Transport and import of goods from Ghent to the Czech Republic

Ghent's cargo profile

The port of Ghent stretches north along the canal towards Terneuzen. Its quays host a steelworks, chemical plants, a car assembly plant, grain and feed terminals and vegetable processors. That mix shapes what our Czech and Slovak customers buy from the area:

• steel coils, sheet and semi-finished metal products
• chemicals, plastic granulate and fertilisers
• frozen and processed food, especially Flemish vegetables
• animal feed, starch and food ingredients
• automotive parts and goods transhipped from vessels

Czech exports to Flanders include machinery, glass, beverages, paper and parts for local assembly plants.

Loading in the port

Terminals and warehouses work with booked time slots; a truck arriving without a confirmed booking can wait for hours. Steel needs different equipment from palletised freight. Coils travel on coil-well trailers with certified securing, long bars and profiles need side or crane loading, and container cargo requires the container number and a release from the shipping line or terminal. For food, we need the set temperature in writing.

Ask your supplier to confirm the loading reference, warehouse hours, weight per piece and loading method. Ghent city centre has a low-emission zone, but the port and industrial estates lie outside it.

Route, distance and timing

Ghent to Prague is about 950 km. Trucks run via Brussels and Liège, cross into Germany near Aachen and continue past Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg to the Rozvadov border. When the Brussels ring is congested, a route via Antwerp and the Netherlands can be faster. Northern Bohemia is served via Dresden and the D8, Moravia via the D1 and Brno.

With 600–700 km per driver per day, a full load usually arrives on the second working day, occasionally the third. Groupage pallets take 3–5 working days. Belgian public holidays and the pre-Christmas peak can slow terminal operations, so a Thursday or Friday morning collection is often the safest choice before the German Sunday ban.

Temperature control, ADR and full loads

Frozen vegetables and other food travel in reefer trailers with a continuous temperature log that goes with the paperwork. Chemicals and fertilisers are often subject to ADR rules, so we assign carriers with trained drivers and the right equipment; see ADR transport. Steel and bagged bulk goods reach the weight limit before the trailer is full, which makes a dedicated truckload the natural choice. A few pallets of finished goods are fine in groupage.

Tolls, driving bans and documents

Belgium charges a distance-based truck toll on motorways and parts of the wider network, and so does Germany; both are included in our price. Belgium has no general weekend ban, but Germany prohibits trucks over 7.5 t on Sundays, public holidays and some summer Saturdays. As an intra-EU shipment, no customs duty applies. You will need a CMR note, an invoice or delivery note (often a mill certificate for steel), a temperature record for food and ADR papers for dangerous goods. Goods that arrived by sea from outside the EU must first be released into free circulation by the importer's customs agent.

Booking

Send us the loading address and reference, type of goods, weight, number of pieces or pallets and the required date. Dispatch answers Monday to Friday, 8:00–18:00, and a non-binding quote usually arrives within 30 minutes. For a quick estimate try the online calculator. For steel and chemicals, book two to three working days ahead so that the right trailer type is available.