eCherha – Ukraine’s Electronic Border Queue
eCherha is Ukraine’s exit booking system for trucks and buses. Who has to register, how the queue works, and what it means for cars.
As of:
What eCherha is
eCherha (Ukrainian: єЧерга) is a state-run electronic queuing system for crossing the border, operated by the Ukrainian ministry responsible for infrastructure. Instead of sitting in a traffic jam several kilometres long in front of the crossing, the carrier registers the vehicle in the system, chooses a crossing and waits for its turn – in a car park, at a depot or on the road – driving up to the crossing only when the system calls it.
The system was designed for freight transport, which before its introduction created queues tens of kilometres long on the approach roads to the border. Over time it was extended to bus services too. It operates on the Ukrainian side, so it mainly governs departures from Ukraine. The Straż Graniczna (Polish Border Guard) and the Polish National Revenue Administration do not take bookings in it.
The system’s website also publishes the current number of vehicles waiting in the queue at each crossing. Carriers use it to choose a crossing, and we use it as one of our sources of information on freight traffic at the Ukrainian border.
Who it applies to
Registration in eCherha is compulsory for licensed transport, meaning trucks and buses crossing the Ukrainian border. The system runs separate queues for different types of vehicle: buses, trucks up to 7.5 t, trucks over 7.5 t, empty trucks and selected categories of cargo.
On the border with Poland, bookings are available at the largest road crossings, including Hrushiv – Budomierz, Krakovets – Korczowa, Rava-Ruska – Hrebenne, Shehyni – Medyka and Yahodyn – Dorohusk. The list of crossings and queue types changes from time to time, so always check the latest announcements on the eCherha website before booking.
Bus passengers don’t register themselves. Entering the bus in the queue is the carrier’s job – if you buy a ticket for a scheduled service, you don’t have to do anything in eCherha. It is worth asking the carrier, though, which crossing the bus is booked for and at what time, as this determines the real journey time.
What about cars?
Ukraine has long been announcing that eCherha will be extended to passenger cars. According to ministry announcements from June 2026, technical preparations were in their final stage and a pilot was due to start in summer 2026 at two crossings – the Odesa region was named as one of the first. Bookings are to be available in the Diia app, on the website and in the eCherha app, for both Ukrainian citizens and foreigners.
As of this guide’s publication, we had not found any official announcement that car bookings have launched at crossings with Poland. If you’re driving, you join the ordinary queue at the Polish–Ukrainian border – unless official sources announce a change for a specific crossing. Beware of websites and middlemen offering paid “places in the e-queue” for cars: bookings in the state system are made only through official channels.
Even once bookings launch, the pilot is to cover only selected crossings – the ordinary on-site queue will remain at all the others. Information about new crossings added to the system is published by the ministry, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the eCherha service itself; these three are the only sources worth relying on when you plan your trip.
How booking works for carriers
The carrier creates an account in the system, enters the vehicle and driver details, and chooses the border crossing and queue type. After registration, the vehicle is given a place in the queue, and its position can be tracked online. When its turn approaches, the driver receives a call-up and must reach the crossing within the set time – arriving late can mean losing the place.
Practical rules that carriers most often forget:
- The vehicle details in the booking must match the documents – trailer and tractor registration numbers, vehicle category, and whether it is travelling empty.
- The choice of crossing is binding; changing it usually means a new booking and a new place in the queue.
- The eCherha queue covers departure from Ukraine; entry into Poland is governed by the rules and queues on the Polish side.
- A call-up can’t be “sped up” – offers of paid queue-jumping outside the official system are not a legal service.
Travelling by bus – what it means for passengers
If you’re travelling from Ukraine to Poland by bus, the time you reach the border depends on the slot the carrier was given in the system. The bus may therefore wait for its call-up in a car park several dozen kilometres before the crossing, or drive straight there. A sensible carrier allows for this in its timetable, but at peak times delays are common. Before you travel, ask which crossing the bus uses – this also determines whether you get off in Poland, say in Przemyśl, Lublin or Rzeszów, at the scheduled time.
At the crossing, passengers go through the Ukrainian check and then the Polish passport and customs checks. Passengers without EU citizenship are registered in the EES system on entering Poland, which on their first crossing lengthens the check for the whole bus. Have your passport and any residence documents ready, and keep the goods you’re bringing in where they can easily be shown in your luggage.
How eCherha relates to the waiting times we show
On KolejkaNaGranicy.pl we publish estimated waiting times for cars, buses and pedestrians. At the Ukrainian border we use, among other things, information from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, eCherha data on freight traffic and data from Ukrainian customs. We don’t yet publish waiting times for trucks, because we can’t estimate them reliably enough – some trucks wait in the electronic queue far from the crossing, so the number of vehicles in the system doesn’t directly tell you how long the wait is.
For car drivers, eCherha matters indirectly. It keeps trucks from blocking the approach roads and lets crossings plan how they staff the freight lanes. It doesn’t change the fact that cars queue on site, though, and the length of that queue depends on the day of the week and the time of day. We describe the typical patterns for each crossing in our guide on when to cross the Ukraine border.
Key points at a glance
- eCherha is compulsory for trucks and buses leaving Ukraine; the carrier or professional driver registers.
- Bus passengers and car drivers don’t need to sign up.
- Car bookings have been announced and are being piloted; official channels will announce when they launch at crossings with Poland.
- Bookings are made only in the official system – no middlemen and no extra fees for a “better place”.
- Truck drivers should keep track of their booking status and carry documents that match the details entered in the system.