Fiap opens two battlefronts on the new regulation regarding goods loading and unloading times (namely Article 6-bis of Legislative Decree /2005, renewed by decree-law /2025, n. 73) or rather on its incorrect application.
The Italian Federation of Professional Hauliers explains that it has encountered increasing reports from haulage companies regarding pressures, commercial threats, and illegitimate requests to waive compensation from the new regulation.
In particular, some clients are allegedly threatening to revoke assignments or replace the haulage companies that apply the rule, in some cases going so far as to demand declarations of waiver of compensation or agreements contrary to the law.
A situation that is “unacceptable and detrimental to legality”, which is generating competitive distortions and which “directly affects the dignity of drivers’ work and the safety of the entire logistics chain”.
Three actions have been undertaken so far by Fiap. The first is the transmission of a formal report to the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) to request the start of an investigative inquiry into the relationships between clients and haulage companies. The federation has also invited the authority to monitor any unfair practices that hinder the application of the rule on waiting times.
Already in the coming hours, Fiap will also proceed with sending the first formal cease-and-desist letters to some client companies, recalling “the mandatory nature of Article 6-bis, the nullity of waiver clauses, and the possible relevance of the conduct for the purposes of abuse of economic dependence.” “It is our duty – stated Alessandro Peron, Fiap General Secretary – to protect companies from the distorted use of commercial power by some clients. The law is not negotiable. The dignity of the sector is not negotiable.”
A third initiative concerns the creation of a permanent Observatory and a Study Center on the correct application of the regulation. This will collect reports from companies, documented cases of delay and undue pressure, unfair practices at /unloading sites, and data useful for identifying the structural criticalities of the supply chain, sending periodic reports to the institutions, the competent Prefectures, the Agcm and the Mit.
“We will not allow the sector to be intimidated or set back twenty years – concluded Peron. “This rule was introduced to guarantee safety, efficiency, and respect for work. Fiap will ensure that it is applied, will defend the companies that comply with it, and will intervene whenever behavior contrary to legality emerges.”
