The war significantly affected cargo transportation and supply chains to and from Ukraine. Since the air connection and sea ports are blocked, vehicle checkpoints in western Ukraine have become critical transportation corridors for the country. The number of goods transported by trucks across the border has increased, causing long queues at border checkpoints.

In December 2022, USAID, partnering with UK aid, helped the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development to launch eQueue, an electronic border crossing system for cargo vehicles to help to decongest checkpoints at the Ukrainian border. It functions at the international checkpoint Yahodyn-Dorohusk on the border with Poland. Since its launch, almost 55,000 vehicles have crossed the border in the direction of Poland using the electronic queue.

eQueue has a website https://echerha.gov.ua and an app (іOS https://apple.co/40aQcpV, Android https://bit.ly/3lxHjYr) that has been launched recently. It is available in Ukrainian, English and Polish languages. More languages are coming soon.

With this free service, drivers both book a spot in line for the border crossing and check the queue’s progress online on the website or via an app. The system automatically sends a notification to the driver indicating the approximate time of crossing the border. Drivers can then plan to arrive at their specific border crossing time. This will make it possible for a driver to optimize the time spent in the queue and reduce the cost of transporting goods. 

Registering in the queue online increases the transparency of border crossing. It also minimizes interaction between checkpoint officials and drivers, reducing opportunities for corruption and other violations that may occur due to the congestion of checkpoints. 

The project is planned to be expanded to other international vehicle checkpoints in the country.