Russia’s trucking industry is facing its deepest crisis in decades, with 7,000 or so carriers in liquidation or facing bankruptcy, with thousands more expected to follow. Wood Central understands that the collapse in transport, which threatens millions of cubic metres of lumber traded through Eurasia every year, comes as a 50% hike in transport costs has already led to the closure of dozens of Siberian sawmills.
“In May 2025, the average freight rate was 66 rubles per kilometre with VAT, while costs had already climbed to 82 rubles,” said Mikhail Ustyuzhanin, founder of Leader Trans. “Transportation expenses rose 15 per cent in the first half of the year alone, driven by fuel, equipment upkeep, and driver salaries.”
“Diesel prices have jumped 15 to 20 per cent”, he added, while fuel discounts once offered to large and medium carriers — sometimes as high as 23 per cent — have been scrapped. “Against this background, it is becoming increasingly difficult for carriers to pay leasing fees,” Ustyuzhanin said. “Since late 2024, we’ve seen a massive return of equipment. The volume of seized trucks is breaking records, rising 20 per cent every month since June 2025.”
The financial squeeze is being compounded by red tape.
According to Alexander Zaretsky, the First Deputy General Director of Baikal‑Service TK, scrap collection fees will rise by another 10 per cent on January 1, 2026, to nearly 3 million rubles for a mainline tractor. “With annual rate hikes of 10 to 20 per cent through 2030, buying foreign-made trucks will become economically unfeasible,” he said. “Fleet renewal will stall, reducing carrying capacity even further.”
Meanwhile, Vadim Filatov, co‑owner of PEC and president of the Avtogruzex Association, noted that carriers will lose access to the patent taxation system starting January 2026. New rules — including mandatory electronic bills of lading and a national freight forwarder registry — are expected to improve transparency in a sector where more than 60 per cent of operators are considered unscrupulous. But the reforms will also raise compliance costs. “At least 7 per cent of companies may leave the market,” predicted Ruslan Safin, financial director of Orda Transport.
The Ministry of Transport has acknowledged the severity of the crisis, citing rising operating costs and higher interest rates that have inflated leasing payments. “The Russian Ministry of Transport monitors the state of the industry in cooperation with relevant associations, as well as separate monitoring of backbone organisations of motor transport,” the department noted. “As an effective support measure, carriers have the right to use the mechanism for deferring (instalment) payment of mandatory tax payments provided for in Article 64 of the Tax Code. There have already been cases of such applications.”
The trucking collapse is making the transport of timber… tricky.
Earlier this month, Wood Central reported that surging transport costs were inflicting damage on the timber export sector and making deliveries of lumber to “friendly countries” increasingly difficult. According to a Russian-based publication, Lesprom, Russian lumber prices have already increased between 11 and 14 per cent this year, with “transport costs to China (up 16%), Uzbekistan (up 18%), and Japan (7%)” squeezing margins.
Exporters now say those increases are cumulative: inland transport costs pile onto already tight margins, turning profitable exports into break‑even or loss‑making operations. Carriers and logistics managers are focusing on the shortest, most profitable legs, rapidly repricing routes. As road transport becomes uneconomical, shippers are turning to rail and short‑sea transhipment, though both have limited capacity and rising rates. Ports are experiencing longer dwell times and more partial loads, which further raise costs and slow throughput.
- For more information about the impact of the Ukraine war on the global timber supply chain, click here for Wood Central’s report.
