The Polícia Rodoviária Federal (PRF) has wrapped up its nationwide Operação Rodovida Carnaval, releasing state-by-state data on 19 February. In Tocantins alone, officers recovered five stolen vehicles, seized seven kilograms of narcotics and arrested 23 suspects over the six-day holiday. Similar crackdowns in the Federal District and Amazonas slashed crash numbers by up to 80 percent compared with 2025, according to PRF dashboards.
To achieve those results, the force boosted manpower by 18 percent, deployed radar guns around-the-clock and more than doubled roadside breathalyser checks. While the safety gains are welcome, corporates operating shuttle services for plant workers reported journey times between Palmas and Porto Nacional increasing by 45 minutes because of layered checkpoints.
![Carnaval Enforcement Drive Sees PRF Reinforce Road Corridors, Cutting Accidents but Increasing Road-Check Delays]()
The PRF says such disruption is a feature, not a bug: “Visible policing is our best deterrent,” regional superintendent Leandro Sampaio told reporters. Mobility managers should therefore treat the Rodovida model—intense, data-driven enforcement during peak travel windows—as the new normal for Easter and July school holidays. Best practice includes issuing drivers with digital copies of vehicle papers to speed inspections and staggering departure times to avoid late-night alco-test dragnets.
For companies that also have expatriate engineers or drivers flying in for seasonal shifts, securing the right travel documents promptly is crucial. VisaHQ’s Brazil service centre (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) can streamline business-visa applications, work-permit renewals and passport updates, helping firms keep personnel moving even when road checkpoints slow everything else.
Companies running time-sensitive road freight should pre-advise clients of potential delays and consider alternative rail legs where available. PRF has indicated that its next high-intensity phase will target the southern grain-export corridor during the soy harvest in March.
To achieve those results, the force boosted manpower by 18 percent, deployed radar guns around-the-clock and more than doubled roadside breathalyser checks. While the safety gains are welcome, corporates operating shuttle services for plant workers reported journey times between Palmas and Porto Nacional increasing by 45 minutes because of layered checkpoints.
The PRF says such disruption is a feature, not a bug: “Visible policing is our best deterrent,” regional superintendent Leandro Sampaio told reporters. Mobility managers should therefore treat the Rodovida model—intense, data-driven enforcement during peak travel windows—as the new normal for Easter and July school holidays. Best practice includes issuing drivers with digital copies of vehicle papers to speed inspections and staggering departure times to avoid late-night alco-test dragnets.
For companies that also have expatriate engineers or drivers flying in for seasonal shifts, securing the right travel documents promptly is crucial. VisaHQ’s Brazil service centre (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) can streamline business-visa applications, work-permit renewals and passport updates, helping firms keep personnel moving even when road checkpoints slow everything else.
Companies running time-sensitive road freight should pre-advise clients of potential delays and consider alternative rail legs where available. PRF has indicated that its next high-intensity phase will target the southern grain-export corridor during the soy harvest in March.
