Freight forwarding Rotterdam – transport to/from the Czech Republic

A port 40 km long

The port stretches about 40 km from the city along the Nieuwe Maas to the North Sea. Deep-sea container ships berth at Maasvlakte in the west; Botlek and Pernis in the middle form one of Europe's largest refinery and chemical clusters; the older basins such as Waalhaven and Eemhaven, closer to the city, hold warehouses for fruit, metals and break-bulk cargo. The A15 motorway runs the length of the port and is often congested at peak hours, which matters when you are booking a pickup slot.

Imports and exports through Rotterdam

• consumer goods from Asia: electronics, textiles, toys, furniture, sports equipment,
• fresh fruit, citrus and bananas, fruit juices and concentrates,
• plastic granulate, chemicals and petrochemical products,
• vegetables, flowers and young plants from the Westland greenhouses nearby,
• metals, steel products and building materials from overseas.

Czech machinery, car parts and glass travel the other way for shipment overseas, so trucks delivering exports are usually glad to take a return load.

A special case is the Westland area between Rotterdam and The Hague, one of the densest greenhouse regions in the world. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, cut flowers and young plants are harvested year-round and travel to the Czech Republic chilled, often loaded early in the morning and delivered the next day or the day after.

Cleared or in transit?

Goods arriving from outside the EU are under customs supervision after unloading. Either a customs broker releases them for free circulation in the Netherlands, after which they move as ordinary EU goods, or they travel to the Czech Republic under the T1 transit procedure and are cleared at a Czech customs office. Transit requires a transit document, a guarantee and compliance with the set time limit and route. The broker is usually appointed by the shipper, the ocean forwarder or the importer. Before we book a truck, make sure it is clear who handles customs and what status the goods will have – a driver cannot load without valid documents, and waiting time in the port adds up quickly.

A practical tip: ask your supplier or ocean forwarder to confirm that the goods are physically in the warehouse and released, not just "being discharged". Vessel delays of a day or two are common, and a truck ordered blindly will simply wait.

Route to Prague

From the port, trucks usually enter Germany at Emmerich/Elten or via Venlo, then continue through Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg to the Rozvadov crossing, or further north via Hanover and Dresden to the D8. Prague is roughly 950 km away, normally two working days for a full truck with one driver. Germany charges a truck toll and bans trucks over 7.5 t on Sundays and public holidays, and on summer Saturdays on selected motorways. For a detailed look at the corridor see Prague – Rotterdam.

Picking the right truck

A full container's contents fit a full truck and arrive in two working days. Single pallets from a port warehouse are cheaper in pallet groupage, taking around 4–6 working days. Fruit, vegetables and flowers need a reefer; the warehouse checks both product and trailer temperature before loading. Chemicals from Botlek are often dangerous goods and require an ADR-equipped vehicle and certified driver. Paperwork: CMR plus commercial invoice or delivery note, a transit document for uncleared goods, a temperature record for food and an ADR transport document for dangerous goods.

Because many shipments through Rotterdam are urgent restocks of goods that spent weeks at sea, an instant quote helps you decide quickly whether a dedicated truck or groupage makes more sense for the volume you have waiting in the warehouse.