by Sergio Cosentini from Aieta
In today's business landscape, the road freight transport sector stands out as one of the areas with the highest density of legal and administrative risk. Pursuant to the Legislative Decree 231 of the 2001, companies are not only responsible for their own direct shortcomings, but they can be held accountable for crimes committed by their top management or collaborators if they acted in the interest or to the advantage of the entity. This responsibility manifests itself particularly in logistics, where the very nature of the activity is characterized by a structurally complex and fragmented supply chain. The constant pressure on delivery times and the massive use of subcontracting make the Organization Model, Management and Control an indispensable tool, which must be interpreted as a true governing body of the processes and not as a mere bureaucratic fulfillment.
The pitfalls of the supply chain and the risk of crime
The critical areas where the risk of crime lurks are numerous and affect daily operational life. In the field of workplace safety, for example, a tragic event such as a road accident caused by the driver falling asleep can lead to the entity's liability for manslaughter. This happens if it is found that the company has systematically forced driving and rest times to meet urgent deadlines, highlighting a serious organizational deficiency. In the same way, frequent relationships with the authorities during roadside checks expose the company to attempts at corruption or false documents, often linked to the management of irregularities in the load or in the tachograph.
Environmental management and tax crimes are also hot topics. Think about the transport of special waste or dangerous substances: an error in the classification of the goods to save on disposal costs can generate heavy penalties for the institution (p. 3). On the financial front, the complexity of economic flows can favor the use of filter companies or the issuing of invoices for non-existent operations, exposing the company to self-laundering risks.
The illusion of effectiveness: the failure of standard models
One of the most recurring problems encountered in operational experience is the adoption of so-called models “on the shelf”. These are standardized documents, often photocopied from other realities, which are not at all calibrated to the real processes of the transport company. In these cases, safety management remains purely documentary and without real decision-making traceability. When the role of the Supervisory Body is relegated to the margins and there is no substantial control over the supply chain, the exempting effectiveness of the model is lost: before a judge, a document that does not reflect daily operations will have no protective value for the company (p. 3). An effective model must instead be “vivo”, integrated into operational management and capable of formalizing responsibilities through timely recording of anomalies and the use of digital systems.
Proactive management of sub-transport: controls and monitoring
To overcome these critical issues, the company must implement rigorous monitoring of the supply chain, transforming control over sub-vectors into a structured process. Implementation begins with a rigorous qualification phase: it is not sufficient to verify the VAT number, but it is necessary to analyze the regularity of contributions (DUR), possession of transport licenses, insurance coverage and the solidity of the supplier's organizational models.
The inclusion of specific contractual clauses “231” it then allows the sub-carrier to be bound to compliance with the company code of ethics, providing for the immediate termination of the relationship in case of violations. However, the contract is just the starting point. A proactive Supervisory Body must plan periodic audits and surprise checks, for example, analyzing the data from the tachographs of third-party carriers to ensure that the economic savings of the subcontracting do not derive from the exploitation of labor or the violation of safety regulations. Only through this constant monitoring and the formalization of information flows towards the SB is it possible to mitigate the risk of involvement in crimes of illicit intermediation or exploitation.
Towards compliance as a market value
Ultimately, responsibility in the transport sector 231 it is an intrinsic component of the activity. A formal approach to compliance is bound to fail under the weight of operational pressure. On the contrary, a model that truly adheres to the processes, supported by a competent Supervisory Body that has an in-depth knowledge of the dynamics of logistics, transforms legality into a competitive advantage. In a market that increasingly looks to sustainability and transparency criteria, demonstrating solid compliance becomes the best business card for accessing high-level orders and guaranteeing the reliability of the company over time.
