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Logistics in Messina: a port city between two seas

Messina has around 220,000 inhabitants and is the third-largest city in Sicily. It lies on the narrow strait that separates the island from Calabria, and ferries shuttle between the two shores day and night. That makes the city the main entry point to Sicily for road freight, and a large share of the goods that supply the island pass through its ports.

Heavy vehicles use the port of Tremestieri, south of the centre, which connects directly to the motorway network and keeps lorries out of the busy city streets. The historic harbour in the centre handles passenger traffic, cruise ships and smaller vehicles. The local economy combines port activities, ship repair, food processing and trade with a large university and public administration, and tourism is important along the coast, not least in nearby Taormina.

On the Tyrrhenian side of the province, Milazzo has an industrial port with a refinery and is the departure point for ferries to the Aeolian Islands. Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and the surrounding towns are home to food, building material and wholesale businesses. All of these sectors depend on regular haulage from the mainland, and a direct transport from the UK avoids the extra handling and waiting times that consolidated loads often bring.

The route from the UK to Messina

The vehicle crosses the Channel from Dover to Calais or takes Le Shuttle between Folkestone and Coquelles. It then drives through France and over the Alps into northern Italy. From there, it covers the full length of the peninsula: the A1 via Bologna, Florence and Rome to Naples, the A3 to Salerno, and the A2 through Basilicata and Calabria all the way to Villa San Giovanni.

Lorries board the strait ferry at Villa San Giovanni and land at Tremestieri, where the direct motorway connection leads straight into Messina. From the city, the A18 continues south to Catania and the A20 runs west along the northern coast towards Palermo. Because Italy restricts lorries over 7.5 tonnes on Sundays and public holidays, our planners set departure times with these rules in mind to avoid unnecessary stops.

Customs between Great Britain and Sicily

Sicily is part of the EU customs territory and VAT area, so goods from Great Britain need an export declaration in the UK and an import declaration in the EU. Both the shipper and the consignee require an EORI number. At the Channel crossing, the Goods Vehicle Movement Service ties the declarations to the vehicle with a Goods Movement Reference. DAGO Express does not handle customs clearance. Please sort out these formalities with your customs agent before the collection date so that the vehicle is not held up at the border.

A freight partner for every shipment between the UK and Messina

More than 50,000 vehicles in 38 countries form the DAGO Express network, and over 15,000 companies book their road freight through it. If a vehicle breaks down on the long journey south, a replacement vehicle picks up the load and continues the transit. Cross-border runs are carried out by verified partners with a valid EU licence and, if dangerous goods are involved, an ADR licence. Our team monitors all shipments around the clock, weekends and public holidays included.

Your goods are insured through the Schunck Group up to 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight, and additional insurance for higher-value consignments is available at short notice. A tracking link arrives after booking, and emails confirm both collection and delivery. The DAGO ShipperHub gives regular shippers a live view of orders, ETAs and KPIs, with reports that can be exported to PDF or Excel or fed directly into an ERP system.

To get a price, enter the postcodes, the dimensions and the weight into the online price calculator, which returns the result in seconds. Bookings are also possible in the DAGO app or by email. Beyond Messina, the network covers the whole of Sicily and Calabria.