Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – Transportation and logistics are strategic sectors for the competitiveness of the Italian economy, but rising energy costs, infrastructure congestion, and international tensions are increasingly putting companies under pressure, reducing their margins and competitiveness. This is according to the Freight Insights Observatory, established by MOST and the CSELI Foundation, presented today in Rome at the 11th Conftrasporto-Confcommercio International Forum.
According to the study, despite the growth in transport companies' turnover, which reached €96 billion, profitability has not increased to the same extent. Higher operating costs are the main factor: between 2019 and 2026, the cost of borrowing increased by 111%, electricity by 73%, diesel by 30%, and labor by 18%.
“Never before this year,” says Pasquale Russo, president of Conftrasporto and vice president of Confcommercio, “has the strategic role of transport and logistics for the competitiveness and development of the entire economic system emerged so forcefully.
High energy prices, the ETS, infrastructure congestion, delays in digitalization, and geopolitical uncertainties require action on two fronts: on the one hand, addressing emergencies; on the other, planning coordinated, long-term system policies to support operators and the entire country.
Despite a complex macroeconomic environment, road transport continues to provide the operational flexibility needed to meet the needs of the Italian production system.
In 2025, traffic exceeded 31 billion tonne-kilometres, confirming the central role of this mode of transport in the movement of goods.
However, pressure on operating costs remains significant. Between 2019 and 2026, the price of diesel increased by approximately 30%, with an increase of more than 15% between 2025 and 2026. Alternative fuels also saw price increases over the same period: +4,1% for CNG and +3,4% for LNG. Adding to these challenges is the growing saturation of the road network. 90% of vehicles travel less than 300 kilometers per day, with a prevalence of regional and interregional transport, limiting the ability to shift freight to other modes. Road congestion in Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna results in operating costs for heavy vehicles exceeding €1 billion per year. Nationally, the overall cost of congestion for all vehicles, both light and heavy, reaches nearly €5 billion annually. Furthermore, the shortage of professional drivers remains structural, estimated at over 30 in the coming years, also due to a training system not yet adequate to the needs of the sector.
Maritime transport is a strategic sector for Italy. National ports rank second in Europe, after the Dutch, in terms of overall cargo handling, with a significant contribution from containers and bulk cargo. Ro-Ro traffic, however, is showing signs of slowing. Geopolitical tensions and trade route diversions, partly due to the failed Suez Canal crossing, are increasing transit times to Italian ports by approximately two weeks. This situation increases the risk of national ports losing their centrality to Northern European ports and other routes outside the Mediterranean. On the domestic market, Ro-Ro traffic is projected to decline by approximately 1% in 2025 compared to 2024, following an overall growth of 12% in the 2018-2025 period. The ETS applied to the sector also impacts the cost of maritime connections. Fuel costs, including ETS charges, account for over 50% of the operating costs of island connections, encouraging the use of entirely road transport and penalizing the competitiveness of maritime solutions.
Rail transport is a key lever for improving the modal split of freight and reducing pressure on the road network. However, infrastructure modernization projects and operational inflexibility in the sector have contributed to accentuating the negative trend seen in recent years. The positive effects of rail transport incentives are more than offset by the impact of these projects on traffic. In the first half of 2026, there was an 8% reduction in train-kilometers compared to the same period in 2025, compared to an estimated traffic volume of approximately 23 million train-kilometers for 2026. The overall trend in air freight transport is positive, with an increase in tons handled and growth at some cargo-oriented airports, including Rome, Brescia, and Bergamo. Malpensa bucked the trend, recording a decline that the study links to the announcement of a tax on low-value packages.
Italy's infrastructure network has demonstrated a significant capacity to support the flow of goods and passengers, but structural criticalities persist that risk putting the country at a competitive disadvantage. These problems are particularly evident at strategic hubs and Alpine passes, where congestion, slowdowns, and blockages jeopardize the regularity of trade connections. The port system also presents imbalances in traffic distribution: alongside ports exposed to the risk of overcapacity, infrastructure remains underutilized compared to the volumes handled and the choices of operators. Some of the costs and delays could be contained through greater use of digital technologies for infrastructure monitoring and maintenance, with potential savings estimated at nearly €7 billion overall. Further benefits could arise from the digitalization of transport documents, administrative procedures, and logistics operations, with estimated savings of €18 billion for the Italian economy over the coming years. Finally, the computerization of port procedures could generate savings of around 160 million euros per year, reducing administrative burdens and improving the efficiency of operations.
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