Truck Driving in Russia

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Truck Driving In Russia

FOR FOUR YEARS, I drove an articulated lorry to, from and around the former Soviet Union, for London-based Kepstowe Freight Services. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes mind-numbingly depressing, but never, ever like your average 9 to 5 job. Here are some photos taken between 1994 and 1998.



		Tipping in Moscow. This warehouse was, in cold-war days, a nuclear bomb shelter, and still had three-foot thick steel doors when I tipped there, delivering photographic equipment. The truck is a Scania 112, the trailer is a "temperature-controlled trailer". More commonly known as "fridges" and used to transport chilled and frozen food, we often used these trailers in winter to heat general cargo to prevent it from freezing, in outside temperatures of -40 degrees.



	The first thing that greets you on crossing the border from Poland into Belarus, at the Bobrowniki/ Berastavitsa 2 border crossing. From here, it`s about 1200km to Moscow. The sign reads "enjoy your journey"


		I've stopped to pay yet another fine for a fabricated transgression of the law. Expect this about a dozen times a day. The usual fine is a packet of Marlboro or a bar of chocolate, or a dollar or two "byez kvittansia" (without a receipt).



	Road hazards are many and varied. Cows, sheep and pigs roam the roads, and horse & cart transport still reigns. Roads are poorly maintained and invariably unlit at night. Ahead, and to the left is a GAI (State Automobile Inspectorate) post. Once, a traveller would need to stop at every Police Post and show written authorisation to proceed- now, Russians can travel freely, and the GAI inspectors stop vehicles at random, mostly to solicit a "backhander". The police officers on duty take a special interest in Western European trucks. Discussions between an English trucker and a Russian GAI inspector take place in that well-known international trucker`s language- Desperanto.