A sector carrying weights, not burdens

Beyond the play on words, this could be, in a nutshell, the message that emerged from the Conftrasporto-Confcommercio conference: Challenges for growth: the future of transportation and logistics between the sustainable turning point and new taxes on the horizon, held in Rome on January 25th.

The macrodata shown in the paper at the meeting speaks for itself: 80% of goods in Italy are transported by road, while 60% of imports and 50% of exports pass through maritime transport. Rail freight transportation has also performed well, surpassing 2019 levels.

However, hindering the full development of the sector’s potential is a bureaucratic system that makes difficult for companies to access to resources allocated to mitigate the cost increase associated with the energy crisis and expensive materials, risking nullifying the opportunities offered by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Additionally, there is an excessive tax burden, especially on road transport, which has reduced emissions by 30% from 1991 to 2017 but is subject to a carbon tax five times higher than that of the agricultural and industrial sectors.

Among the proposals directed to the government by Conftrasporto, particularly concerning road transport, are the following: