Road haulage: further lorry blockades in Puglia and Campania

From the Government, an immediate commitment of 480 million, with the promise of reaching over one billion euros, and a second round of talks already scheduled at the MIT for 27 October, but the road hauliers’ blockades are continuing in Puglia and Campania. In Sicily, however, the lorries of the Sicilian Transporters’ Committee (CTS) have called off their strike, who, to send a “signal of openness to the Government”, have accepted the request to remove the roadblocks still in place, put forward yesterday by the Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini following his face-to-face meeting with the hauliers. The strike was also called off in Calabria this evening.

Blockades are still in place at the Nola motorway toll booth, Avellino Est (where farmers are also protesting), Mercato San Severino (Salerno), as well as at Caianello, Capua and Caserta Nord. The lorry drivers’ blockade therefore continues in Campania, at least until the end of the month, as they demonstrate against high fuel prices, believing that the measures promised yesterday by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. There are already traffic disruptions, exacerbated by bad weather in Campania (orange weather alert), the Naples area and the Caserta area.

Last night, the Ente Autonomo Volturno (Eav) announced cuts to road transport services from today until at least 24 October, when the metro and trains may come to a standstill due to a shortage of available fuel; ferry services to Ischia and Procida also remain at risk. Service cuts are also on the cards for Air Campania. Meanwhile, panic is spreading amongst the public: there are reports of an increasing number of petrol stations running out of fuel, with long queues at the pumps where fuel is still available, particularly in Naples, and the number of supermarkets with empty shelves is also rising, due to a shortage of fresh produce. Asia is reportedly facing difficulties with waste collection.

In Puglia, the blockades will be lifted “partially, until concrete answers are provided”, say the independent farmers. And Coldiretti Puglia warns of a “risk of paralysis in agricultural activities”. In Calabria and Campania, the stoppages “will continue at least until 27 October”, when a new meeting is scheduled at the MIT, the independent farmers’ organisations have stated. Fedralog (Calabria) states that it “is not satisfied because the talks did not result in any new commitments from the government other than the release of funds already allocated previously – sums for 2025 that we had been waiting for for months”.

In Calabria, due to a protest by lorry drivers, the airports at Crotone and Reggio Calabria have run out of aircraft fuel. There are no reported problems at Lamezia Terme, and operations are proceeding as normal. This is according to a NOTAM issued by ENAV – the official notice informing pilots and flight crew. The text states that “pilots must therefore plan to refuel at their departure airport or a previous stopover, taking on sufficient fuel for subsequent legs of the journey”.