A critical outage of the Polish Customs Service export database in the early hours of 18 January forced the closure of the Medyka–Shehyni and Hrebenne–Rava-Ruska border posts and throttled traffic at Korczowa–Krakowiec to a crawl. Only empty trucks were processed, leaving kilometres-long queues of loaded vehicles on the Ukrainian side and prompting some logistics firms to divert cargo via Slovakia and Hungary.(visahq.com)
The breakdown stranded time-sensitive consignments worth an estimated €2 million per hour, according to freight-forwarders serving automotive plants in Silesia and humanitarian corridors into Ukraine. Polish officials pledged a software fix by 22:00 Kyiv time on 18 January, and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine confirmed full restoration at 07:29 on 19 January.(unn.ua)
Although traffic has resumed, carriers warn that residual congestion will ripple through Monday and possibly mid-week as queuing trucks clear. Drivers are advised to carry extra rest provisions—parking and sanitary facilities near Medyka are limited—and to monitor live queue data provided by both Polish and Ukrainian border guards. Shippers with just-in-time supply chains should consider splitting loads across multiple corridors until stability is confirmed.
![Polish customs database crash paralyses freight at three Ukraine–Poland crossings, service restored overnight]()
Logistics managers juggling sudden route changes can streamline cross-border paperwork through VisaHQ’s Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/). The service delivers up-to-date visa and entry guidance for Poland and neighbouring EU states, allowing drivers and corporate mobility teams to secure any additional travel documents quickly and avoid further delays caused by administrative hurdles.
For corporate mobility teams, the incident underscores the need for contingency routing in travel-and-freight policies. Staff travelling with commercial cargo should verify that CMR paperwork matches any last-minute diversions and ensure passports or visas allow entry via alternative EU states. Immigration advisers recommend keeping scanned copies of all customs and transport documents in cloud storage in case further IT glitches occur.
Long-term, industry associations are urging Warsaw to fast-track redundancy upgrades in its customs IT architecture, noting that overland trade with Ukraine has doubled since 2022 and represents a strategic lifeline for both economies.
The breakdown stranded time-sensitive consignments worth an estimated €2 million per hour, according to freight-forwarders serving automotive plants in Silesia and humanitarian corridors into Ukraine. Polish officials pledged a software fix by 22:00 Kyiv time on 18 January, and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine confirmed full restoration at 07:29 on 19 January.(unn.ua)
Although traffic has resumed, carriers warn that residual congestion will ripple through Monday and possibly mid-week as queuing trucks clear. Drivers are advised to carry extra rest provisions—parking and sanitary facilities near Medyka are limited—and to monitor live queue data provided by both Polish and Ukrainian border guards. Shippers with just-in-time supply chains should consider splitting loads across multiple corridors until stability is confirmed.
Logistics managers juggling sudden route changes can streamline cross-border paperwork through VisaHQ’s Poland portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/). The service delivers up-to-date visa and entry guidance for Poland and neighbouring EU states, allowing drivers and corporate mobility teams to secure any additional travel documents quickly and avoid further delays caused by administrative hurdles.
For corporate mobility teams, the incident underscores the need for contingency routing in travel-and-freight policies. Staff travelling with commercial cargo should verify that CMR paperwork matches any last-minute diversions and ensure passports or visas allow entry via alternative EU states. Immigration advisers recommend keeping scanned copies of all customs and transport documents in cloud storage in case further IT glitches occur.
Long-term, industry associations are urging Warsaw to fast-track redundancy upgrades in its customs IT architecture, noting that overland trade with Ukraine has doubled since 2022 and represents a strategic lifeline for both economies.
