“Transporting a block of marble from the quarry to the plain costs twice as much as it did a month ago. The increase in fuel prices for local road haulage has become unsustainable and, in one year, a full tank costs 25% more. These are costs that the road haulage is not able to overturn on its customers and end up downloading entirely on the already slim profit margins of companies. Fita Cna Massa Carrara is expected to denounce it in time for the meeting set for 17 February with the Government.
According to the trade association, local companies operating in the marble sector will see an increase of about 3,000 euros. The increase will be much higher for companies that carry out the medium-long line with increases that may vary from 9 thousand euros for vehicles powered by diesel up to 18 thousand euros for vehicles powered by LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
“The tanks, like our pockets, at this rate, will remain empty”, explains Massimo Ricci, president of Freight Cna Massa Carrara. The discontent is widespread among companies and generates anger with unpredictable outcomes. The tank is devouring the few margins we have to get by. Without adequate measures, many consider shutting down their engines and stopping everything. Even the quarry and the marble extraction if necessary, because in these conditions it is impossible to work”.
Cna, which is part of Unatras, is also ready to join the protests of road hauliers unions which are already scheduled for the upcoming few weeks. The Apuan Trade Association underlines, “in the absence of any commitment by the executives, they can only take precautionary measures to protect the union, without excluding the announcement of halting their operations.”
Hundreds of companies and local operators have been grappling for a year and a half with rising fuel prices, which in recent months have rocketed and show no sign of subsiding,” Ricci explains. “The staggering increases in the prices of raw materials, electricity and gas also affect diesel fuel, which is still the most widely used fuel, as well as the AdBlue additive for the most modern vehicles, and liquefied natural gas. At the meeting with the Government next Thursday, companies are already expecting concrete answers to a situation that is no longer sustainable”.
Source: www.quinewsmassacarrara.it
