Freight forwarding Berlin – transport to and from the Czech Republic

Berlin: a distribution hub ringed by a motorway

Berlin is less an industrial city than a large consumer market and distribution base. Its motorway ring, the A10, runs through the surrounding state of Brandenburg, and most warehouses and fulfilment centres sit along it rather than inside the city. When a supplier gives you a "Berlin" address, the loading point is quite often a Brandenburg municipality just outside the city limits. We always plan the pick-up from the exact postcode, not from the city name.

The city has a sizeable inland port on the Spree and its canals in the north-west, used for bulk goods, building materials and containers, and rail terminals that link Berlin with the North Sea ports. Berlin Brandenburg Airport handles air freight too, but it is not one of Germany's main cargo airports, so a lot of air freight for Berlin actually arrives by truck from other airports.

What Berlin and Brandenburg produce

• pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices, often requiring temperature control,
• electrical equipment, switchgear, turbines and rail vehicles and their parts,
• print products, packaging and promotional material,
• in Brandenburg: steel products, refined petroleum and chemical products, paper and timber,
• east of the city, electric vehicles and components for batteries and solar power,
• bakery products, beer and vegetables from the surrounding countryside.

Large e-commerce warehouses around the ring also ship consumer goods to eastern Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Imports to the Czech Republic, exports to Berlin

For Czech and Slovak customers we mainly arrange imports of warehouse stock, spare parts for electrical and rail equipment, medical supplies and steel products. Trade fairs are another regular job: Berlin hosts large international fairs for food and agriculture, consumer electronics and tourism, and exhibitors need their stands and samples moved there and back on schedule. In the other direction, Czech building materials, glass and ceramics, furniture, machine parts and food for retail travel to Berlin, so return loads are usually easy to find.

Distance and transit time

Prague to Berlin is approximately 350 km by road via the D8 motorway, the Krásný Les / Breitenau border crossing and then the A17 and A13. A full truck covers it in a single working day including loading and unloading; see our Prague–Berlin route for details. From Brno it is approximately 550 km, still within one driving day. Groupage pallets usually take one to two working days.

Germany charges distance-based tolls for trucks on motorways and federal roads, which are included in our quote. Trucks over 7.5 t may not drive on Sundays and public holidays, and on selected motorways also on Saturdays in July and August.

Local holidays and city-centre deliveries

Berlin observes 8 March (International Women's Day) as a public holiday, while neighbouring Brandenburg takes 31 October (Reformation Day) off. If you load on one side of the city boundary and unload on the other, check both calendars. Inner Berlin, inside the S-Bahn ring, is a low-emission zone open only to vehicles with a green sticker, and many central streets allow deliveries only in the morning or from designated loading bays. For shops and offices we recommend a smaller vehicle with a tail lift and a booked time slot.

Choosing the service

Up to about ten pallets from a warehouse on the ring travel economically as pallet groupage. A full trailer of steel or warehouse stock goes as a dedicated full truck load, often delivered the same or next day. Urgent spare parts or late trade fair material fit an express van, which typically arrives in Prague the same day. Pharmaceuticals and food go in a refrigerated or temperature-controlled trailer with a temperature log. Before booking, ask the shipper to confirm the full address with municipality, opening hours, ramp availability and the number, size and weight of pallets, then check the price in our freight calculator.