A week-long truck drivers protest in southern Italy has disrupted fuel deliveries and food supplies, leaving businesses counting losses and consumers facing shortages. In Naples, there are long queues at petrol stations. 

“Look around, the situation is critical! We have no future, neither for ourselves nor our children. It’s disgusting,” one man told CGTN. Another resident said he had been waiting for an hour and a half to fill up. The disruption follows demonstrations by truck drivers demanding government action over rising fuel and operating costs. Blockades across southern regions, including Campania, have restricted the movement of goods.

“The situation has been serious,” said Angelo Russiello, an employee at Mazzotta Group, speaking to CGTN. “There were several blockades throughout southern Italy, particularly in Campania, where petrol didn't leave the refineries for three days.”

Pasquale Trillicosi, a driver with LG Fast, told CGTN that drivers had been on the frontline day and night. “The government did nothing to support us, the laws still work against us,” he said.

The impact has spread through supply chains, with supermarkets and food producers among the hardest hit. “It's complicated because there's no petrol, no diesel, the supermarkets are completely empty,” one woman told CGTN. “It looks like the scene of an apocalyptic war.”

Fresh food businesses have also suffered. Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a prized regional product made from buffalo milk, depends on timely transport and distribution.

Domenico Raimondo, president of the Consortium for the Protection of Campana Buffalo Mozzarella, told CGTN that the sector had estimated losses of around €3.2 million a day. “In these three days, we have lost around €10-12 million, which we can’t recover,” he said.

The government approved an additional €106 million in tax credits for hauliers, bringing total support to the sector to around €540 million.

But Raffaella Mazzotta, owner of Mazzotta Group, said the latest funds offered little new help. “The government released funds that we were already entitled to, it didn’t give any additional money,” she told CGTN.

She called for a cap on diesel prices, saying: “Paying €2.30, €2.40 euros a litre is absurd.”

Although some blockades have eased, the dispute remains unresolved. “In the end we got nothing. At night they really slept on the street, but unfortunately the result was zero,” Mazzotta said.