Freight Forwarding in Italy an Overview of the Transport Infrastructure on Which Freight Transport Depends

has a contemporary and efficient freight transportinternational freight. Nevertheless, the ports of
infrastructure, which facilitates an effective systemGenoa, Trieste, Naples, Taranto, Augusta, Gioia Tauro
for freight forwarding. Most of the transportand Livorno are still very important to their
infrastructure was built after the Second World Warrespective regional economies and Italy is still a major
and is continually updated. Most freight forwarding inplayer in container shipping and international freight in
Italy is carried out by road and there is an excellentthe Mediterranean. The Italian merchant fleet consists
road network, especially in the north of the country,of over 2000 ships, over half of which are over 100
which is well utilised by shipping companies and thosetonnes.
involved in freight transport. The main routes areThe national air carrier Alitalia connects Italy to 60
Turin-Milan-Venice-Trieste,countries and Italy has 136 airports. The most
Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome, Milan-Genoa andsignificant are Fiumicino (Rome), Malpensa and Linate
Rome-Naples. There are over 4000 miles ofin Milan, Ronchi dei Legionari (Trieste), Caselle (Turin)
expressways, mainly in the north and central areas ofand Marco Polo (Venice). Again, the list of the most
Italy.significant airports shows a bias to the north and
As well as the road network, Italy also has ancentral areas of Italy.
efficient system of railways, rail and sea ports whichThe Italian economy has grown rapidly since the
together combine to provide the main routes forSecond World War and Italy is the world's seventh
international freight. Italy also has 1500 miles oflargest economy, in USD exchange rate terms,
waterways although these remain largelyalthough the economy has faltered more recently,
undeveloped.showing sluggish growth since 2002. This economic
The rail system in Italy is also well developed andstrength over the last 50 years has led to the
very punctual. Mussolini has been credited withdevelopment of a thriving and efficient freight
getting the Italian trains running on time and whetherservices sector, with a large number of shipping
or not this is factually accurate, the punctuality of thecompanies and freight forwarders operating
Italian rail system is remarkable. The Italian trains arethroughout the country and assisting with the
also cheap and comfortable, compared with those inefficient freight forwarding of both exports and
neighbouring European countries, and the rail networkimports.
is about to be improved further as the state ownedThe main economic strength of Italy is in the
rail company, Ferrovie dello Stato, is developing aprocessing and manufacturing of goods, primarily in
project to introduce high speed trains. This will boostsmall and medium sized family-owned firms. Italian
further the importance of the rail network to freightindustrial companies, often of small size, are mainly
forwarders.located in the 'industrial triangle' created by Milan,
However, there is still a shortage of railways in theTurin and Genoa. The main Italian exports are
south and east of Italy and government projects toprecision machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals and
improve this situation have stalled, together withelectrical goods, but its more famous exports are
other planned projects to improve the transportrelated to food or fashion.
infrastructure in the south such as creating a subwayAgriculture is important, with the northern part of
in Naples. The road network is also less efficient inItaly producing grains, rice, maize, meat, fruits and
the south of the country. This situation reflects thedairy products, whilst the south of the country
fact that most of the industry and economic activityproduces fruit, vegetables, olive oil and durum wheat.
is in the north and central areas, so the developmentItaly is also one of the world's top two wine
of the infrastructure for freight transport has beenproducers. So the freight services industry has
prioritised by the government in these places whilstevolved to be able to cater for the specialist
the south has lagged behind, with the exception ofdemands of Italian products.
its seaports. Southern Italy includes 37% of Italy'sItaly's most important trade is with other countries in
population, 40% of its land area but only producesthe European Union, which account for nearly 60%
24% of its Gross Domestic Product. So the freightof total trade. Of these, the most significant is
services options are more curtailed in the south ofGermany, followed by France, then the Netherlands.
the country than in the north, although the shippingMany a shipping company and freight company have
company with good local knowledge can easilytherefore developed expertise in providing freight
overcome these challenges related to freight servicesservices between Italy and the various other
in Southern Italy.countries of the European Union.
Sea ports used to be very important for freightIt is to be expected that the infrastructure for
forwarding in Italy and until 1975, a significant amountfreight transport in Italy will continue to improve and
of cargo went through them. However, theirthat the disparity between the north and the south
importance has declined in the last thirty years, dueof the country will begin to close over time.
to the development of other means of handling