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Soviet Union [USSR] Freight Transportation by Trucks
Without a developed network of highways and service facilities,
Soviet authorities have essentially relegated trucking to local and
short hauls, except in remote areas not having rail or ship
transport. In 1986, in terms of freight turnover, trucks ranked
fourth among all transportation systems, with a 6 percent share.
Nevertheless, trucking had 81 percent of the tons originated by all
freight transportation systems combined (see
table 44, Appendix A).
This anomaly indicated that trucks were primarily used on short
hauls, averaging about eighteen kilometers. Long-distance or
intercity hauling was mainly by railroads and inland waterways. The
agricultural sector accounted for about 80 percent of freight
originated on trucks. In 1986 freight transported by trucks
amounted to almost 27 billion tons originated and 488.5 billion
ton-kilometers (see Glossary). Common carrier trucks accounted for
6.7 billion tons originated and 141 billion ton-kilometers.
Trucking's most important customers were agriculture, industry,
construction, and commerce.
Trucking enterprises were not able to meet the strong demand
for their services. Among the contributing factors to the
industry's failure were inadequate roads, inefficient traffic
organization--some 45 percent of vehicles traveled empty--and
prolonged periods of unserviceability resulting from shortages of
spare parts, drivers, tires, and fuel. Even in the largest
metropolitan areas, refueling and repair facilities were scarce by
Western standards. In rural areas, particularly in Siberia and the
Far North, such facilities were often nonexistent. Repair and
maintenance of vehicles belonging to transportation
enterprises (see Glossary) and
collective farms (see Glossary) were performed
at central facilities, which sometimes belonged to manufacturing
plants. Repair was hampered by a chronic shortage of spare parts.
Given the extent of poor roads, even the absence of roads, many
cargo vehicles were of the rugged, cross-country type, with allwheel traction similar to those used by the armed forces as
tactical vehicles. Many vehicles were specially designed for cold
weather operations.
Data as of May 1989
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