Business and leisure travellers trying to cross from Ukraine into Poland on the night of 25–26 September encountered some of the longest waits of the year. Live data published at 02:49 on 26 September showed an 8 hour 15 minute queue for cars entering Poland at the Khrebenne–Rava-Ruska checkpoint, while motorists leaving Poland waited more than four hours at Zosyn–Ustyluh. Average delays across all nine Poland–Ukraine crossings were close to one hour, well above the 35-minute seasonal norm. Border experts attribute the spike to four factors: a surge of Ukrainian seasonal workers returning after harvest work in the EU, tightened document checks linked to Poland’s suspension of asylum applications at the Belarus border (which has diverted irregular routes toward Ukraine), weekend leisure traffic, and heightened security alerts ahead of Poland’s parliamentary elections next month. Officials warned that queues typically peak between 18:00 and 23:00 and advised travellers to cross between 01:00 and 05:00 when traffic thins. For companies running shuttle services or “rotator” assignments between Lviv and Polish industrial hubs, the disruption translates into added overtime costs and missed production windows. Logistics firms report drivers exceeding EU tachograph limits while idling in the queue, forcing costly lay-overs or driver swaps in Rzeszów. Exporters of time-sensitive goods such as cut flowers and pharmaceuticals have had to re-route through Slovakia or Hungary, adding over 250 km to the journey. Poland’s Border Guard says it is accelerating the roll-out of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) e-gates at Dorohusk and Korczowa, which should reduce manual passport stamping by 40 %. Until the technology is fully operational (scheduled for December 2026), firms are advised to pre-register drivers, carry printed CMR documents and consider using the little-known pedestrian lane at Medyka, which is often processed in under 30 minutes. The episode is a reminder that even within the visa-free Schengen zone, border friction can erupt unexpectedly. Mobility managers with staff shuttling between Poland and Ukraine should update travel policies to include real-time queue monitoring tools and build buffer time into duty-of-care plans.
Source: KolejkaNaGranicy.pl
