Ruote Libere, an association representing small businesses of road transport, expressed a very strong condemnation for the increase in of motorway tolls in force from next January 1st which - denounced the organization - "adds up to the increase of excise duties on fuels and which certifies, once and for all - highlighted Ruote Libere - the total failure of policies of the government and Minister Salvini against road transport".

Yesterday the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport announced the increase in motorway tolls, explaining that "the contrary sentence of the Constitutional Court (which, with the 147/2025, declared unlawful the provisions that postponed tariff adjustments for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, ed.) thwarted the effort of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini and the government itself to freeze tariffs until the definition of the new regulatory PEFs. ART - specified the MIT referring to the recent resolutions no. 240 and 241 of the Transport Regulation Authority - then determined that the inflation tariff adjustment will be by 1.5%. From January 1, 2026, therefore, for all companies motorway concessionaires for which the procedure for updating the related Economic and Financial Plans, on the toll network managed, an adjustment is planned tariff of 1.5%, equal to the planned inflation index for the year 2026. This is what has been established, following the decisions of the Constitutional Court and ART, on which the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport can no longer intervene".

"After months of propaganda, solemn promises and declarations against excise duties and against the increase in costs for those who works - recriminated Ruote Libere in a note - the reality is there for all to see: higher tolls, diesel more expensive, costs increasing. It is the exact opposite of what was announced during the election campaign and reiterated several times by the government. We are not facing a mistake or a fatality technical: we are faced with a precise political choice, which discharges systematically on the backs of small businesses of road transport the weight of the inability to govern. First the excise duties, now the tolls: the message is clear, who work on the road has to pay more and more. It is simply unacceptable that the Ministry of Infrastructure and of Transport today hides behind decisions of the Authorities and Constitutional Court, arguing that it "has no margin of intervention". The margins were there before, when they were made promises. Now there are only excuses."

"For small road haulage companies - underlined Freewheels - these increases are not numbers on a sheet: they are kilometers worked at a loss, they are contracts that they become unsustainable, they are companies that risk closing. All this while we continue to talk about competitiveness, strategic logistics and Made in Italy, without addressing the issue Central: those who transport goods cannot be strangled fiscally. The "pay per use" principle is a Mockery when you pay more to travel on motorways congested, with endless construction sites, travel times and service standards that do not justify in any way new price increases. You are asked to pay more to have less, as has been the case for years now."

"This government - said the national president of Ruote Libere, Cinzia Franchini - betrayed road transport without no more alibis. First excise duties, now tolls: a double a blow that directly affects small businesses. Salvini promised to defend those who work, today it is the minister under which costs explode. You don't govern against those who keep you standing the country's economy".

Ruote Libere therefore called for "an immediate stop to the toll increases, a review of tax policies on fuels and the urgent opening of a table also extended to the representatives who do not sit on the Register, of true confrontation, not propagandistic, with small road haulage companies. If the government will continue to ignore the sector - he warned The Association - will assume all the responsibilities economic and social issues. Road haulage is not an ATM. It is work, it is business, it is real economy".