acquisition”, active since 1990 with a focus on placing drivers in Europe and the United States. The agency’s reach extends beyond Brazil: it also targets candidates from the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Argentina, signalling a broader strategy to supply labour to markets facing driver shortages.
Its operating model is structured in several stages. The agency selects and pre-screens candidates – including driving tests and experience assessments – manages contracts with applicants and liaises with European carriers on licence recognition, visas and work permits. Companies are offered an integrated package, with the promise of significant volumes of drivers within relatively short timeframes. The aim is to become a structural partner for the HR departments of European clients, leveraging the availability of drivers in the Brazilian labour market and the wage gap between the two contexts.
One example concerns the selection of 200 drivers for a Lithuanian transport company based in Šiauliai. At the beginning of March 2026, M/Brazil organised interviews in São Paulo, with trans.info following the initiative. The carrier may be Vlantana Logistics, which according to the same portal is considering hiring up to 200 drivers from Brazil and other South American countries, again in collaboration with M/Brazil. The programme would include company-sponsored visas, flights and initial accommodation, as part of a strategy to diversify recruitment pools beyond traditional sources in Eastern Europe and Asia.
M/Brazil says it receives around 10,000 CVs per month from Brazilian drivers interested in working abroad. While this figure cannot be independently verified, it appears consistent with the size of Brazil’s labour market, the media attention the issue has received on YouTube, LinkedIn and other channels, and the wage differential between the two contexts. The agency’s promotional materials indicate annual earnings above 160,000–170,000 reais (around €27,000–€28,000), significantly higher than the sector average in Brazil.
The “standard package” advertised by M/Brazil to applicants includes a renewable one-year contract, the possibility of obtaining residency in the destination European country after two years and, in some promotional versions, citizenship after five years of continuous work. In terms of pay, the agency’s webpages indicate a monthly salary starting at around €2,200–€2,600 and reaching up to €3,300, with free accommodation for the first four to six weeks and the initial flight covered by the employer, provided the candidate completes the selection process. The agency itself notes that actual conditions depend on individual agreements with partner companies and applicable national contracts.
The choice of destination countries in Europe is not random. According to Toledo, demand is concentrated mainly in Spain, Germany, Austria, Poland and Lithuania. In these countries, driver shortages are among the most acute, and in some cases – such as Lithuania and Poland – carriers operate long-haul international routes that are difficult to staff with local labour alone. The profiles sought remain primarily heavy goods vehicle drivers for long-distance freight, although M/Brazil’s communications suggest the model could extend to other segments – tankers, coils and specialised loads – depending on operators’ needs.
The regulatory framework surrounding this trend is complex. On the European side, companies must comply with national labour laws, EU directives on posting of workers, the Mobility Package rules governing cabotage and driving and rest times, and evolving regulations on the mobility of third-country workers, including Directive 2024/1233 on intra-EU mobility of non-EU residents. M/Brazil offers guided pathways for visa management and, in some promotional materials, refers to the possibility of accessing schemes via Lithuania or other states that facilitate subsequent movement within the EU after several years of legal residence. On the Brazilian side, candidates must deal with licence conversion or recognition – eased by bilateral agreements with some countries such as Portugal – as well as language requirements and work visa procedures.
Antonio Illariuzzi
