[1] One of the longest highways in the country, the 3,955.0-kilometre (2,457.5 mi) road connects Altamira, Pará, to Santana do Livramento on the Uruguayan border where it joins Route 5 (Uruguay).

[2] In the original planning of the Ministry of Transportation, its starting point should be located between highways BR-230 and PA-415 in the municipality of Altamira in the state of Pará.

The paving and maintenance of the highway, which still has tracts of land, is considered an important factor of economic development, which interferes with transportation costs and the price of goods that reach the final consumer.

In 2005, the former Secretary of Infrastructure of Brazil, Luiz Antônio Pagot, mentioned that "the BR-158 is a structuring and multimodal axis that combines the highway with the waterway and the railroad, which is why it is of great importance."

Also according to him, "the completion of the paving works on BR-158 will give competitiveness not only to agribusiness in the state of Mato Grosso, but will also make it possible for the port of Ponta da Madeira to be an export corridor for others.

(in Pará)) to the Ponta de Madeira terminal in São Luiz (Maranhão), and the Norte-Sul railway, which is currently located in Estreito, Tocantins, and has been descending to the state of Goiás ".

The expressive participation of iron in this quantity stands out, whose production is mainly concentrated in the states of Minas Gerais and Pará.

Brazil is the world's second largest iron ore exporter and has the second position in the ranking of reserves: under Brazilian soil there are at least 29 billion tons .

[14][15][16] The highway is also of great economic and logistical importance for southern Brazil, as it passes through high production areas in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná.

In soybeans, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul are among the largest producers in the country, with around 16% of the national production for each one, only surpassed by Mato Grosso.