The road haulage sector has been seeking new boosts to restart over the past months. Expectations are running high for the long-awaited government incentives for scrapping old vehicles and purchasing the latest generation of trucks, trailers and commercial vehicles. The decree was formally approved in Italy with the publication in the Gazzetta Ufficiale (Official Journal) on 27 July. It is a breath of fresh air to the industry that, despite having remained active during the lockdown, suffered from the decrease in the volume of goods and, above all, from the shortage of liquidity.

The potential investment of companies in new vehicles, stimulated by incentives and made urgent by the ageing vehicle fleets, now more than 10 years old in average, will prove to be fundamental to give a boost to the manufacturers' market and the companies in the related industries, driving the purchase of solutions with lower environmental impact, such as natural gas, biomethane and electrical vehicles. But it will also promote road safety, with the introduction of the driver assist and braking systems installed on the latest generation of vehicles to reduce running costs over time and ensure greater reliability and sustainability for the transport companies themselves.

The near future may well be a restarting moment also for training. The shutdown of the activities of the various Department of Motor Vehicles offices and driving schools during the lockdown and in the months immediately afterwards, has unfortunately also pulled the brake on the flow of new professional drivers, hindering even further the already sluggish introduction of a fresher workforce in a sector in which the average age of drivers is getting higher by the day.

In this context, the next edition of Transpotec Logitec, at Fiera Milano from 18 to 21 March 2021, will be a particularly significant meeting point for the sector. First exhibition dedicated to road haulage after the annus horribilis of the pandemic that caused the cancellation of many specialised events, Transpotec will be the opportunity to take stock and develop new strategies shared by all the major players of the sector. Operators will meet again, get close to vehicles and solutions and directly experience on-board innovation through test drives at the exhibition. Training and information opportunities will then be available to all professionals.

The classic ingredients of the consolidated format of the event have been confirmed but it will be offering much more in 2021. In the spacious and rational spaces of Fiera Milano district and strong of new services, exhibitors and visitors will be able to explore new communication and content usage opportunities by pairing the experience of the physical visit with digital resources. Visitors will be able to move around the district safety, with routes and solutions designed to respect the social distancing, without missing any opportunity offered by the exhibitors to the entire road haulage community excited to meet up again at the exhibition after so long.

With so many new on-board technologies and opportunities, Transpotec Logitec will be like a new, high-performance vehicle, in step with the changing market but still true to its greatly appreciated personality.