Air-raid alerts create 40-hour truck delays at Poland’s Dorohusk crossing

A fresh wave of Russian drone and missile attacks on western Ukraine has spilled over into logistics, with repeated air-raid alerts halting operations at multiple checkpoints along the Polish border on 21 October. Kyiv Post reports that trucks leaving Poland at Dorohusk faced estimated waits of **up to 40 hours**, while inbound queues on the Ukrainian side at Krakivets and Shehyni topped 100 cars before easing overnight. Volyn Customs said clearance procedures were interrupted 61 times between 10 and 19 October, totalling more than 53 hours of downtime. Each alert forces customs and border staff to evacuate to shelters, bringing processing lines to a standstill and compounding an already chronic shortage of capacity. Poland’s official border-information portal confirmed the extreme waiting times, listing 26 hours at Hrebenne and 40 hours at Dorohusk for outbound freight on the morning of 21 October. The disruptions hit exporters hard. A survey of 345 Ukrainian companies earlier this year found that nearly half view border queues as a critical barrier to trade; the latest stoppages add unpredictability to just-in-time supply chains that rerouted through Poland after Black Sea shipping lanes were constrained. Polish hauliers meanwhile must pay drivers stranded for days and risk contract penalties for late delivery. Practical steps for businesses include booking e-Queue slots well in advance, building multi-day slack into delivery schedules, and using alternative crossings such as Zosin or Budomierz when security conditions allow. Carriers should also brief drivers on shelter locations and ensure emergency supplies are on board. While the alerts are beyond Warsaw’s control, the episode underscores the importance of the joint-control concept now under discussion: shifting some Ukrainian checks onto Polish soil would allow processing to continue even when sirens sound across the border.