Dr. Sra, can you tell us how the idea of a new working group dedicated to road transport and logistics came about in ANFIA? What are your long-term and short-term goals?

The working group was born to create systems and to led a voice to the activities that concern the world of freight transport. To date, mega trends pushed by the legislature are materializing, but there is still work to be done. In Italy we have one of the most obsolete vehicle fleets in Europe: only 21.6% of vehicles are equipped with safety devices made compulsory on 1 November 2015 (AEBS for autonomous emergency braking and LDW for lane keeping), and 52% with electronic tachographs. It is therefore necessary to work in this direction, with the support and commitment of manufacturers. In addition to being indispensable for achieving the goals of environmental sustainability for freight transport, the renewal of the circulating fleet also responds to the need to raise safety standards in vehicles that travel the roads every day, overcoming the contradiction between the enormous investments made by manufacturers to comply with the regulations in force and the actual equipment on the vehicles in use. In order to achieve the carbon targets for the long-distance freight transport sector and for urban logistics, a contribution from all technologies will be fundamental, in which it is necessary to invest to support and guide development along this pathway.

ANFIA is an important market watchdog. What do you see as wave of opportunity to be ridden at this time and what are the risks to be foreseen for vehicle and equipment manufacturers?

This will be a period full of investment, particularly on the subject of reducing pollution emissions, with Euro 7 planned for around 2025, in addition to investments on power line and vehicle articulation.  On the subject of reducing carbon in light and heavy commercial vehicles, our sector will experience market dynamics driven by legislators. To achieve the carbon targets set by Europe, a contribution from all technologies will be important, from clean diesel, thanks to the useful and necessary use of bio-fuels, to natural gas, as a bridging technology towards hydrogen. At the same time, there is an urgent need for work on infrastructure development, from high-voltage columns for commercial and industrial vehicles to hydrogen distribution, which are fundamental steps to support the spread of zero-emission goods vehicles.

ANFIA has confirmed its support for Transpotec Logitec 2022. Why do you think such an event is important for the market? What will be the content proposal that you, as an association, will bring to the fair?    

The road transport and logistics sector in Italy is facing a time of challenges and major changes, starting from those of green and digital transition, according to the criteria established by the European regulatory agenda on carbon reduction of mobility and new vehicle safety requirements. The health emergency has put the entire industrial and towed vehicles supply chain to the test, but the sector has once again shown its resilience by ensuring the dynamics of distribution. In addition, the Italian supply chain, from an industrial point of view, boasts major production excellence and specialisation, companies that invest in research and innovation, and that are able to provide latest generation technologies and to develop new ones for the future, providing they are supported in their investment efforts and can operate in a favourable context. In this sense, ANFIA's support to Transpotec is an opportunity for comparison and openness about the challenges and opportunities that the sector, today more than ever, is ready to seize.