Truckers see red as days-long queues choke border crossing

AMMAN — Hundreds of truck drivers, carrying exported goods to the West Bank in Palestine, waited for three days to pass the King Hussein Bridge, roughly 57 kilometres from the capital. 

The bridge, which serves as a border crossing between Jordan and Palestine, is operated by the Israeli authorities.

Truckers interviewed by The Jordan Times attributed the congestion at the border to the large commercial traffic, slowing border inspection routines and increasing truck volumes. 

Mousa Jameel, who crossed the border on Monday evening, said that he waited for three days in a four-kilometre-long queue made up of hundreds of trucks. 

“The enormous number of vehicles parked on a very narrow road caused a bus to crash into a dumping truck,” he told The Jordan Times. 

After that accident, which happened on Monday afternoon, authorities allowed all vehicles to pass and the border was somewhat empty by 8pm, when the last waiting truck crossed to the other side, Jameel added. 

He noted that the problem with long waiting periods is that there’s no where to park and no nearby places to rest or even buy food. 

In the past three months, trucks wait times at the border increased from a few hours to up to three days due to the recovery of commercial activity, he said. 

Roughly 400 trucks, exporting various goods such as foodstuff, clothes and textiles, cross the border to the West Bank every day, according to Jameel, who has been a truck driver for 26 years. 

Mohammad Abd Al Jawad, another trucker, also arrived at the border last Saturday and crossed it on Monday at 2pm. 

According to Jawad, the number of waiting vehicles on the road was roughly 1,200.  

“It’s a very narrow two-side road for comers and goers but it’s really impossible to fit two trucks and it’s dangerous to park or even drive on during congestion periods,” he told The Jordan Times. 

It requires “extreme care” to hold ones line when meeting upcoming vehicles on the other side, he added. 

The 15-year truck driver, who has been exporting goods through this border crossing for two months, speculates that the congestion started two or three months ago due to an active commercial movement.

He noted that it currently takes a week to drive to the border, cross it, unload the goods on the other side and return to Amman. 

“I arrived at my house in Amman on Monday after 8pm and left again to deliver another shipment on Tuesday at 5am,” Jawad said. 

He added that the traffic was less heavy on Tuesday because authorities tried to allow most trucks to pass on Monday to avoid any other accident. 

Public Security Directorate Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi was unavailable to comment on the matter, despite repeated attempts by The Jordan Times to contact him. 

Naser Al Dirbani, a trucker who delivered multiple shipments through that bridge during September and October, said that he had to wait for two days to cross the border. 

“It was extremely hot and there are no rest areas, bathrooms or any type of place where you can get food or simply a bottle of water near the bridge,” he told The Jordan Times. 

He said that not having organised spaces to park trucks is one of the main causes for the congestion and the accidents it can cause. 

“It doesn’t seem that there is much coordination between both sides on the border. If the process was organised, it wouldn’t take more than a few hours to cross, even if the truck volume is high,” Dirbani added. 

Amir, a trucker who preferred to go by his first name, said that the last time he crossed the border was three months ago. 

“I didn’t wait for more than two hours and the number of waiting trucks didn’t exceed 50 during that period. However, my trucker friends, who are delivering shipments to the West Bank these days, say that they’re waiting two to three days to cross,” he told The Jordan Times.