The hauliers’ protests that have affected several regions of Southern Italy in recent weeks have drawn attention to the economic sustainability of road freight transport, a service on which the daily operations of eCommerce businesses also depend.
High diesel prices and the difficulties reported by transport companies affect a supply chain in which connections between warehouses, sorting centres and distribution networks make every delivery possible. Disruptions spread along these connections, affecting collections from merchants and the arrival of parcels at local depots.
Understanding what is happening therefore requires looking both at the reasons behind the protests and at how transport stoppages affect the distribution of goods, from shipping delays to the management of backlogs when operations resume.
Once connections are restored, the ability of local networks to handle incoming volumes will be crucial to completing deliveries and clearing delays. It is along this stretch of the supply chain, the last mile, that Lockers and Pickup Points can make a practical contribution.
Road freight stoppages in Southern Italy: what is happening
High diesel prices and the difficulty of covering operating costs are at the heart of the protests that have affected several southern regions in recent weeks. In Sicily, where the stoppage began on 16 October, demands concerning fuel costs were accompanied by concerns over the cost of maritime connections, which affect freight transport to and from the island.
The protests have developed differently across the areas involved. Following talks with the Government on 20 October, Sicilian representatives called off the stoppage, while protests continued in other parts of Southern Italy. Discussions also addressed the release of diesel subsidies and further measures to support businesses.
These demands concern a structural issue within the supply chain: the ability of road haulage companies to provide their services while covering their costs. The disruptions have highlighted how quickly the sector’s difficulties can affect supplies and businesses that depend on the daily movement of goods.
How freight stoppages affect eCommerce deliveries
An eCommerce shipment goes through several stages before reaching its final recipient. After collection from the seller, the parcel is sorted and transported through the carrier’s network to the depot responsible for local delivery. A disruption anywhere along this route can prevent local delivery operators from receiving the goods they need to deliver, even when services in the destination city remain operational.
The effects work in both directions. An online store located in an area affected by stoppages may struggle to hand orders over to its carrier. Similarly, a merchant shipping from a region that is not directly affected may be able to dispatch parcels, but those parcels may fail to reach customers in the affected area within the expected timeframe.
The seller’s location alone therefore does not determine its exposure to disruption. The transport connections used, the hubs along the route and the operational status of local depots all matter. Even switching carriers may offer limited benefits if operators encounter the same obstacle along the way.
For eCommerce businesses, delays may also lead to customer support enquiries, order cancellations and difficulties managing returns. Workloads therefore increase and become more complex even while parcels remain stationary, as businesses need to establish their status and provide customers with information that accurately reflects conditions across the network.
The resumption of operations also puts pressure on the last mile
Restoring transport connections will not necessarily mean an immediate return to normal delivery times. Parcels held up during the stoppages will need to be sorted and distributed alongside new shipments, which will continue to enter the network. Sorting facilities and local depots may therefore have to handle volumes exceeding their daily capacity, resulting in longer processing times. Recovery will depend on the size of the backlog and the resources available to clear it, from shifts at sorting centres to the vehicles and staff assigned to delivery rounds.
This is an operational risk to consider when planning the resumption of services. Sorting facilities need to clear accumulated parcels, depots need to organise delivery rounds, and drivers need to complete deliveries within the available vehicle capacity and working hours. If the number of incoming parcels exceeds what a depot can deliver each day, shipments may accumulate in local warehouses while waiting to be assigned to delivery rounds. Resuming transport between regions therefore allows goods to move closer to their destination, but clearing delays also requires the local network to absorb incoming volumes.
At this stage, the ability to clear delays also depends on how many deliveries operators can complete on each round. Reaching widely dispersed addresses takes longer, while an absent recipient may require a second attempt, tying up vehicles and staff on subsequent days. Consolidating multiple parcels at the same destination and reducing failed delivery attempts can therefore help local networks clear backlogs with the resources available.
How Lockers and Pickup Points support local distribution
Deliveries to Lockers and Pickup Points also require parcels to be collected, sorted and transported to the destination depot. If a stoppage interrupts any of these stages, choosing Out-Of-Home delivery alone cannot overcome the disruption, as goods still need to reach the local network before they can be delivered.
However, these facilities can make a difference during distribution, when consolidating multiple shipments at a single location can make operators’ work easier, including when clearing backlogs.
Consolidating deliveries and reducing failed attempts
The main and most obvious advantage is that delivering multiple shipments to the same Pickup Point or Locker consolidates some of the delivery destinations. The carrier can then complete those deliveries in a single stop, rather than travelling to each home separately.
Collection also no longer depends on the recipient being present when the delivery vehicle arrives. Customers collect their parcels later, within the specified collection period and access hours. This reduces the risk of failed delivery attempts caused by an absent recipient, which would otherwise require additional visits.
When there are backlogs to clear, these mechanisms can help make better use of available capacity. However, the outcome still depends on the share of shipments directed to the Out-Of-Home network, the location of the facilities and how they are integrated into the carrier’s delivery rounds.
Available capacity and accessibility determine service performance
The ability of Lockers and Pickup Points to absorb an increase in deliveries depends on the space available and how quickly it becomes free again. In a Locker, each parcel occupies a compartment until the recipient collects it. Moreover, empty compartments are not necessarily the right size for incoming shipments. Similarly, in shops offering PUDO services, capacity depends on the space allocated to parcels and the staff available to receive, store and hand them over to customers, while also managing the shop’s regular activities.
When backlogs are being cleared, a concentrated influx of shipments can therefore fill some facilities to capacity, particularly if customers take longer to collect their parcels. Organising deliveries effectively requires accurate information on available capacity at each location and monitoring of parcels awaiting collection. Communication with recipients also serves an operational purpose: timely notifications, clear collection deadlines and access information encourage collection, freeing up space for subsequent parcels.
Access to more facilities expands distribution options, provided they are served by the carriers involved and their available capacity can be verified. The ability to manage a peak therefore depends on how many locations can actually be used, where they are situated and how incoming deliveries are coordinated with the space becoming available.
Reliable delivery estimates, even during disruptions
For an eCommerce business, dealing with a transport disruption such as the one unfolding in recent weeks requires, first and foremost, aligning customer promises with the service actually available. Updates on affected areas and available services must therefore translate into reliable estimates at checkout and timely communications for orders already placed.
Out-Of-Home options must also be offered according to their actual operational status. Integrating them on an ongoing basis, however, enables more flexible distribution planning, both during normal operations and when a delivery backlog needs to be cleared.
The protests of recent weeks are thus drawing renewed attention to two connected needs: the ability of road haulage companies to cover the cost of providing their services, and the ability of local networks to distribute goods efficiently. Improving the last mile means addressing the latter, while recognising that every delivery depends on the continuity of the transport connections that precede it.
Want to manage your eCommerce deliveries and returns more efficiently? Contact us to discover how to integrate over 1,000,000 Lockers and Pickup Points across Europe into your checkout and offer your customers Out-Of-Home delivery options.
