Twenty years after tariff liberalization and subsequent reform, the sector needs new rules that create a basis for growth and security. This is the proposal of Stefano Zunarelli (professor of navigation law at Bologna) during a conference organized by the University of Trieste to present a new advanced training course in logistics management. The proposal, shared by other speakers, comes in the midst of negotiations between the Government and trade associations on many issues of law 286/2005
A new road transport reform that takes into account the specificities of supply chains, with an institutional body such as the Register of Road Freight Carriers capable of generalizing and linking with other institutional bodies, with certain sanctions of a state nature in the event of violations and with a strong push for simplification and digitalization, but capable of restoring control tools such as transport card , useful for tracking the passage of goods between the client and the various carriers. This is the proposal of Stefano Zunarelli, professor of navigation and transport law at the University of Bologna and owner of the law firm of the same name, voiced during the conference "The road transport reform turns 20 - Legislative Decree 286/2005 between light and shadows", organized by the University of Trieste on the occasion of the presentation of the new advanced training course in logistics management, launched by the IUSLIT and DEAMS departments of the Giuliano University in agreement with Federtrasporti Group .
The meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the innovations in road transport of goods by Legislative Decree 286/2005, which abolished the bracketed tariffs, later replaced by minimum security costs and then by reference costs published by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. The 2005 law also interfered with the rules on regular driving and rest periods for drivers, waiting times for loading and unloading and set a limit of only one journey for subcontractors. Issues being discussed at the table between the Government and the employers' associations, who at a meeting on 3 April agreed on some adjustments, namely on waiting times involving the direct responsibility of the loader (in addition to an increase in hourly pay), on payment times involving the Antimonopoly Committee and to simplify training to obtain the CQC.
A reform that needs to be reformed
"A reform," said Paolo Ugge, now president of FAI-Conftrasporto, but who, as Deputy Minister of Transport, oversaw the drafting of the law in 2005, "which was based on aspects related to competitiveness and safety, but which failed"... due to the lack of control". And if the father of the reform, while acknowledging its regulatory quality, does not hide a certain disappointment (see also the interview here), other interlocutors also agree on the need to review some fundamental steps to restore the strength of the sector. "We have noticed in recent years," intervened Massimo Campaila, professor of navigation and transport law at the University of Trieste and director of the new advanced training course in logistics management, "the excessive use of subcontracting, for which there are practically no sanctions of a state nature, this concerns the invalidity of the contract, but often the carrier is unaware of his position in the supply chain. This is also due to the abolition of the transport card, which made everything more transparent" (see also the interview here). Fabrizio Ossani, CEO of Federtrasporti, stressed that "it is necessary to maintain some of the qualifying aspects of the 2005 reform, namely quality certification and voluntary agreements", while for Massimo Mazotti, President of the International Transport Division of Anita, "the way forward is a written contract, and it is necessary to find a quick solution to the waiting times, which are also linked to the shortage of drivers".
New CMR controls coming soon
"The sector is being structured", began Enrico Finocchi, President of the Road Freight Transport Registry, "we see that there is also a trend towards the internalisation of road transport services, a phenomenon that reduces the use of subcontracting". Finocchi also announced that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport plans to acquire new mobile inspection centres to check heavy vehicles on the roads.
A new organic structure
"The Italian production system needs road transport, so this sector must work on adequate management". According to Zunarelli, this is the objective that the next reform of the sector must set itself, which after twenty years, while recognizing the benefits of the 2005 law, must bring greater efficiency and competitiveness to road transport. An organic regulatory framework that recognizes the specificities of the different supply chains with rules corresponding to each small subsystem, which recognizes the Register as an institution capable of synthesizing. According to Zunarelli, the fundamental pillar of the new system must be public sanctions, accompanied by adequate use of digitalization, which will also allow the re-introduction of the transport card, a document recognized as useful for tracking supply chains and transparency of steps.