A huge queue of trucks appeared at the Kerch crossing due to a lack of scanners: one broke down

Truck restrictions remain. They do not go along the Crimean bridge, but cross the Kerch Strait on ferries. From the side of the mainland, not all heavy trucks are allowed, but only those that carry socially significant essential goods, as well as frozen and perishable products. Back, from the peninsula, any freight transport can call on the ferry.

“The situation at the crossing is catastrophic,” driver Andrei shares with us. – From the side of the Krasnodar Territory, in the drive, in the village of Ilyich, two days ago there were 363 cars. There was only one scanner.

The ferry approached, cars that arrived from the peninsula were unloaded from it. Those ten heavy trucks that managed to enlighten and explore on the scanner stopped by. And the ferry sailed away, although it can accommodate 20 trucks. Out of 363, 353 vehicles remained on the shore.

Drivers have to wait for their turn for three days. This is despite the fact that we have the second day – +39 in the shade.

Andrey carries priority cargo – baby food, dairy products, vegetables, fruits. He has his own “Gazelle” with a large body. Products must be delivered as quickly as possible.

The situation is no better on the opposite bank of the Kerch Strait.

“I arrived in Kerch, at the storage facility, which is located on the territory of the former airport, on July 2 at 19.27, and crossed to the mainland only on July 5 at 19.20,” says Sergey. “I stood in line for three days. From the time when ferries were launched after the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, one can count on the fingers the days when I was able to cross relatively quickly, within six hours, with a heavy cargo.

Sergey is from the Krasnodar Territory, he transports perishable products by truck to the Crimea.

Transport, together with the cargo, is examined using a mobile inspection and inspection complex – special software and hardware and X-rays. The complex resembles a truck. The technology allows the operator to see all the items in the cabin and body, as well as what can be hidden in the hidden cavities of the car. It takes an average of 10 minutes to explore each truck.

Officials recently reported that six ferries operate at the crossing.

“But they forgot to clarify that two of them are intended for railway cars,” says Andrey. “They have nothing to do with freight transport. For heavy trucks, two large ferries “Maria” and “Lavrenty” really work, each of which can accommodate up to 20 cars.

Drivers say that there is also the Kerch-2 ferry, but it is most often seen standing near the pier.

“Since October, I have been carrying cargo through the ferry crossing, back and forth,” says Sergey. – During all this time, I only saw three times that Kerch-2 was working. The guys said that they could not fully staff the team, find a mechanic, then they had breakdowns.

Drivers say that Kerchsky-2 is a small ferry, it can fit about 12 Gazelles. He is already an “old man”, 1975 release. Because of the black color of the body, it is jokingly called the “Black Cuttlefish”.

He constantly walks sideways, falling to one side. Many drivers of small-tonnage vehicles – “Gazelles” do not like this ferry for a very uncomfortable check-in. Some simply refuse to ride it because it turns into a broken bumper or a broken muffler. There is also the Yeysk ferry, but none of us saw it at the crossing.

Drivers say that it would be more convenient to place two mobile inspection and screening complexes, which are located in the port, right in the reservoir, on the territory of the former airport in Kerch, where heavy trucks are waiting for their turn.

– Freight transport could go through inspection, scanner right there, in the sump, – says Sergey. – And then in batches, cars of 20, accompanied by police officers, they would be sent to the port.

Ferries run around the clock. The driver can be called at any time.

– Recently I was bringing milk to the Crimea. Stood in line for two days. I was given a ticket. They called me at five in the morning, I went to the port “Kavkaz” to cross to the peninsula. And on the mainland was only at 16.30. It took a lot of time to check and pass the X-ray.

Truck drivers have to wait their turn under the scorching sun.

“Not everyone has air conditioners, but during the day we have it like in the Sahara,” says Sergey. — Any of the drivers can become ill. We asked the administration why there was no ambulance on duty near the storage facilities? Why is there no fire engine on duty? And they heard in response: “If necessary, they will come.” For drivers of cars at the entrance to the Crimean bridge, dry closets were installed every 200 meters. They give them free water. In the reservoir, near the village of Ilyich, there are only three toilet cubicles. And there sometimes, going under 400 drivers.

Andrei says that there is a small shop there, but the price tags are “horse”. For example, a small shawarma costs 450 rubles.

“And we personally didn’t see volunteers with water there,” says Sergey. – I myself went to the village of Ilyich for mineral water and food. It turns out that for vacationers in line on the Crimean bridge – all the benefits, and hard-working drivers will be killed.

Andrey, having stood in line for a day, left in a Gazelle to Crimea along an alternative route – along the land corridor, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, through new Russian territories.

“I didn’t have the strength to stand in line at the crossing in the heat for three days,” says Andrey. – Through Chongar, it still turned out faster.

Sergei is loaded in Krasnodar, and unloaded in Kerch. He cannot afford to make such a detour along the land corridor. You will burn more fuel than you earn.

Drivers ring all the bells, write appeals to various authorities, they addressed a letter, including to the President’s reception room. The most painful question is: why, with such a colossal queue, do ferries run underloaded, and sometimes half empty?

With this question, we turned to the operational situational center of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, where we were confirmed that at the moment, on July 6, only two large ferries, Maria and Lavrenty, are working for freight transport at the Kerch ferry. The Yeysk ferry made two trips, and something broke. From July 7, they are going to use the Kerch-2 ferry around the clock. At the moment, from the side of the Krasnodar Territory, the line at the crossing is quite large, there are about 400 cars in it.

– There is a problem with the inspection and screening complexes, – explains the representative of the department. – Of these, only one complex works normally, the second overheats quite quickly. Every hour – 30 minutes work, 30 minutes “rest”. The first should also pause in work, but not so frequent. That’s why the queue moves so slowly. And sometimes the ferries do leave half empty. They are driven by heavy trucks that managed to pass through the scanner.

As we found out, there are three complexes in the Kavkaz port. Something burned down in one back in May, since then it has been idle. He will never be fixed.

– The operators who work at the inspection and inspection complexes at the Kerch ferry crossing are employees of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation. And for a month now we have been trying to convey information to them that something needs to be done about it. We are promised to bring more complexes. Two days ago, our leadership discussed this problem with the leadership of the FCS. Let’s hope that agreements will be reached.

Drivers, we repeat, say that they stand in line at the crossing for three days. In the operational situational center of the Ministry of Transport, they believe that – no more than two days.

– Drivers count by daylight hours, and if you count by hours, it turns out two days – 24 hours and another 24. There was a collapse, no one expected that car traffic across the Crimean bridge would increase sharply by 40%.

If in the middle of last week about 9 thousand cars passed there in both directions, then by the weekend the flow increased to 12 thousand, of which 8 went towards Crimea. The throughput of inspection posts did not stretch. And the same goes for the ferry.

A week and a half ago, the storage tank near the village of Ilyich also stood half empty. And then vacationers came in large numbers, more food was needed, the number of trucks increased, and there was a collapse. This has never happened before, and here it is again.