Freight forwarding Utrecht – transport to and from the Czech Republic

Why so many Dutch supply chains pass through Utrecht

Four key motorways meet around the city: the A2 (Amsterdam–Eindhoven–Maastricht), the A12 (The Hague–Arnhem–German border), the A27 (Breda–Almere) and the A28 towards Amersfoort and Zwolle. Utrecht Central is the busiest rail hub in the country. From a warehouse here a truck can reach Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague within about an hour, which is why many retailers and wholesalers keep their national stock in Utrecht or in the towns on its ring.

On the western edge runs the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal, the country's busiest inland waterway. Along it lies Lage Weide, Utrecht's largest business park, home to construction firms, repair and technical services, energy and recycling plants, and logistics operators.

What we collect in and around Utrecht

• retail and wholesale stock from distribution centres near the motorway junctions;
• construction equipment, spare parts and recovered raw materials from the canal-side business park;
• laboratory instruments, consumables and samples from the university science campus in the east of the city, frequently temperature-controlled;
• stands, displays and exhibited machinery after trade fairs at the exhibition centre next to the main station.

Heading the other way, Czech building materials, glass, furniture, beverages and steel components are delivered to Utrecht warehouses and building sites. Czech exhibitors can also book a full truck to the fairground with a fixed arrival slot.

Delivering into the city centre

The centre of Utrecht is a zero-emission zone for freight. Trucks first registered from 1 January 2025 may only enter if they are zero-emission; older vehicles need at least Euro 6 and are phased out under transition periods ending no later than 1 January 2030, when the zone is set to cover the whole city.

The pedestrian core also has delivery windows: 06:00–11:30 every day, with extra evening slots reserved for clean vehicles. In practice we rarely send an articulated trailer into the centre. Goods are transferred at a warehouse on the outskirts to a smaller compliant vehicle.

A local speciality is the two-level wharves along the Oudegracht canal, where cellars of cafés and shops open directly onto the water. The city runs electric freight boats that supply them with beverages, chilled products and shop orders. Trucks unload onto the boats at two transfer points on the edge of the centre, and the boats are not bound by the delivery windows.

Distance and transit time

The Netherlands has no general weekend truck ban; Germany bans trucks over 7.5 t on Sundays and public holidays, so Friday collections are scheduled to clear most of Germany on Saturday. Brno is about 1,080 km away, usually two, sometimes three working days.

For trade fairs we plan backwards from the build-up day: the exhibition grounds allocate truck entry times, so we set the departure from Czechia with a buffer for congestion in the Ruhr area and around Arnhem.

Choosing the service

• Pallet groupage for single pallets and small shop orders delivered via a city hub.
• A full truck for warehouse clearances and trade-fair stands with a fixed date.
• A reefer for lab supplies and food, with a temperature log.

Paperwork is standard for intra-EU trade: a CMR note plus an invoice or delivery note. For fair consignments, prepare a packing list and the access slot for the exhibition grounds. A price for your shipment comes from the calculator.