The freight transport market - Italy

1.1 Definition and scope of study

Freight transportation can be defined as the movement of goods of any kind from one point to another, whether by land, sea or air. Freight transportation allows companies to deliver goods in a timely manner and at minimal cost. Segmented by land, sea or sea, the different types of transport include:

-        Road transport

-        Rail transport

-        Sea and river transport

-        Air transport

-        Oil pipelines

The European Union, the United States and China are the major players in the freight transport industry. The growing number of companies using the internet as a sales channel is fueling the freight transportation sector. The United States is experiencing continued growth due to technological advancements in the IT and cloud sectors as well as well-established industry conventions. In addition, Asia's rising population has increased the demand for goods transportation and thus stimulated growth in that region. Environmental concerns, safety and security in freight operations, combined with the need for operational efficiency, are expected to drive the growth of the freight transportation market in the coming years.

 In Italy, the majority of freight transport comes by land. In 2019, the trade of goods grew by 5.4%, with more than one billion tons transported. In 2020, the road network transported over 900 million tons of goods. In second place comes maritime transport, with half as many tons transported, while air transport has only a little over a million tons transported. Finally, although the share of rail transport is much lower than road and sea transport, it is also the safest and most virtuous means of transport in terms of CO2 emissions. This means of transport could therefore offer a concrete solution to the decarbonization objectives that the European Union wishes to implement in the future.

The Covid 19 crisis has had a strong impact on the transport sector. While the passenger transport sector has halved, the freight transport sector has contracted by 18.7%, mainly impacted by road transport (-25.8%) but also by air transport (-23.6%). Rail freight transport, on the other hand, fell by only 7% in volume. The sharp increase in freight volumes by rail between China and Europe could therefore be the start of a trend towards cleaner and more optimized solutions.