From July 25 to 28, Kyiv's patrol police restricted the movement of trucks weighing more than 24 tons — as soon as the air temperature exceeds +28°C. The same applies to vehicles with axle loads exceeding 7 tons. Smaller vans and medium-duty transport are not subject to the ban.
Why exactly 28 degrees
When the air temperature reaches +28°C and above, asphalt heats up to +60°C or higher. Bitumen — the binding component of road surfaces — softens, and the wheels of heavy vehicles literally press ruts into the pavement. This is not a theoretical risk: this summer, asphalt deformations have already been recorded in the Kyiv region and on the M-07 "Warsaw" highway.
To preserve the road surface, trucks are prohibited from moving when air temperature reaches +28 degrees Celsius or higher.
— Kyiv Patrol Police
To compensate for the heat, Kyivavtodor deploys up to 50 units of street cleaning equipment daily — to cool the surface with water. However, watering only reduces surface temperature, rather than relieving the load from vehicle weight.
A rule from 2012 — without updates
The restrictions were introduced in accordance with Kyiv City State Administration order dated July 7, 2012, No. 1173 — a document that is already 13 years old. Back then, thresholds were set: 24 tons of total weight and 7 tons per axle. Since then, neither the regulations nor the temperature measurement methodology have been officially reviewed, although the climate in the city has changed — hot days have become more frequent and longer.
What a truck driver should do
- You can stop on designated road shoulders.
- Permitted parking areas include gas stations, roadside cafes, and motels along the route.
- Waiting time is not fixed: the ban applies only during hours when the thermometer remains above the threshold.
- Road signs and information boards mark restriction zones at the city's entry points.
In fact, the driver must independently monitor the temperature and decide when to proceed further — the city authorities have not implemented any centralized notification system or app to track current restrictions in real time.
If summer temperatures in Kyiv continue to rise and days with +28°C and above become the norm from May to September — will Kyiv City State Administration review the 13-year-old order, increasing either the range of banned vehicles or the number of covered hours?
