They are called "green kilometers" because, according to data from the European Environment Agency, only 0.5% of emissions in the transport sector in Europe are attributable to the train. Much less than transport by road (72%) and by ship (13.6%). Yet in Italy only 13% of goods travel by rail, while the European average is about 18%: a spread that Chep, an expert in supply chain solutions with a strong specialization in pallets for food goods, intends to contribute to filling also thanks to the launch of two important collaborations with players in the transport sector. These are Mercitalia Logistics, a company of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group operating in the freight transport and logistics business and Smet, a company that has been active in the sector for 70 years.

The pallet pooling company, one of the most sustainable companies in the world according to the Wall Street Journal-affiliated weekly Barron's, has decided to bring two routes by ship and road by rail. The first, Catania-Bologna, will no longer be mixed (by ship and road) but will travel by rail, thanks to the support of Mercitalia Logistics, the operational subholding of the Mercitalia hub, which carries out logistics activities through the Transport and Multimodal Logistics business unit integrated, combining rail-road transport over long distances with “door to door” services. A choice that will not only have an environmental impact through the reduction of polluting emissions, maritime transport is in fact responsible for about 2.5% of global emissions of greenhouse gases, but also social and economic, potentially favoring greater accessibility to markets. of production and consumption. The project, which started on an experimental basis during the lockdown, is now fully operational and provides for 10 trips a week south-north.

The second route, on the other hand, concerns the Bari-Verona axis which, with the support of Smet, is no longer on the road but travels by rail, with similar advantages in environmental terms: in fact, a reduction of 11 tons of Co2 per week is estimated. in the transition from road to train, and positive repercussions for the entrepreneurial fabric of the north and south thanks to the possibility of 8 direct connections every week with consolidated and emerging markets. Furthermore, the two projects guarantee both faster transit times compared to road and sea, and a decongestion of the roads.

"The current mobility system accounts for almost a quarter of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions", says Francesca Amadei, Chep's country general manager for Italy. "We must all ensure that the future of Italian logistics includes quotas transport by rail, also due to the European objectives which aim at the conversion of 30% of goods transits by road by 2030. We are open to new collaborations with producers to increase the loads traveling, especially at a time like this where the rail transport is a potentially safer option than road transport to prevent contagion from Covid-19. The Chep business model is intrinsically sustainable: by promoting the shared use of pallets and their reuse, pooling is a concrete representation of a circular economy that favors the creation of more efficient supply chains with less operating costs and less exploitation of natural resources" .