Every Fifth Truck in the rf Is Idling: the Fuel Crisis Has Disrupted Logistics

Freight transportation costs in the rf are skyrocketing. Over the past year, transportation costs have risen by nearly a third, or by 28.8%, with the sharpest spike occurring very recently: in just the last month and a half, rates have increased by another 17.5%.

The main reason for this price surge is quite obvious. Drivers are stuck in lines at filling stations for hours, and some carriers are canceling trips altogether due to a lack of fuel or the fear that they simply won’t be able to fulfill orders and the trip will result in a loss.

Price increases have been recorded on all 100 routes considered the most popular in the rf, while on some routes, rates have soared by as much as 150% over the past year. Some carriers are already giving up long-distance trunk routes, switching to intra-regional transport, where the risk of running out of fuel is lower. According to experts’ estimates, up to 20% of the country’s trucks are currently idle.

Carriers emphasize that hours-long queues at filling stations directly increase travel time. To transport the same volume of cargo, more time and equipment are now required, which only drives rates up even further.

The market has effectively shifted to a mode of ultra-short-term planning: amid constant fuel risks, carriers are forced to revise their rates literally every few weeks, unable to calculate the profitability of their routes in advance. The fuel crisis, which the kremlin is trying to downplay, is increasingly turning into a structural problem for the country’s entire logistics system.