In May 2025, Green Planet Logistics, a network of companies specialising in transport and logistics, began testing the use of rail intermodality for express pallet shipments. This is one of the most dynamic segments of the sector, with an average of over 50,000 pallets moved daily and thousands of lorries travelling across Italy every night. The project connects the terminals of Landriano, in the province of Pavia, and Maddaloni, in the province of Caserta, by rail.
The initiative responds to two increasingly pressing challenges: reducing the environmental impact of freight transport and addressing the growing shortage of drivers willing to take on long-haul routes. The express delivery network Pallex Italia and the Naples-based haulage company Iorio, which provides its facilities for the project, are participating in the trial. Other companies sharing this vision are also part of the network, including Lanzi of Parma, active in connections with Northern Europe, and Fratelli Primiceri of Lecce, which operates along the Adriatic corridor.
The goal is to encourage other logistics operators to follow Pallex Italia’s example, overcoming the traditional resistance linked to delivery times. According to Massimo Marciani, president of the Freight Leader Council, the rigidity hindering the adoption of more rational solutions often stems from what he describes as the “logistics of whim”, where absolute speed is demanded even when it is not truly necessary. The outcome of this trial could mark the beginning of a broader shift.
Green Planet Logistics, the promoter of the initiative, is an Italian business network founded with the aim of supporting innovative and sustainable freight transport solutions. It currently ranks among the top eighty logistics firms in the country by size, thanks to a flexible structure that brings together the strengths of small and medium-sized Italian enterprises into a single entity capable of offering integrated services that even large international operators may struggle to replicate.
