Wedoany.com Report on Feb 28th, According to an analysis by the Institute for Transport Economics and Development of Russia (ИЭРТ), based on data from the ATI.SU exchange from July 27, 2025, to January 22, 2026, the container road transport market has shown significant changes over the six-month period. The study covered freight rates for 20-foot containers (calculated at 20 tons), including long-distance routes (over 2,000 km) and short-distance routes.
Among long-distance routes, the Ussuriysk to Moscow direction, with approximately 11,000 transport proposals, emerged as the route with the highest freight volume. Covering a distance of 9,000 km, its rate increased by 31.4% to 70.8 rubles per kilometer (excluding VAT). The Yekaterinburg to Krasnoyarsk route ranked second, with a distance of 2,373 km, a rate increase of 27.9% to 79.4 rubles/km, and over 9,100 proposals. The Saint Petersburg to Yekaterinburg route, with 8,600 proposals, placed third, with a moderate rate increase of 16% to 58.4 rubles/km.
The route with the most significant rate increase was Ulan-Ude to Chelyabinsk, soaring over 51% to 74.1 rubles/km. Routes originating from Zabaikalsk also recorded notable increases, such as the Samara direction rising 45.5% to 65.8 rubles/km and the Chelyabinsk direction rising 38.5% to 67.8 rubles/km. Connection routes from the Far East to the Urals also saw rising freight costs: Ussuriysk to Yekaterinburg increased by 37% to 74.9 rubles/km, and Vladivostok to Ufa increased by 35.3% to 65.4 rubles/km.
Among short-distance routes (not exceeding 2,000 km), Novosibirsk to Krasnoyarsk, with 15,300 proposals, became the most active direction, with a rate of nearly 98 rubles/km, an increase of about 13%. The Beloretsk to Yekaterinburg route recorded the highest absolute rate, reaching 130.3 rubles/km, a 32% increase. Other high-rate routes included Vladivostok to Khabarovsk (122 rubles/km) and Khabarovsk to Blagoveshchensk (118.1 rubles/km).
Routes with surging demand, such as Ob (Novosibirsk Oblast) to Yekaterinburg, saw the number of freight proposals increase by 183.4%, reaching 953 within the six-month period. Regional routes like Volgograd to Tula and Kazan to Syktyvkar saw rate increases of 39.7% and 39.6%, respectively. Furthermore, market data indicates that refrigerated transport prices are also rising. For example, on the Moscow to Yekaterinburg route, the average cost in February 2026 reached 126.9 rubles/km, a 51.8% increase over the six months.
