Truckers protesting rising fuel and energy costs blocked the access roads to the port of Naples on Monday, 19 October, slowing freight bound for the ferry berths. Port authority president Eliseo Cuccaro said the port gates were open, but a blockade outside the Bausan gate was progressively limiting goods traffic. Vehicles heading for Ischia, Capri and Procida were expected to be the first affected if the protest continued, and some drivers were trying to reach the berths through city streets or switching to departures from Pozzuoli.
The protest has also reached motorway toll booths. Trucks stopped overnight at the Tremestieri barrier in Messina, leaving two entry and exit lanes open, and trucks also stopped at the San Gregorio booth near Catania. The pressure is showing in shops as well. Confcommercio vice president Pasquale Russo, who also heads Conftrasporto, said the blockades were already disrupting deliveries of fresh and perishable food, as well as appliances and consumer electronics.
We must prevent a crisis that is already heavy for the transport sector from turning into an emergency for the entire commercial supply chain and for consumers.
In the Carinaro industrial area of Caserta province, loading and unloading at supermarket chain warehouses has been halted and shelves are running low. Shops in Catanzaro, Calabria, report near-empty shelves, with fish and fresh goods missing and milk and flour running out. In Bari, the Acar consortium of about sixty firms and a thousand vehicles asked the Puglia regional government for a permanent crisis table. Its president, Vito Tafuni, said costs had risen by almost 2,000 euros a month per vehicle from January to September. Russo said he hoped a meeting planned with Matteo Salvini for the following day would produce quick answers. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has called a meeting with haulage representatives for Tuesday, 27 October, at 4:00 PM at its Porta Pia headquarters.