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Lane 02 · Road
Road truck from China to Europe, in about sixteen days.
Overland through the Khorgos crossing, cleared and duty-paid, with five departures a week. Slower than air, far faster than sea, and priced between the two — the lane for stock that cannot wait five weeks but does not justify a flight.
- Transit
- ~16 days
- Route
- Via Khorgos
- Departures
- 5 per week
- Basis
- kg or pallet position
- Border
- EU carrier change
- Cleared as
- Importer of record
- Quote
- Within 24h
The sixteen days
Where the time goes.
Sixteen days sounds like one long drive. It is four stages, and only one of them is actually the drive.
| Stage | Days | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Collection | 0–2 | Pickup from your supplier, consolidation with other shippers, export declaration, loading plan fixed. Five departures a week is what keeps this wait short. |
| Overland, China to the EU border | 9–11 | Out through Khorgos into Kazakhstan, then west across Central Asia. The longest single block, and the least variable one. |
| Border transfer | 0–1 | Import declaration filed, duty and VAT settled, load transferred to an EU-registered carrier. |
| EU delivery | 2–3 | Onward to your address or the Amazon facility, with a signed POD. |
The border
One trailer does not run the whole way, and that is the point.
Since April 2022 the EU has restricted road hauliers from outside the union from operating transport inside it, with a short list of exemptions. That single rule shapes how China–Europe road freight actually works: the overland leg ends at an EU border crossing, the load is transferred to an EU-registered carrier, and the import declaration is filed at that same point.
Khorgos, where the trailer leaves China, is not that point. It is the crossing into Kazakhstan — roughly a continent away from the EU frontier. Mixing the two up is one of the more common misunderstandings about this lane, and it is why some quotes promise a transit that cannot be kept.
It is not a workaround. It is the process, and it is the reason the transit figure is stable rather than optimistic. Two consequences you should know about before booking:
- Clearance happens at the border, not at your door. Duty and import VAT are settled when the load enters, which is why there is no second invoice later.
- Your cargo may handle once more than on air. Pallets are transferred between trailers. Good loading plans and pallet condition matter more here than on a direct flight.
Last mile
On this lane, the last leg is usually a truck.
A road consignment has already spent two weeks on a trailer. Handing it to a parcel network at the end adds handling, not speed — so the default finish is a truck to the door.
Full or part load
Pallets delivered on a booked day to a warehouse dock or a named address. Part loads share the trailer with other shippers; a full load removes the consolidation wait at origin entirely.
- From a few pallets to a complete trailer
- Booked window rather than a rolling ETA
- Dock or tail-lift, stated on the quote
Oversized pieces
Single items a parcel network will not take — machinery, long goods, furniture, anything that needs two people or a lift. Quoted per case, with the handling method written down.
- Beyond standard parcel dimensions
- Tail-lift, two-person, or appointment
- Delivered inside the door, not at the kerb
A few cartons are usually cheaper finished by UPS or FedEx from the clearance point, because a truck carries a minimum charge however little it brings. We quote whichever is cheaper for the consignment rather than whichever is easier for us to arrange.
Choice
Truck against air, on the things that decide it.
| Air | Road truck | |
|---|---|---|
| Door to door | 3–5 days | ~16 days |
| Cost per kilo | Highest | A fraction of air |
| Makes sense from | About 30 kg | About 100 kg upwards |
| Typical cargo | Urgent, high value, small volume | Palletised replenishment, mid-volume restocking |
| Cut-off | Per flight | When the trailer is consolidated |
| Handling | Least | One transfer at the border |
The honest split: if a stock-out costs more than the freight difference, fly it. If the goods can wait two weeks but not five, this is the lane.
Fit
What suits a trailer.
Good fit
- Traditional trade goods — the repeat B2B order where you are shipping what is already sold
- Bestsellers refilled in bulk: the SKU that sells steadily and does not need a plane
- Palletised goods where freight is a meaningful share of landed cost
- Mid-volume: too much for air to make sense, too urgent to wait for a container
Poor fit
- Anything with a launch date inside two weeks
- Very high value density, where the freight saving is trivial against the time in transit
- Goods that cannot be handled twice — some instruments and fragile assemblies
- Consignments under about 100 kg, where air is usually cheaper door to door
Questions
Four things people ask about road freight.
Is the sixteen days door to door?
Yes — it counts from loading in China to the signed delivery in Europe, clearance included. The part that moves most is the border transfer, which depends on how the load is consolidated with other shippers. We give you the planned transfer date with the booking, not a range after the fact.
Why does the trailer change at the EU border?
Because EU rules have restricted non-EU hauliers from operating road transport inside the union since April 2022, with a short list of exemptions. So the overland leg ends at the border and an EU-registered carrier takes the load the rest of the way. A forwarder who tells you one Chinese trailer runs all the way to your door is either misinformed or is not telling you the whole process.
Can you take a full trailer, or only groupage?
Both. Groupage is the usual starting point: your pallets share a trailer with other shippers and you pay for the space they take. At roughly twenty pallets or more, a dedicated trailer usually works out cheaper and removes the consolidation wait at origin.
What happens at customs when it enters the EU?
The entry is filed at the border crossing point where the load is transferred, in our name as importer of record, with duty and import VAT settled there. The goods then move under union status to your address — so there is no second clearance and no second invoice.