Freight forwarding Saarbrücken – transport to and from Czechia

Steel country without coal

For more than two centuries Saarland lived from coal and iron. Its last hard-coal mine closed in 2012, but the steelworks at Völklingen and Dillingen are still producing wire rod, bars and heavy plate. The historic Völklingen ironworks, a short distance down the Saar from Saarbrücken, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The automotive supply industry has largely taken over coal's role: Saarland has one of the highest shares of jobs in car-parts manufacturing of any German state, with the Homburg area producing fuel-injection systems, bearings and chassis components.

Saarbrücken itself is the administrative, university and trading centre of this small state. For a forwarder, the key point is that loads here are often steel and metal parts, which need different vehicles and securing methods than ordinary pallets.

What travels from Saarland to Czechia

• wire rod in coils, steel bars and heavy plate for bridges, ships and machinery,
• automotive parts such as injection technology, bearings, gearboxes and axle components,
• engineering products and castings,
• ceramics and sanitaryware, a long-standing regional speciality,
• food, including the Lyoner sausage typical of Saarland, and beer.

Czech suppliers send castings, forgings, plastic and metal parts for automotive suppliers, glass and building materials in the opposite direction.

Where the A6 ends

The A6 motorway, familiar to Czech drivers from the Rozvadov / Waidhaus crossing, ends in Saarbrücken. At the Goldene Bremm crossing on the city's southern edge it becomes the French A320 towards Metz. Other motorways lead north to Trier and Cologne (A1), west to Luxembourg (A8) and along the Saar to Völklingen and Saarlouis (A620).

The distance from Prague is about 640 km, one long driving day for a single driver, so delivery is usually on the next morning. Brno is about 840 km away and receives goods on the second working day. German tolls apply to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes on motorways and federal roads.

Loading steel properly

Steel is limited by weight, not volume: a standard truck carries about 24 tonnes, and the load has to be distributed so that no axle is overloaded. Coils travel in a coil-well trailer and are secured with chains or straps rated for their weight. Plate and bars go on a curtainsider with a sliding roof so that they can be crane-loaded from above, on timber bearers and anti-slip mats. Please send us the weight of each coil or bundle and tell us whether loading is by crane or forklift. At steelworks drivers register at the gate and must wear a helmet, high-visibility vest and safety shoes, and entry is only possible within booked slots. Boxed parts and pallets can go by pallet groupage or a full truckload, and urgent production parts by express van.

Holidays and the French connection

Besides national holidays, Saarland observes Corpus Christi, All Saints' Day and – as the only state apart from parts of Bavaria – the Assumption on 15 August. Trucks over 7.5 tonnes may not drive on those days or on Sundays.

After the Second World War Saarland was under French administration and only joined West Germany in 1957. Links with Lorraine remain close, with many daily cross-border commuters and companies operating warehouses on both sides. If you want to combine a Saarbrücken collection with a pick-up in France, remember the French weekend truck ban from Saturday evening to Sunday evening; see also our page on Metz. For a price indication, use the calculator; quotes usually follow within 30 minutes.