Freight from Sweden to the Czech Republic
From Sweden to the Czech Republic we mainly carry paper and board, semi-finished steel, sawn timber, automotive components and furniture. A full load from Malmö (about 900 km to Prague) takes roughly 2 days, and from Stockholm (about 1,600 km) up to 4 days; the Baltic is crossed by ferry to Germany or Poland, or via the Øresund Bridge and Denmark. Send us the collection point, pallet count and weight – the calculator gives a rough figure and we email a firm price.
Where in Sweden goods for Czech warehouses come from
Swedish industry is built on forests, ore and vehicles, with plants scattered from Skåne up to the Gulf of Bothnia. How far a town lies from the ferry affects transit time more than the mileage on the Continent.
| City | Industry | What we typically carry from there |
|---|---|---|
| Malmö | food processing, distribution | food and stock from distribution warehouses serving southern Sweden and Denmark |
| Gothenburg | motor industry, bearings, port | car parts for assembly lines with fixed delivery windows, bearings |
| Södertälje (near Stockholm) | trucks and engines, pharmaceuticals | components for truck production, medicines |
| Borlänge | steelworks (Bergslagen) | coiled sheet |
| Sandviken | tool and specialty steels | tubes, tool steel and cutting tools |
| Karlstad | paper and board mills in Värmland | paper reels and packaging board, which hit the weight limit before the trailer is full |
| Sundsvall | pulp, aluminium, timber | baled pulp, aluminium, sawn timber |
| Växjö | Småland’s sawmills and furniture makers | sawn timber, glulam beams, flooring, windows and flat-packed furniture |
Bridge or ferry? Getting from Sweden to the Continent
There is no route from Sweden to the Czech Republic that avoids water altogether. The options are ferries from the south and west coasts, or the fixed link through Denmark:
| Connection | Best for | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Trelleborg–Rostock | Skåne, Malmö, Småland, Stockholm | the most common choice for Czechia, continuing via Berlin |
| Trelleborg–Travemünde, Malmö–Travemünde | southern Sweden | longer crossing; the driver’s rest break is taken on board |
| Trelleborg–Świnoujście | southern Sweden | lands in Poland, then on by Polish roads |
| Gothenburg–Kiel | west coast, Gothenburg | overnight ferry, saves the drive to southern Sweden |
| Øresund Bridge and Denmark | Malmö and surroundings | no long sea crossing; through Denmark by road or with a short ferry to Germany |
The Trelleborg–Sassnitz service, still listed in some older guides, closed in 2020. For more on the Danish leg, see freight from Denmark.
Swedish rigs are longer than ours
Sweden allows vehicle combinations up to 25.25 m long and, on part of the road network, considerably heavier than elsewhere in the EU. Dispatch teams at Swedish plants are used to these vehicles and sometimes plan quantities around them. The truck to the Czech Republic, however, is a standard 13.6 m trailer taking 33 pallets with a 40-tonne gross weight. So please give us the actual pallet count and weight rather than “one Swedish load”, or part of the consignment may be left on the dock.
Paper reels and steel coils: what matters when loading
- Paper reels stand upright on anti-slip mats; reels lying on their side must be chocked.
- Steel coils need a trailer with a coil well or solid anchoring, plus correct distribution of weight across the axles.
- Timber and long sections are loaded from the side, so we use curtainsiders with a sliding roof or removable side boards.
- The curtain holds nothing in place – the load has to be secured with straps rated for its weight.
We go into securing heavy cargo in more detail under machinery transport.
Winter and the real journey time
From 10 November to 10 April, lorries in Sweden must run on winter tyres whatever the weather, across the whole combination including the trailer. For northern routes we therefore pick carriers equipped for this. Stockholm is nearly twice as far from Prague as Malmö, and if the ferry docks in Germany on a Sunday, the ban on vehicles over 7.5 t applies there. For collections in central Sweden, three to four days is the more realistic expectation. Sweden also remains part of the time-based Eurovignette scheme; like the ferry ticket, that cost is borne by the carrier within the price.
A few pallets from Sweden
Smaller quantities go by groupage: the consignment is consolidated in southern Sweden or in Germany and arrives later than a full load would. Car parts with a fixed delivery date are better sent on a dedicated truck, as explained on our automotive parts page. Other Nordic countries are in our EU overview, and you can estimate the cost in the calculator.