Ask a ton: trucking companies threaten a month-long work stoppage in the spring
Motor carriers are threatening to stop delivering goods on regional highways for a month during the spring drying of roads, Izvestia has found out. This is due to the dramatic expansion of the network of weight and dimensional control points, which in 2025 covered almost all regional roads. Every spring, the subjects of the federation impose restrictions on the movement of trucks with a load of more than 3-6 tons per axle. And if in the absence of control points these rules were often circumvented, now even empty mainline trucks will be fined up to 600 thousand rubles. This will affect the cost of transportation and, consequently, the prices of goods, market participants are sure. Association "Gruzavtotrans" appealed to the President of the country and to the State Duma with a request to cancel the spring drying of roads or to abolish the sanctions against empty transport.
Why empty trucks will be fined
Gruzavtotrans Association has sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the State Duma with a request to cancel the so-called spring drying of roads in 2025. According to road transportation market participants, if this is not done, many representatives of the industry will face ruin, besides, prices for food and other consumer goods may rise.
Spring drying is an annual restriction of heavy truck traffic on regional and municipal highways. The exact terms are determined by local authorities based on the weather.
The purpose of the restrictions is to preserve the roadbed. During the period of thawing and snow melt it is particularly susceptible to stress and quickly deteriorates under the weight of heavy trucks.
During the period of spring drying, regional authorities impose restrictions, prohibiting trucks with a load of more than 3-6 tons per axle from driving on the roads.
Regions limit the movement of heavy trucks in March-April so that they would break the roads less, Vladimir Matyagin, president of the association "Gruzavtotrans" told "Izvestia". Earlier, drying was also in effect, but control over its observance was lax. In its appeal, the association assures that trucking companies "were forced to commit violations in order to maintain the viability of their enterprises" and "to keep the economy from collapsing." However, over the past year, the number of automatic weight and gauge control points (AWGCPs) in the country has increased significantly, covering almost all regional highways.
According to information from Rostransnadzor, there are now more than 500 APWTCs operating on federal and regional highways. And from March 2025 they are planned to be united into a single information network, which will dramatically increase their efficiency.
The main purpose of APVGK is to control that carriers do not overload their trucks. But in the period of spring drying, when the requirements for the weight of trucks sharply increase, even an empty mainline truck (which itself is very heavy), passing through the APVGK, risks a fine of 375 thousand to 600 thousand rubles for overweight, believe in "Gruzavtotrans".
In the regions in spring the axle limits are from 3 to 6 tons depending on the road. The weight of an empty dump truck reaches 12 tons, while the weight of a long-haul tractor - 8-9 tons. If the truck is traveling with an empty trailer, the front axle will have a load of 6 tons and the second axle will have a load of 3.6 tons.
-For one trip the driver can bring at least two fines on the way to the destination and back, - says Vladimir Matyagin. - Thus, during the period of spring drying, the work of many carriers may be paralyzed on regional roads because of the APVC. I already hear threats from their side that they will simply stop transportation for a month in order not to collect millions of dollars in fines. Carriers will simply stop traveling to communities that are not accessible by federal highways.
The restrictions of the spring drying period do not apply to vehicles that transport essential goods, including food, medicine, fuel and lubricants, agricultural products, animal feed, etc. But when a vehicle returns empty after unloading, it too can get a fine from the APVGC, because the exception does not apply to an empty truck, explained Gruzavtotrans. Delivery of essential products becomes more expensive by Br375-600 thousand per trip, notes Vladimir Matyagin.
Carriers are forced to bypass the regional highways, which are drying out, on federal roads, told "Izvestia" the president of the association "AvtoGruzEx" Vadim Filatov. The mileage increases by 20-200 kilometers, and the delivery time - by 1-5 hours, depending on the direction. For example, from Rostov-on-Don to Stavropol, a truck will travel 340 km along a regional highway and 410 km along a federal highway. From Murom to Rostov-on-Don a truck usually travels 1.2 thousand km, and on the federal highway - 1.4 thousand km. Carriers' expenses on fuel and drivers' salaries are growing.
In a letter to Vladimir Putin, the association "Gruzavtotrans" draws attention to the experience of the Moscow region, where since 2018 spring drying has been canceled on 270 regional roads. According to Vladimir Matyagin, the authorities of the region took this decision, considering that "the shutdown of enterprises can have a detrimental effect on the economy of the region, it is easier and cheaper to repair the roads".
A similar letter was sent to the State Duma to the leader of the faction "Just Russia - For Truth" Sergey Mironov.
- I fully agree with the arguments of trucking companies, which have addressed me on the annual problem of the industry, said Sergei Mironov to Izvestia. - When due to spring drying of roads they are forced either to pay considerable and absolutely absurd fines for driving empty or to stop transportation altogether for a month. And both eventually hit the pockets of consumers, because the additional costs of logistics are reflected in the final cost of goods. This includes essential goods, such as food and medicines. Of course, the experience of the Moscow Region should be taken as a basis.
"Izvestia" sent requests to the Ministry of Transport, Rostransnadzor and regional governments to assess the initiative of "Gruzavtotrans".
How the spring drying of roads will turn out for carriers
- According to the results of 2024, the cost of freight transportation has increased by 12% due to the increase of leasing payments to 27-28%. There is a shortage of cargo on the market, which has reached the pandemic level of 2020, - said Vadim Filatov.
Average transportation tariffs fell by 18.3% over the year, to 74.3 rubles per 1 km, according to ATI.SU analysts. In practice, they sometimes fall below 58 rubles per 1 km, which is already below the cost of transportation, says a market participant.
The head of AvtoGruzEx association believes that in conditions of decreasing profitability additional financial burden from fines may lead to the departure from the market of a large number of carriers and shortage of vehicles.
- Losses from fleet downtime can be significant. Fines for canceling contracts will be added to them, " Mikhail Koptev, commercial director of the federal transportation company Skif-Cargo, told Izvestia.
Transportation by Gazelles will not solve the problem, as it will entail expenses for renting small tonnage vehicles and for changing logistic schemes. Transportation by several small trucks instead of one big truck is more expensive. Increase in prices for services for customers will lead to loss of competitiveness of transportation companies. As a result, carriers will face a sharp decline in business profitability, the expert notes.
- To organize temporary logistics hubs for transshipment of goods from one transport to another requires infrastructure, which is insufficient in the regions," Evgeny Bolshakov, Director of NATCAR's Operations Department, told Izvestia. - Therefore, there is no alternative to trucks. We see an opportunity to minimize losses from spring drying through the creation of "green corridors" for prompt delivery of essential goods.
To minimize damage to regional roads, it can be recommended to build them using more load-resistant materials, the market participant adds.
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