Well, between the trucks and the road and the back end of a Peugeot and some reflections in the bus window, you can certainly tell that this shot wasn't added for aesthetic reasons. (Although I grant you that the tree covered mountains are quite pleasing to the eye.)

No, it obviously has to be about the story. And so it is. What is that huge truck doing in a place like this?

Obviously this part of the world does not have the industry that people need to survive. True, there is agriculture; a surprising amount of it thrives in alpine regions like rye, potatoes, apple and pear orchards, cattle which produce dairy products in general and Fontina cheese in particular, and honey; oh such good honey which we got to try fresh from the honeycomb at our hotel's breakfast. But those won't fill a supermarket so many products, especially manufactured products, need to be trucked in.

But that's probably not the reason.

We had followed the A5 Autostrada (a.k.a. the E25) out of Torino as far as Aosta. At that point there are two parallel roads continuing on to Courmayeur; the state route SS26, and of course the A5. The latter covers part of the route underground, I would guess to ensure that there is an open route even if the area is covered by snow.

They re-merge and separate in Verrand, a small village about a kilometre south of Courmayeur or put another way... here. The A5/ E25 continues to the west of Courmayeur, past our hotel about 3km to the north of it, then straight into the T1 Traforo del Monte Bianco (Monte Bianco Tunnel) which runs under the alps and comes out in France. Constructed between 1959 and 1965, the tunnel carries as much as 1/3 of Italia's freight to northern Europe. It cuts the distance from France to Torino by 50km, and to Milano by 100km.

It would need to. At the time of writing in late 2024, a truck with 3 or more axles will pay €401.30 for a 1 way trip.

I suppose that if you factor in fuel, driver wages, limits to driving time, wear and tear on the trucks... it is often worth it.

This also explains why there was such a significant road up near our hotel (see image 4978) which was often populated with freight vehicles.