Freight forwarding Marseille – transport to and from Czechia

Two ports under one name

The port of Marseille-Fos is split in two. The historic basins in Marseille itself mainly handle ferries to Corsica, Algeria and Tunisia and cruise ships. The container terminals, oil and chemical docks and large warehouses are about 50 km west at Fos-sur-Mer. That is where containers from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are discharged, and where many of them are unpacked and their contents sent onward by truck, including to Central Europe.

For importers sourcing from the Mediterranean, Turkey or the Maghreb, Fos can be a sensible alternative to the North Sea ports: the box lands closer to its origin and the road leg to Prague takes a few working days. Once the goods are cleared in France they travel on as an ordinary intra-EU shipment with an invoice and a CMR note. If they are not cleared yet, we arrange transit under customs control.

What comes out of the Marseille area

The shore between Marseille and Fos is one of France's largest petrochemical areas, with refining, plastics, chemical intermediates and industrial gases, plus a steel plant producing coil at Fos. Inland, Provence is a farming and food region. The loads we see most often:

• plastic granulate and polymers on pallets or in big bags,
• chemical raw materials in drums and IBCs, frequently classed as dangerous goods (see ADR transport),
• steel coil and sheet, which need a coil-well trailer and proper securing,
• de-stuffed container cargo: consumer goods, textiles, furniture, electronics,
• olive oil, rosé wine, herbs, fruit and vegetables, traditional Marseille soap and natural cosmetics,
• semiconductors and microelectronics from around Aix-en-Provence and helicopter components from near Marignane airport.

Up the Rhône valley

The route north follows the A7, the so-called Motorway of the Sun, to Lyon, then crosses Burgundy and Franche-Comté to Mulhouse, enters Germany over the Rhine and continues via Karlsruhe, Heilbronn and Nuremberg to the Waidhaus/Rozvadov border. Prague is roughly 1,400 km away. A single driver within EU driving-time rules normally delivers on the third working day counting the day of loading; a two-driver crew can do it in two. The Italian route over the Alps is longer and only makes sense when combined with a pickup in Italy.

In summer the A7 between Marseille and Lyon is one of Europe's busiest motorways. On top of the standard French truck ban from Saturday 22:00 to Sunday 22:00, extra Saturday restrictions apply in July and August, so we try to load early in the week. French and German tolls are included in the figure from our freight calculator.

Heat, wind and narrow streets

Provence summers are hot. A curtain-sided trailer standing on a motorway in July can get far too warm for wine, olive oil or cosmetics, so for these we recommend a temperature-controlled trailer; fresh produce always travels refrigerated. The mistral, a strong northerly wind, occasionally slows traffic on bridges and in the Rhône valley, which we allow for when a delivery date is fixed.

Container pickups at Fos run on booked slots. We need the container number or shipment reference and confirmation that the cargo has been released by customs and the shipping line. Central Marseille is hilly with tight streets and limited access for large vehicles, so a smaller truck with a tail lift is the right choice there; we check the current low-emission zone rules before each job. Wineries and olive mills in the countryside rarely have a dock and load from the side.

Choosing the service

Czech exports to the region include car parts, machinery, glass, building materials and beer. Goods heading on by sea to North Africa or the Middle East can be delivered straight to a warehouse or container at Fos.