Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
CATANIA / PALERMO / NAPLES – The long-awaited breakthrough in the transport crisis that has paralysed the South came late last night. The Aias (Sicilian Hauliers’ Association) announced the formal suspension of road blockades after the Prefecture of Catania guaranteed the sector’s direct involvement in national consultation tables. At the same time, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Edoardo Rixi confirmed the immediate release of funds earmarked for road haulage.
However, the return to normal for large-scale distribution and for citizens is expected to be gradual and not without operational delays.
Federdistribuzione: “Up to a week needed for stock and fresh produce”
Despite the reopening of checkpoints and the restart of heavy goods vehicles, estimates from Federdistribuzione set precise timelines for restocking the retail network:
- Recovery times: It will take at least 5–6 days for supermarket, discount store and pharmacy shelves to be restocked, with full stabilisation of supplies expected in about a week;
- Spoiled perishables: For fresh and frozen products, the timeline is further delayed by the need to destroy and dispose of loads that deteriorated while left in the sun or in refrigeration units that were off during the days of detention;
- Logistical bottlenecks: In the first 48–72 hours, queues and congestion are expected at hubs, due to the simultaneous restart of transport from ports – some of which have not yet resumed normal operations – and to loading/unloading times at intermediate distribution centres.
The situation in Sicily: pickets dismantled but state of unrest remains
On the island, where the CTS union had already suspended participation in recent days, Aias’s reversal finally allows the dismantling of the remaining pickets along the Messina–Catania route, at the entrances to the Port of Palermo and at the main inland road junctions.
Despite engines restarting, the sector remains on high alert: hauliers have made it clear that the state of agitation formally remains in place pending concrete answers expected to emerge from the first permanent sectoral roundtable, scheduled for 27 October.
Key phrases
-hauliers-blockades-Aias-lifts-Sicily-South-blockades- -Federdistribuzione-recovery-times-supermarkets-shelves-2026- -road-haulage-Aias-Prefecture-Catania-Rixi-funds- -return-to-normal-transport-supermarkets-Sicily-5-days- -suspension-hauliers-protest-roundtable-27-October-
