High fuel prices are sparking truck revolts, with truckers threatening to bring the country to a standstill. Independent blockades have already sprung up in some southern regions, including Puglia, and others are planned by independent committees and groups in Calabria, starting tomorrow, and in Sicily in the coming days. Alarm is also growing in Basilicata and Calabria, where several service stations are running out of fuel, resulting in long lines.
In Sardinia, however, nothing has been formally organized yet, but a suggestion is quickly gaining traction among truck drivers: a blockade organized outside the Saras gates. Port operations, however, are not ruled out.
"These protests are spontaneous, uncontrolled, and unproclaimed by trade associations, which makes the situation even more disturbing because it means we're acting amidst the desperation of businesspeople," says Conftrasporto president Pasquale Russo.
Unatras (National Union of Road Haulage Associations) is on the same page, speaking of "a widespread malaise that is no longer sustainable for businesses."
Both associations are therefore urging immediate action from the Meloni government: " We are asking the government to urgently convene the road haulage associations, otherwise we will have to consider a national shutdown and the country will come to a standstill," Russo emphasizes.
"If he doesn't convene a meeting as a matter of urgency , he's taking responsibility for consigning the sector to total paralysis," Unatras warns. The protest is based on the failure to release the resources allocated last May specifically to combat the high diesel prices, "but which have not yet arrived."
Furthermore, "further funding" is needed, given the continued upward trend in diesel prices. Since the start of the war, there has been an "increase of more than 50 cents per liter," specifies the president of Conftrasporto. And the logistics crisis, which is affecting the distribution network, partly due to the strike at the Taranto refinery, is triggering a fuel emergency in Puglia and Calabria.
In the Foggia area, almost all petrol stations are empty, and in Cosenza, the vast majority of service stations have completely run out of petrol and diesel, throwing urban mobility into chaos.
The problem is spreading to other provinces and cities, such as Catanzaro, where most pumps have run out of supplies. " The Meloni government must immediately address the fuel emergency, which has now spread throughout the South," urges the Calabria Democratic Party (PD). Meanwhile, the president of Confindustria Puglia, Nicola Delle Donne, warns that "many businesses are at risk of shutting down due to the lack of fuel: from transportation to infrastructure and construction."
Enrico Fresu