Il freight transport sector Italy is currently facing a triple emergency: rising insurance costs Car insurance, the high number of injuries at work and – above all – an unprecedented escalation in theft of goods on the road. According to the new TT Club joint report, Bsi e Tapa Emea, the number of robberies recorded in Italy quadrupled between 2021 and 2023, making our country one of the most affected in Europe by road transport crime.
Faced with these critical scenarios, the need for transport companies to carefully evaluate insurance coverage emerges. This is precisely the central theme of the volume "When the Blanket is Short – How to Protect Yourself from Insurance Risks”, created by the editorial staff of Men and Transportation and will be released as a preview on Tuesday 17 June in Bologna.
Car insurance: +12,6% in two years despite the drop in accidents
The Federtrasporti Observatory reports an average increase of 12,6% of car insurance costsfor heavy vehicles between 2023 and 2025, reaching 0,134 euros per km for a vehicle that travels 100.000 km per year. A more marked increase than the national average recorded by Ivass (+10,1% from 2022 to 2024), despite a comforting figure: the number of deaths in accidents road accidents involving trucks fell by 32,5% in 2023, also thanks to the progressive introduction of Adas systems, mandatory from July 2024.
Theft of goods: the new scourge of freight transport in Italy
But the real emergency is taking place in silence on the streets: the theft of load. Several factors have an impact: a chronic lack of safe parking areas (only 1 parking space for every 289 trucks, according to Uomini e Trasporti: the reference magazine for political and technical information in the road haulage sector), poor video surveillance and a motorway network with a high density of commercial traffic, especially in the areas of Milan, along the A1, A4, A50 and A64.
Making the situation even more critical are the infiltrations of the organized crime, as highlighted in the Organised Crime Index, in the logistics chain and the geographical position of Italy, the main gateway for many European routes. The product sectors most affected by thefts are: food, fashion, clothing and pharmaceutical products.
Workplace safety: a high-risk sector
The transport and warehousing sector is also the second in Italy for fatal accidents at work. This is confirmed by Inail, which in the latest available six-monthly bulletin (October 2024), places 131 deaths in this sector in 2023, representing 17,2% of the total number of workers who lost their lives. A significant result that comes immediately after the 24,5% represented by construction.
