Freight Transport Ostrava → Krakow

One industrial belt, two countries

The Ostrava region, Polish Upper Silesia and Lesser Poland around Kraków form a single industrial belt that happens to be split by a border. At approximately 170 km by road, a truck can complete the Ostrava – Kraków round trip within one shift, and a van several times a week. Much of what we arrange here is regular shuttle traffic for manufacturers, alongside one-off imports of materials into Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia or further into the Czech Republic.

Steel, car parts and building materials heading south

Kraków's long steelmaking tradition in the Nowa Huta district, together with metal processors, building-materials plants and food factories in the region, shapes the flow of goods. Upper Silesia – Gliwice and Tychy in particular – is a centre of the Polish automotive industry. Typical import loads include:

• steel sheet, tubes, sections and wire, loaded from the side onto curtainsiders, or coils in a coil-well trailer;
• automotive components delivered to assembly-line time windows;
• cement, lime, construction chemicals and ceramic tiles;
• confectionery, bakery and meat products in temperature-controlled trailers;
• packaging, paper and furniture.

Northbound, Czech trucks carry semi-finished steel, machine parts, chemicals and food into Poland.

The route and the toll section

The fastest route follows the D1 from Ostrava via Bohumín to the Věřňovice / Gorzyczki crossing, then the Polish A1 to Gliwice and the A4 via Katowice to Kraków. The A4 between Katowice and Kraków is a separately tolled concession section; other Polish motorways and expressways use the electronic toll system. For loads from Bielsko-Biała and the Cieszyn area, the Český Těšín / Cieszyn crossing and the S1 are often shorter.

A full truck loaded in Kraków in the morning can be unloaded in Ostrava the same afternoon. Destinations deeper in Czechia, such as Olomouc, Zlín or Brno, are usually reached the next working morning. Groupage pallets take 1–2 working days.

Multi-stop collections

The short distances make it practical to combine several stops in one run: part of the load in Kraków, more pallets in Katowice or Gliwice, then deliveries in Karviná, Ostrava and Frýdek-Místek. This is usually cheaper than separate shipments, but it needs precise information for each address – opening hours, dock, contact and order number – and the unloading sequence, so the pallets are loaded in the right order.

For a few pallets without time pressure, pallet groupage is the best fit. If production is at risk, we send an express vehicle that can be at the supplier within hours.

Rules and documents

Trucks over 12 tonnes may not run on Polish public holidays, and summer weekends bring extra restrictions at set hours. Heavy vehicles have limited access to central Kraków, so city deliveries are made with smaller vehicles. Within the EU there is no customs clearance: a CMR note plus an invoice or delivery note is enough. Steel must be secured according to load-securing rules, and paints, thinners or construction chemicals travel under ADR with marked vehicles and instructions in writing.

Preparing your import

Ask the supplier to confirm the plant or warehouse address, opening hours and whether loading is from a dock or by forklift from the side. Send the number and size of pallets, total weight and, for steel, the length of the material. The sooner we know, the easier it is to combine your load with other jobs on this lane. Our dispatch office answers on working days between 8:00 and 18:00, usually within 30 minutes, and an indicative price is available in the freight calculator.