An articulated truck used in international freight transport was stopped at the Trento customs freight terminal after officers discovered manipulated software designed to bypass emissions controls and onboard system checks. The inspection took place on the morning of Saturday 7 March 2026 during an operation targeting heavy goods vehicles carried out by Polizia Locale Trento–Monte Bondone in the freight terminal area. The vehicle, registered in Latvia, underwent technical inspections that allowed officers to detect what they described as a “sophisticated” manipulation of the electronic control unit, designed to evade checks on anti-pollution systems and the vehicle’s technical condition.
The tampering was identified thanks to a new inspection strategy developed in recent weeks by the local police force. Officers used equipment capable of analysing in real time the data transmitted by the vehicle’s electronic network, the so-called CAN Bus network. Through systems that record and analyse operating parameters – a procedure known as data logging – officers were able to verify the behaviour of onboard systems and identify anomalies linked to software manipulation. Analysis of the control unit data made it possible to reconstruct the presence of the altered system, which simulated normal operating parameters while concealing irregularities in the emissions control devices.
Several violations of the Highway Code were issued to the driver and the Latvian haulage company, relating to the tampering of the vehicle’s technical characteristics and anti-pollution systems. Authorities also cited a breach of the conditions of the Community licence for international road transport, which requires operators to comply with the technical and environmental regulations in force in the EU Member States in which they operate. Sanctions were applied immediately. The company paid an administrative fine of €4,130 on the spot, while the articulated truck was placed under administrative seizure for three months at a depot in Italy.
The case involving the Latvian truck is part of a broader environmental enforcement campaign launched by Trento’s local police in the first months of 2026. Inspections focus particularly on industrial vehicles passing through the freight terminal logistics hub and along the main international freight corridors. During a recent day of checks, for example, officers inspected 25 articulated trucks. Three foreign vehicles were found to be non-compliant: two had problems with the SCR system, the device that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions in diesel engines, while the third showed excessive emissions due to manipulation of the control unit.
Inspection activities in Trento also include an applied research dimension. Some inspection sessions have been carried out with the participation of researchers from the “Sustainable, smart & safe mobility” unit of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The aim is to conduct experimental measurements of nitrogen oxides and particle numbers emitted by heavy vehicles, data that will support the ongoing revision of the EU directive on roadside technical inspections. In this context, the city of Trento is being used as a testing ground for new methodologies to check emissions from heavy goods vehicles, combining electronic diagnostics with direct measurements of pollutants. Since the beginning of 2026, local police have already sanctioned twelve vehicles for irregular emissions or tampering with anti-pollution systems.
This latest case highlights the evolution of inspection techniques used for industrial vehicles. Whereas checks in the past relied mainly on visual inspections or exhaust emission tests, modern electronic data analysis tools now allow authorities to examine directly the functioning of onboard systems and detect alterations designed to evade inspections. The use of onboard diagnostics and CAN Bus data reading makes it possible to compare the vehicle’s real operating parameters with those reported by the electronic system.
P.R.
