Freight forwarding Plzeň – road transport, import and export

A manufacturing city on the D5

Plzeň sits on the D5 motorway between Prague (about 90 km) and the Rozvadov/Waidhaus border crossing (about 65 km), where the road continues as the German A6 towards Nuremberg, about 210 km from the city. This position has drawn suppliers that feed German plants and warehouses serving both sides of the border. Most industrial and logistics sites are on the south-western edge of town and along the motorway, so trucks rarely have to cross the centre.

What West Bohemia produces

Pale lager has been brewed in Plzeň since 1842 and gave the Pilsner style its name, so beverages are a steady export. They are dense cargo: a truck loaded with full pallets of bottles or kegs usually reaches its legal weight limit before the floor is full, so always state the total weight when asking for a quote.

The city's other tradition is heavy engineering – turbines and power equipment, rail vehicles and their parts, machined components and steel structures. Electronics, automotive parts, plastic mouldings and wiring harnesses have been added in recent decades. North of the city, kaolin and ceramic raw materials are extracted, and the south and the Šumava area supply timber and wood products.

Three ways into Germany

• Rozvadov/Waidhaus (D5 / A6) – the main truck route to Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, the Rhineland and the Benelux.
• Folmava/Furth im Wald (road I/26 via Domažlice) – the shorter option to Regensburg, Straubing and Lower Bavaria; Munich is about 300 km this way.
• Železná Ruda/Bayerisch Eisenstein (road I/27 via Klatovy) – used mainly for regional deliveries and vans into the Bavarian Forest.

At 600–700 km per driver per day, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are usually served within one working day and the Rhineland or Benelux within about two. More on the German market: transport to Germany.

Imports into Plzeň

Local factories depend on German and Austrian suppliers for electronic components, connectors and cables, plastic granulate, chemicals and adhesives, steel and aluminium semi-finished products, and packaging. Containers landed in Hamburg, Bremerhaven or Rotterdam are trucked in, and regional warehouses receive food and consumer goods for West Bohemian retail. Single pallets from Bavarian suppliers are best moved by pallet groupage.

Supplying production lines

Many plants in the region work just-in-time, where a late delivery can stop a line. A dedicated full truck with a fixed time slot suits regular supply; for a missing part an express van from Bavaria usually arrives within a few hours. Chemicals, adhesives and batteries move under ADR with specialised carriers, food in refrigerated trailers.

Before the first shipment, ask the consignee for the exact address and gate, the receiving window, whether a loading dock is available and a warehouse contact. Large plants often require advance booking of the delivery and will not admit an unannounced truck. Domestic transport to warehouses around Prague or in Moravia can be combined with your international shipments.

Rules on the road

Germany bans trucks over 7.5 t on Sundays and public holidays and on main motorways on summer Saturdays; some holidays apply only in individual states such as Bavaria. Tolls apply on motorways and federal roads. Czechia bans trucks over 7.5 t on Sunday and holiday afternoons. No customs formalities apply within the EU – a CMR note and an invoice or delivery note are enough. Get a price in the calculator; dispatch is available Monday to Friday, 8:00–18:00.