Ukrainian Railways is planning to implement counter-trailer transportation of trucks blocked at the border

Ukrainian Railways (UZ) is considering the introduction of containerized transportation of vehicles blocked at the border. This was stated by Valeriy Tkachev, deputy director of the company’s commercial department, Rail.Insider reports.

The company is currently discussing this option with the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine to transport some of the cargo blocked at the border by rail.

Contrailer transportation is being considered as one of the options.

«This is when a truck pulls into a platform and is transported by rail. But this is quite a new type of transportation for us. It was never in great demand,» Valeriy Tkachev said.

At the same time, he said, the railroad is ready to become an alternative transportation route in the face of the border blockade for vehicles.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the blockade of border crossings with Poland threatens the entire Ukrainian economy. A prolonged blockade of the border will increase the cost of logistics and reduce the competitiveness of domestic exports. At the same time, Ukraine can only make limited compromises to meet the strikers’ demands.

According to Yulia Klymenko, First Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, the downtime of one truck is estimated at around €300 per day. There are also indirect losses for business, such as the inability to predict the delivery time of goods under signed contracts.

The Federation of Employers of Ukraine reported that as of November 22, 2023, the Ukrainian economy suffered more than €400 million in losses as a result of the protest by Polish carriers. If indirect losses are taken into account, they are likely to be measured in billions of euros.