It's a long long topic, mostly because during the 50's the was a massive incentive on automotive industry, including building roads and using trucks, that came to 'replace' boats and trains.
Now the trucks play a huge part in Brazil's industry, from companies that produce trucks, to the ones who produce tires, to the ones who produce Diesel and so on. That allied with an abandonment of the rail ways and small ports culminated in the bad use of rivers and lakes.