It has been specified that the 90 minutes of free time apply only to waiting times
Rome – The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has issued the definitive clarification on the application of sanctions for waiting times for the loading and unloading of goods provided for in Article 4 of legislative decree 73/2025. A clarification to put an end to the different interpretations, by hauliers on one side and clients on the other, of the new rules which, introduced to resolve the conflict over long waiting times in port and inland terminals, and the consequent requests for compensation, have continued to be debated precisely because of the difficulties in reaching a single interpretation.
The circular from the Department for Transport and Navigation of the Mit, signed by the head of department, Stefano Fabrizio Riazzola, specifies the exact scope of application of free time and compensation, after recalling the rule which, incidentally, did not provide for regulatory or interpretative interventions by the ministry. Article 4 provides for a 90-minute free waiting time for the purposes of loading and unloading operations of goods in terminals, beyond which compensation of one hundred euros is established for the carrier for every hour or fraction of an hour of delay. And the compensation of 100 euros is also due, “without further periods of free time, in case of exceeding the times contractually indicated for the physical execution of the loading or unloading operations; also in this case the compensation is due to the carrier for every hour or fraction of an hour of delay”.
Therefore, the circular explains, “the free time referred to in paragraph 1 does not include the times for loading and unloading operations; there are no free time periods relating to compensation for exceeding loading and unloading times; the compensation is due in full (100 euros) even for exceeding free time (paragraph 2) or loading or unloading (paragraph 3) times of less than one hour”. One of the key points was precisely that the 90 minutes of free time, according to the interpretation of some hauliers’ associations, contrary to what clients believed, would also include the operations of loading and unloading the goods, not just the waiting phase to perform them.
“The note on the application of free time and related compensation to guarantee the continuity of the road haulage service unequivocally clarifies that the 90 minutes of free time apply only to waiting times – comments Assiterminal President Tomaso Cognolato, satisfied – and do not include the actual time used to load or unload the goods, as requested and indicated by Assiterminal during the discussions with the ministry”.
The circular also underlines the importance of the transport contract and the instructions provided to the carrier regarding the place and time of the loading or unloading operations and adds that “obviously, in determining the content of the contract, the parties must respect the limits imposed by law”.
“The enhancement of the transport contract, from which the terminal operator or port company is excluded, is a further element of clarity,” adds the Director of Assiterminal, Alessandro Ferrari, who launches a proposal.
“It could be useful for the conference of the presidents of the Port System Authorities to evaluate a sort of national program agreement – he says – that aims to improve, also through a uniform digitalization of the PCS (Port Community System), the efficiency of the import-export flows that transit through the ports, thus enhancing the ongoing digitalization processes and the dialogue with the operators, primarily the terminal operators, but also with the Customs Agency.” A positive opinion, in short, from Assiterminal, even if “some unresolved issues still remain,” concludes Ferrari.
Returning to the circular, in addition to the clarifications, it also underlines the necessity to define “in advance” with the greatest possible accuracy a series of points: from the place to the methods of vehicle access, from the time of execution to the execution times of the operations. This is in consideration of the fact that the loading and unloading of goods involve multiple actors (from the trucker to the freight forwarder, from the maritime agent to the terminal operator) and that the terminals (ports, interports and logistics platforms) where the operations take place can have very different characteristics from each other and the law provides that “the principal and the shipper are jointly and severally obligated to pay the carrier” the compensation “without prejudice to the right of recourse between the co-obligors against the actual responsible party” and that finally there exists a wide variety of transport contracts.
