- Driving until 70: Salvini wants professional drivers to be able to extend their careers voluntarily, subject to medical fitness.
- Current rules: the 68-year age limit applies to specific categories of heavy vehicles, whereas a category C licence can be renewed beyond that age.
- Unions oppose the plan: Filt-Cgil and Uiltrasporti are calling for earlier retirement and improved working conditions.
- Details remain unclear: no official text has been published explaining which categories would be covered or how the new system would work.
Salvini wants professional drivers to work until the age of 70
Allowing older drivers to continue working until the age of 70, voluntarily and subject to regular medical checks, is the proposal put forward by Transport Minister Matteo Salvini at the Federtrasporto assembly on 7 October. Salvini took part in the event by video link.
The stated aim is to help haulage companies struggling to recruit qualified drivers. Keeping experienced professionals in work for longer could give operators another way to manage the shortage.
Salvini suggested that the proposal could be presented to the Council of Ministers as early as the following week. He also referred to medical examinations every two years for drivers over 65.
Several important details remain unresolved. Italian law already requires category C and CE licences to be renewed every two years once a driver reaches the age of 65. The maximum age at which drivers may operate heavy vehicles, however, depends on the type of vehicle involved.
It is therefore too early to say which rules would actually change. No draft legislation has been presented, and the government has not yet clarified which licence categories would be covered or how the proposed reform would be applied.
What the Italian Highway Code currently says about C and CE licences
Salvini’s announcement has revived the debate over age limits for professional drivers. Existing rules distinguish between the validity of a driving licence and the authorisation to operate particular types of vehicle.
C1, C1E, C and CE licences must be renewed every five years until the holder reaches the age of 65. After that, renewal is required every two years and is subject to a medical commission confirming that the driver continues to meet the necessary physical and psychological requirements.
A separate rule applies to road trains and articulated vehicles with a maximum authorised mass of more than 20 tonnes. Once drivers are over 65, they must obtain an annual medical fitness certificate to continue driving these vehicles and may do so until the current age limit of 68.
A category C licence, by contrast, is not subject to a single general maximum age. It may remain valid beyond 68 as long as the driver continues to meet the medical requirements and observes the restrictions applying to the vehicles they are authorised to operate.
This distinction is central to understanding the minister’s proposal. Raising the limit to 70 could concern the age at which certain vehicles may be driven, rather than create an entirely new right for every category C licence holder.
Would truck drivers retire at 70? The proposal does not change pension rules
One point has caused particular confusion: the difference between the maximum age for driving and the age at which a person can retire.
Some interpretations of Salvini’s announcement suggested that it could be a plan to raise the retirement age for truck drivers to 70. These are separate issues.
The rules governing whether someone may continue driving particular types of vehicle are set out in the Highway Code. Pension eligibility, on the other hand, is determined by social security legislation.
Allowing a driver to remain at the wheel until the age of 70 would not require them to work that long, nor would it automatically change the conditions for drawing a pension.
The issue is particularly sensitive because unions have long called for professional driving to be recognised as arduous work. The job can involve long periods behind the wheel, demanding shifts and significant responsibility for road safety.
Filt-Cgil opposes the plan and calls for earlier retirement
Filt-Cgil responded on 7 October, just hours after the minister’s intervention.
“We oppose allowing road haulage drivers to continue working until they are 70,” the union federation said, arguing that the proposal does not address the profession’s real needs.
In its view, the priority should be to classify heavy-vehicle driving as arduous work and provide access to early-retirement arrangements as a result.
Filt-Cgil is also calling for structural measures to make the profession more attractive and tackle the driver shortage. Its proposals include properly equipped rest areas, training pathways in schools and stronger collective bargaining at national and local levels.
The broader goal is to improve pay and employment conditions while encouraging younger people to enter the sector.
Uiltrasporti warns that financial pressure could keep drivers working longer
Uiltrasporti Liguria also criticised the proposal. Regional secretary Giovanni Ciaccio issued the union’s response on 9 October.
He argued that simply saying drivers would not be obliged to work until the age of 70 was not enough.
Uiltrasporti believes that the possibility of continuing to work could become an economic necessity for drivers with inadequate pensions or without realistic ways to retire early.
The Ligurian organisation has asked the region to promote a national meeting with the ministry. It wants the discussion to focus on three issues: recognising the demanding nature of the work and creating early-retirement routes; improving wages and social security contributions; and introducing measures to attract young people to the profession.
The union’s position highlights a fundamental difference from the government’s approach. While ministers want to keep experienced drivers in the workforce for longer, worker representatives want to address the factors making the profession less attractive in the first place.
Driver shortage keeps reform debate open
The proposal to allow drivers to operate certain heavy vehicles until the age of 70 forms part of the wider debate over the shortage of qualified transport workers.
For haulage companies, extending the careers of experienced drivers could help ease recruitment pressures. Unions argue that a lasting solution depends instead on investment in training, fair pay and sustainable working conditions.
As of 9 October, freight transport associations had not issued an official public position on the proposal, according to the information available at the time.
The next key step will be the presentation of any government measure. Only then will it become clear whether the plan concerns age limits for driving the heaviest vehicles alone or proposes broader changes.
The central question for Italian road transport remains unresolved: how can the industry address the driver shortage without delaying action on working conditions and the need to attract a new generation of professionals?
