A new survey published this week by the national haulage association ASSOTIR suggests that, six months after the introduction of Italy’s €100-per-hour waiting-time rule, the majority of transport companies have yet to see any real financial benefit.
The figures are stark. Only 28% of medium-sized firms report successfully obtaining the indemnity when trucks are kept waiting beyond the legal threshold. Among micro-enterprises (companies operating between one and five vehicles and forming the backbone of Italy’s road freight sector), only 5% manage to secure payment. In practical terms, more than 70% of companies entitled to compensation do not receive it.
The findings expose a widening gap between legislative ambition and commercial reality.
A reform that looked revolutionary
When Italy adopted Law 105/2025 last summer under the Decreto Infrastrutture, the measure was widely regarded as one of the most assertive interventions in European road freight policy in recent years.
The law introduced a 90-minute grace period for loading and unloading. Subsequently, clients must pay €100 for each additional hour, or fraction of an hour, that a truck is required to wait. Liability is joint: both the client and the loading party are responsible. The rule is explicitly non-derogable.
In November, Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport issued a formal circular reinforcing the point. The €100 payment, the ministry clarified, is mandatory. It cannot be contractually excluded, reduced or negotiated away.
Resistance on the ground
But resistance emerged almost immediately.
In late 2025, FIAP, the Italian national federation representing professional road haulage companies, warned that some clients were responding to the new rule not with compliance but with pressure. According to the federation, hauliers who invoiced the €100 fee were in some cases threatened with the loss of future contracts. Others were reportedly asked to sign waivers contradicting Article 6-bis of Legislative Decree 286/2005.
FIAP described such clauses as legally void and potentially amounting to abuse of economic dependence. The federation formally alerted Italy’s competition authority and established a monitoring observatory to collect evidence of irregular practices at loading and unloading sites.
Why the money doesn’t flow
ASSOTIR’s latest data suggest that the core difficulty lies not in the wording of the regulation but in its mechanism.
The compensation is not automatic. It must be claimed by the carrier from the client responsible for the delay.
For small operators dependent on a limited number of contracts, insisting on payment can carry risks that are commercial rather than legal. A right that exists in statute may prove harder to assert in practice when bargaining power is uneven.
Micro-enterprises are therefore doubly exposed. They are often the most vulnerable to long waiting times, where even a few hours can disrupt subsequent deliveries and erode margins, yet they are also the least likely to enforce the indemnity.
Portugal and Spain already enforce waiting time rules
The proposed Italian regulation echoes measures already implemented in Portugal and Spain in recent years. Portugal’s Decree 57/2021, which came into force in September 2021, prohibits HGV drivers from performing loading and unloading activities, imposes a two-hour maximum waiting time, and allows hauliers to claim compensation for delays.
The level of compensation in Portugal is determined based on vehicle weight and type of transport, ranging from €12 to €40 per hour. For delays exceeding 10 hours, an additional 25% is added for each subsequent hour.
The decree also requires waiting areas to be equipped with toilets and waiting rooms.
In Spain, a similar regulation came into effect in September 2022. The Spanish legislation prohibits drivers of vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from performing loading and unloading operations and introduces mandatory compensation for delays exceeding one hour at distribution centres.
Prior to this change, the threshold had been two hours. The regulation also includes provisions for revising transport contract prices in line with fuel cost fluctuations and enforces compliance with the EU Mobility Package, including rules on driving and rest times.
