Jordan River Crossing Extends Hours to Ease Cargo Crisis
The Israel Airports Authority (IAA) will extend operating hours at the Jordan River border crossing starting October 4th, aiming to resolve a significant cargo bottleneck that has disrupted supply chains and increased shipping costs. The crossing, which has become a primary route for goods between Israel, Jordan, and Gulf nations, will now remain open until 8:00 PM, an extension from its previous 5:00 PM closing time. This decision follows a sharp decline in cargo throughput at the terminal, leading to hundreds of trucks accumulating and substantial price hikes for transportation.
The Manufacturers Association of Israel warned that the Jordan River terminal's capacity has dropped from handling approximately 230-250 trucks daily in September 2024 to only 100-150 trucks currently. By the end of July, over 600 trucks were waiting on the Jordanian side. The association attributed the crisis to reduced operating hours, extended inspection times, and a shortage of security personnel, which they claim are damaging supply chains and inflating transport costs.
The crisis was exacerbated by stricter security checks at the Allenby Bridge crossing following two fatal attacks. While some cargo traffic shifted to the Jordan River crossing, it was not matched by a proportional increase in staffing or capacity. The IAA cited difficulties in recruiting staff to enable extended hours, but the extended schedule is now being implemented.
The effectiveness of the extended hours hinges on the IAA's ability to actually increase the number of trucks processed daily. Currently, rerouting a truck through the alternative Rabin crossing in the Arava can increase shipping costs from about 1,500 shekels to 6,000 shekels, with each day of delay adding approximately $100 to driver costs. Therefore, increasing throughput at the Jordan River crossing is expected to significantly alleviate these expenses for manufacturers.
In parallel, authorities are working to boost cargo operations at the Allenby Bridge and expand activities at the Rabin crossing. This multi-pronged approach aims to distribute cargo loads across multiple crossings rather than relying on a single point of congestion.
