MOSCOW | 
 
 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands of trucks and cars have been stuck on a major highway, some for more than two days, in a traffic jam dozens of kilometres (miles) long caused by heavy snow northwest of Moscow, Russian media reported on Sunday. 
 
 Police in the Tver region said field kitchens were operating on the road, but many drivers complained supplies never reached them and they were running out of gasoline to keep their engines running and heating on in subzero temperatures. 
 
 "Drivers help one another and that's it, the problems are on the side of the authorities, there are no gasoline tankers, no water, nothing, we are just stuck here," a truck driver who identified himself as Sergei told Rossiya 24 TV channel. 
 
 Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dispatched Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov to Tver on Sunday for a meeting on the situation, and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was ordered to report to Medvedev on Monday on measures to end the jam and help stranded motorists, Medvedev's spokeswoman said. 
 
 Reports put the length of the traffic jam at between 40 km 
 
 and 200 km (120 miles) at different times on Sunday. One man told the state broadcaster he had advanced one kilometre over the previous 24 hours. 
 
 "The reach of the traffic jam at present is no longer than 55 km and is gradually falling," Interfax news agency quoted a police official as saying on Sunday evening. 
 
 Russian authorities have been accused of sluggish responses to weather-related problems including deadly wildfires in 2010 and flooding in the south this summer. 
 
 Officials are jumpy about their jobs after President Vladimir Putin's dismissal of the regional development minister in October and Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov last month. 
 
 The M-10 highway links Moscow with Russia's second largest city St Petersburg, some 700 km northwest of the capital, and stretches on to the border with Finland. 
 
 Russia's roads have been the butt of criticism since Tsarist times and its infrastructure has been plagued with problems since the Soviet era, when defence spending was high at the expense of roads, housing, healthcare and other civilian needs. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Sophie Hares) 

 Story highlights Heavy snow starting Friday caused traffic woes in western Russia 
 
 By Sunday afternoon, backups on a major highway reportedly stretched 125 miles 
 
 Vehicles were finally moving better by the evening, though still only at 3 to 6 miles per hour 
 
 Some travelers griped about price gouging, lack of gas and the response from authorities 
 
 If you've ever griped about being mired in a traffic jam, there was proof this weekend in Russia that it could have been worse. 
 
 Much, much worse. 
 
 The backup Sunday afternoon on part of the main highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg -- the country's two most populated cities -- stretched 125 miles long, according to media reports cited by state-run RIA Novosti news. 
 
 Video showed fog, but little evident precipitation after days of heavy snow. Even so, movement along sections of the M-10 highway largely was limited to foot traffic, not vehicular traffic, as trucks and cars sat motionless. 
 
 Efforts to clear roads had some impact by early evening, by which time tie-ups were down to 34 miles along the M-10 highway, reported the State Automobile Inspectorate, a division of Russia's Interior Ministry. The length of the traffic jam was shrinking about three-fourths of a mile every hour, a spokesman for that agency told the state news outlet. 
 
 That is an improvement, but still a far cry from the "normalization" of traffic that Russia's Emergencies Ministry said would occur by 6 p.m. Sunday, according to RIA Novosti. 
 
 An Emergencies Ministry spokesman reported that, by then, one lane in each direction of the M-10 was clear of snow -- allowing trucks to creep along at 5-10 kph (3-6 mph). 
 
 Blame for the slow slog goes, at least in part, to bad weather. The traffic headaches began Friday, when heavy snow began falling in western Russia. By the time it finally tapered off, three feet had fallen. 
 
 While snow and related traffic woes are hardly unprecedented in Russia in December, drivers had other reasons to complain. 
 
 In comments on social networking and news websites, as related by RIA Novosti, stuck drivers and passengers reported cafes along the clogged roadway took advantage of them by ratcheting up prices. Others said some gas stations had run out of fuel, or grumbled that authorities weren't much help. 
 
 Video showed an inflatable tent popped up on the side of highway, with tables inside full of people filling up on food and drinks. In addition to hot food and warming stations, the RIA Novosti report noted the Emergencies Ministry was making psychological support available to those having trouble coping with the days-long traffic nightmare. 
 
 "(Emergencies Minister Vladmir Puchkov) is making sure that all necessary measures are being taken and that all vital personnel in afflicted regions have everything they need," a ministry spokesman said.
– And you thought your commute was bad: Snow in Russia caused an insane traffic jam this weekend, with thousands of cars and trucks stuck on a major highway yesterday. Some had been stuck for more than two days, as they struggled to keep their engines running and their vehicles heated, Reuters reports. Yesterday afternoon, the backup was 125 miles long, CNN reports. It had shortened to 34 miles by last night as some of the roadway between Moscow and St. Petersburg was cleared. Even so, the length of the backup was decreasing by just three-quarters of a mile per hour, and trucks were only able to drive between 3mph and 6mph. And stuck drivers were getting gouged by nearby cafes that upped prices, while gas stations ran out of fuel and drivers complained that supplies promised from the government never reached them.