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Road transport from Poland to Germany runs inside the EU single market, so Union goods travel without customs clearance and without a border stop. What actually decides the delivery date is different: the right road corridor, driver hours and the German Sunday and public holiday driving bans. On this lane OTSL arranges full truckloads (FTL) and part loads (LTL), ADR, temperature-controlled and oversized cargo, plus deliveries to trade fairs in Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Cologne. One forwarder runs the order from loading to proof of delivery.
Road corridors from Poland to Germany
Freight from Poland enters Germany along two main corridors. The northern one follows the Polish A2 motorway via Poznań to the Świecko crossing, then the German A12 and the A10 Berlin ring, from which routes fan out to Hamburg, Hanover and the Ruhr area. The southern one runs along the A4 via Wrocław and Legnica to the crossing at Görlitz, then on to Dresden, Leipzig and Erfurt, with branches towards Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich.
- A2 corridor: Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, Bremen, the Ruhr, Cologne, Düsseldorf.
- A4 corridor: Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Munich.
On the A4 in Legnica we operate our own transshipment warehouse. We consolidate freight from Germany and Czechia there into full loads, and goods travelling further, for example to the UK, are picked and prepared before customs. How it works: cross-dock on the A4 and consolidating freight from Germany and Czechia in Legnica.
Transit times and driver hours
Delivery times are bounded by Regulation (EC) No 561/2006: a driver may drive 9 hours a day, extended to 10 hours twice a week, and must then take rest. In practice, eastern Germany, including Berlin and Dresden, fits within a single driver shift from western Poland, while deliveries to western and southern Germany are planned with a rest stop en route or with a double crew when the deadline is fixed. The real date depends on loading time, the delivery slot and driving ban days, so the forwarder confirms it at quotation, not a calculator. What genuinely fits into 24 and 48 hours: driver hours versus the delivery deadline.
Driving bans: Sundays and public holidays
Germany bans trucks above 7.5 tonnes and trucks with trailers from driving on Sundays and statutory public holidays between 0:00 and 22:00; the legal basis is section 30 of the German road traffic code (StVO). Some holidays apply only in certain federal states, so the same route can be open in one Land and blocked in the next. In the holiday season, additional Saturday restrictions apply on listed sections under the holiday travel ordinance (Ferienreiseverordnung). Exemptions exist, including for some perishable goods, but we verify them before departure instead of assuming them.
The stake is simple: a truck that runs into a ban without an exemption stands in a parking area until 22:00, and the consignee loses the booked unloading slot and often a full production day. That is why Friday and pre-holiday departures are planned so the vehicle either arrives in time or has a legal place to park. Country-by-country calendars: HGV driving bans in Europe.
FTL or LTL on the German lane
A full truck travels without transshipment and fastest; groupage is cheaper for a few pallets but needs consolidation and takes longer. On the German lane we run both: FTL on regular export and import relations, and LTL consolidated between Poland and Germany, including via the Legnica warehouse. When each option pays off: FTL or LTL; what a full-truck rate consists of: the FTL rate to Germany and the UK. Related services: road transport, groupage and express vans for urgent smaller consignments.
Trade fairs in Germany: Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Cologne
Germany hosts some of the largest trade fairs in Europe, and fair logistics runs on slots: stand build-up and dismantling windows do not wait for a late truck. We deliver stands and exhibits with booking-in at fairground terminals and a buffer for driving bans. Exhibitor guides: Ambiente in Frankfurt, Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg and Anuga in Cologne; the general rules are in transport to trade fairs in Germany. Other fair destinations: the exhibition logistics hub.
Non-EU goods on the way to Germany
Only Union goods travel without clearance. A load originating outside the EU, for example from the UK or Switzerland, goes through import clearance before delivery to a German consignee, and exhibition goods brought in temporarily from outside the Union can travel on an ATA carnet. We arrange those clearances together with the carriage, in one order; details in German import customs and the ATA carnet and in the customs clearance hub.
What OTSL arranges on the German lane
- FTL: curtainsiders and full sets on regular relations to all federal states.
- LTL and groupage: part loads from a single pallet, consolidated also in Legnica.
- ADR: dangerous goods with complete documentation.
- Reefer: temperature-controlled carriage, for perishable foodstuffs in line with the ATP agreement.
- Oversized: machinery and structures, with permits where required.
- Fair transport: stands and exhibits delivered against build-up slots.
- Imports from Germany: the same process in the opposite direction, with return consolidation.
Exchange of EUR (EPAL) pallets is agreed in the order and documented in the CMR consignment note, because pallet exchange is common practice on the German market and an unagreed one ends in a dispute after delivery. Reservations about the condition of the goods should be made within the deadlines of Article 30 of the CMR Convention; we remind consignees at delivery, because a late reservation weakens the claim.
What to watch on deliveries to Germany
- The Sunday driving ban can hold a vehicle for a day with only a few dozen kilometres left to the ramp.
- A missing booking at a distribution centre means the truck is turned away from the ramp and rejoins the queue.
- Unagreed pallet exchange comes back weeks later as a deduction from the invoice.
- Regional holidays that do not exist in the Polish calendar shift the delivery if nobody checked them at planning.
For a quote we need the goods description, dimensions, weight and the loading and unloading points; the best channel is the contact form. Other markets are covered in the destinations hub.
See also
- Transport to trade fairs in Germany: deadlines, slots and stand logistics
- Ambiente in Frankfurt: exhibitor logistics
- Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg: transport to the toy fair
- Anuga in Cologne: exhibitor logistics for the food fair
- HGV driving bans in Europe
- The FTL rate from Poland to Germany and the UK: what you pay for
- Groupage and part loads across Europe
- Driver hours, the tachograph and the delivery deadline
- Road transport FTL
