Freight forwarding Lublin – transport to and from Czechia

Berries first

According to Poland's statistics office, the Lublin voivodeship leads the country in several crops, among them raspberries, currants and gooseberries – and Poland is the EU's biggest raspberry producer. Freezing plants, juice concentrate makers and packers around the city process fruit from thousands of small growers; apples, sour cherries, vegetables and medicinal herbs are grown here too. For Czech buyers that typically means:

• frozen raspberries, currants, blueberries and mixes in cartons for bakeries, dairies and jam makers;
• fruit concentrates and purées in drums or IBCs;
• fresh raspberries and apples in season;
• dried herbs and tea blends.

Hops, fertiliser and helicopters

About 50 km north-west of Lublin, Puławy and the historic town of Kazimierz Dolny sit on the Vistula. Most of Poland's aroma hop gardens are concentrated in this area; hops ship as compressed bales or vacuum-packed pellets, and pellets are best kept cool. Puławy also has a large nitrogen fertiliser plant, which ships granulated product in bags and in bulk. Świdnik, home to Lublin's airport, builds helicopters and aircraft parts, hard coal is mined near Łęczna to the east, and Lublin itself has engineering, furniture and food plants.

The road west

Lublin is a long way from Czechia, so the route matters. The fastest line from Ostrava runs via Bohumín – Gorzyczki, the A1 and A4 past Katowice and Kraków to Rzeszów, then about 177 km north on the S19 expressway, known as the Via Carpatia. That makes about 520 km from Ostrava, around 690 km from Brno and nearly 900 km from Prague. A full truck reaches Ostrava on the second working day and Prague on the second or third. Pallet groupage from eastern Poland usually needs four to six working days, as goods pass through depots on both sides.

Polish motorways and expressways are tolled electronically; the A4 between Katowice and Kraków has its own toll collection. Trucks over 12 t are banned on public holidays and, in summer, at weekends.

Eastbound, Czech suppliers send packaging and cartons, glass jars, farm machinery and spare parts, building materials and engineering products. A truck that delivers east can then return loaded, which helps the rate.

Frozen, chilled or ambient

Berry harvest falls in summer, when freezers run flat out and reefers in eastern Poland are in demand; book ahead if you know you will buy in July and August. Dry cargo goes by full truck or, for smaller volumes, pallet transport.

Next to the Ukrainian border

Lublin is the nearest large Polish city to Ukraine. The Dorohusk and Hrebenne road crossings are roughly 100 to 130 km away, and warehouses for goods from the east have grown up around the city. Ukraine is outside the EU, so its goods must be cleared – at the border or under transit to a Czech customs office. Goods already cleared and loaded in Lublin need only the usual CMR note and invoice.

Before loading

Please confirm the set temperature and dock loading for frozen fruit, pallet count and stackability, the safety data sheet for fertiliser (some nitrogen grades fall under ADR) and dispatch hours – freezers often run around the clock in summer, while warehouses work weekdays out of season. For a price, use the calculator.