Brenner Pass totally paralysed
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THE FURY of Europe's long-distance lorry drivers over frontier delays was concentrated early this week on the worst bottleneck of them all — the Brenner Pass border between Austria and Italy which takes most of the North-South traffic.
Well over 2,000 lorries were waiting there in an intermittent queue stretching for 80 miles down the Inntal autobahn across Austria and into Bavaria.
The strike began spontaneously with frustrated drivers blocking the road with their vehicles or forming a human chain to stop traffic but by Monday it had developed into organised action with a drivers' emergency committee — The Brenner Crisis Staff — printing statements for the press and negotiating with the Italian government over customs procedure at the Brenner crossing.
Local drivers from the South Tyrol region took the toughest line. One of their leaders Hans Bachler explained: "Last year eight of our colleagues died because of the long delays — up to 16 hours getting through customs.
"You are dead tired by the time you reach the other side. But you still can't sleep — you have to drive and make up for lost time."
The problem is that the Italian customs are understaffed. Only 36 officials are available — and that's when they are not on strike or staging a go slow. On the Austrian side there is a customs staff of 170. The Italian government offered at the weekend to increase its national customs organisation from 4,200 to 5,050 officials. But this did not immediately satisfy the Brenner Crisis Staff.
They also wanted compensation for their losses — they claimed it is costing as much as £1,250 per lorry for every day of the blockade.
Losses caused by damage to goods affected by the freezing temperatures have run into millions.
The drivers also won a promise that in future the Italians will work around the clock and customs strikes will be outlawed.