Truck queue at Saudi crossing getting longer

Near Al Sila: Minute by minute the line of trucks waiting to cross the UAE/Saudi border at Al Ghuwaifat continues to grow.

At 8 yesterday morning the line had stretched for more than 27km, by 4pm it was more than 30km long with thousands of trucks still or idling in blistering desert temperatures of 44°C.

The economic costs of the new border control measures imposed by Saudi Arabia will climb significantly in the coming days if the current situation remains unresolved.

Trucks carrying everything from basic needs to essential building and engineering supplies are delayed for days, their slow progress to the border crossing being counted in mere metres per hour.

Mohammad Abu Soubah, a 50-year-old Jordanian driver, is holding a load of fresh fruit from Dubai's fruit market to Amman, Jordan. His 200-litre tank of diesel will run out by midday today shutting down the refrigeration unit on the trailer, spoiling his Dh120,000 load.

"I've never seen anything like this," he says. He ought to know, he's been driving trucks in the region for the past 35 years. "Something has to be done," he says.

Abu Soubah faces a tough choice - stay in line and take his chances or leave to refuel - then start waiting all over again.