Freight and Imports from Bordeaux to the Czech Republic

Wine shipments need more than a truck

Wine is the cargo most people associate with Bordeaux, and it is also the one that needs the most care. Pallets of bottles are heavy, fragile and sensitive to heat and frost. A curtain-sided trailer crossing France in July can get very hot inside, while in January the risk is freezing, so for premium wine we recommend a temperature-controlled trailer with a data logger. Pallets should be stretch-wrapped, fitted with corner boards and not stacked.

Wine and spirits, including brandy from the nearby Charente region, are excise goods. Depending on whether the consignee receives them in a tax warehouse, as a registered consignee or duty-paid, an electronic accompanying document is required. It is issued by the shipper and the consignee; we make sure the driver has the reference at pickup and delivers to exactly the address it states.

Other cargo from the Bordeaux region

• Aerospace – components, tooling, composite parts and test equipment from the cluster around the airport; high-value cargo that often goes by express transport or a dedicated vehicle.
• Timber and paper – sawn pine, packaging timber, pallets, panels and paper from the Landes forest south of the city, usually moved in full truckloads.
• Food – oysters and seafood under refrigeration, duck products and prunes.
• Industrial goods – chemicals and machine parts from the zones along the Garonne and around the port.

Distance, route and transit time

Prague is roughly 1,650–1,750 km from Bordeaux by road. The usual route runs north-east via Poitiers, Tours and Orléans, around Paris, then through Metz, Saarbrücken and Nuremberg to the Waidhaus/Rozvadov border crossing. A southern alternative via Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon works well when the truck has another stop in central France.

With one driver following EU driving-time rules, a full truck typically takes 3 working days. If the date is fixed, we book a two-driver crew that keeps the truck moving and cuts the journey to about 2 days. Toll costs for French motorways and the German truck toll are built into the result of our freight calculator.

Plan around the weekend

On a three-day run the weekend matters. France bans heavy trucks from Saturday evening to Sunday evening and on public holidays; Germany bans them on Sundays, holidays and summer Saturdays. A truck loaded on Wednesday or Thursday may well spend the weekend in a lay-by. Pickups on Monday or Tuesday give the best chance of delivery in the same week. Groupage pallets take about 4–6 working days, so for those the weekday matters less.

Many châteaux and wine merchants have limited loading hours and no dock. Châteaux in the countryside can also sit on narrow lanes that a full articulated truck cannot reach; in that case we plan a smaller truck with a tail lift. Please confirm with your supplier the pickup time, the loading method (dock, forklift or side loading), and the number and weight of pallets.

Paperwork and the return direction

No customs duty applies between France and the Czech Republic. You need a CMR consignment note and an invoice or delivery note, the excise document for wine and spirits, and a temperature record for chilled goods.

In the other direction we regularly move glass and glass packaging, engineering products, car parts, plastics and building materials from Czech plants to south-west France. These loads help us secure trucks for the long trip back. Read more on transport to France.