Facts About Commercial Freight Shipping to Germany

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Updated on 04 Jul 2021

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If you’re seeking instant online quotes for competitive shipping rates to Germany, you’re almost at the right place. One more mouse click or screen tap and you will be at the Shipa Freight homepage, where it takes just a moment to get a rate for shipping to Germany.

While you’re here though, you might find the facts and guidelines on this page helpful, especially if you will be shipping commercial cargo to Germany for the first time.

If you have some idea of the trade-lane you will be using, you can check the lists below to get an approximate transit time for your shipment, and there’s also some information about customs and border formalities to consider when importing freight to Germany.

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Customs Standards and Procedures for Importing Freight to Germany

Germany is a European Union (EU) member state and therefore, uses the standard EU procedures and documentation for controlling the importation of goods and materials.

The Customs Declaration

When shipping to Germany from outside of the EU, you will need to make a customs declaration, either electronically or using a paper declaration document. The carrier transporting your shipment to the German border will typically lodge the declaration, but of course, you will be responsible for supplying the correct information for the declaration.

If you will be sending ocean freight to Germany, your carrier should lodge the entry declaration at least 24 hours before your goods are loaded at the port of departure. For air freight, the declaration must be lodged before the aircraft departs the airport of departure for short-haul flights or for long-haul, at least four hours before the aircraft will arrive at the German airport.

Along with the customs declaration, you must provide two copies of the commercial invoice for the goods or materials you are shipping. Depending on what type of items you are shipping to Germany, you may also be required to supply a certificate of origin. If you’d like to find further information about customs formalities, the German Customs website is well worth a visit.

Is Your Delivery to Germany Permitted Under EU Law?

Before you ship any goods or materials to Germany, it will pay to check if they are subject to any restrictions or if they are prohibited from entry into the EU. In most cases there will be no problem, but if you will be transporting any of the following goods for delivery to Germany, you should certainly check for restrictions or prohibitions first:

Medicinal Products: These products are strictly controlled, so you will typically require some form of permit and certification to import them into Germany.

Chemicals: Some types of chemicals are prohibited from entry into Germany, while others require appropriate authorizations and permissions to be granted.

Steel and Iron Products: If you are shipping iron and steel products for delivery to Germany, you should check if they are of a type that requires you to present a surveillance document along with the customs declaration.

Clothing and Textiles: Some textile and clothing products require special authorizations to import into EU member states, including Germany.

Vegetables and Fruits: If you wish to import fruits or vegetables from a country outside the EU, you will need to provide certificates of origin and conformity.

These are just some examples of restrictions which might affect your plans for shipping to Germany. You can access further details of prohibitions and restrictions on the TARIC database. The database is very comprehensive, but not especially user-friendly. If you wish to use it to check for import restrictions, look for the presence of CITES, PROHI, or RSTR codes against the HS numbers or description of your products in the database.

Trade Lanes and Routes for Ocean Freight to Germany

The information we provide here relates to some of the main ocean freight routes for shipping to Germany. You may notice that we only cover port-to-port shipping legs here, but Shipa Freight also offers port-to-door and door-to-door services to any destination in Germany.

If your shipments are too large to send by courier service to Germany, you will need to send them either by air or ocean freight. Ocean freight services for shipping to Germany cost less a lot less than air freight, and for larger shipments, may be the only practicable solution.

5 Most Frequented Routes for Ocean Freight to Germany

Among the busiest ocean routes for shipping to Germany, are those originating on the American continent, but shipping routes from Asia are also responsible for high volumes of inbound freight.

Five of the routes most frequented by container shipping traffic are…

Norfolk (United States) to Bremerhaven
Savannah (United States) to Bremerhaven
Baltimore (United States) to Bremerhaven
Santos (Brazil) to Hamburg
Singapore (Singapore) to Hamburg

With many thousands of routes in our database, Shipa Freight can offer competitive shipping rates to Germany, whether you wish to send goods to the most important ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven, or to any other German port with berths and equipment to handle containerized cargo.

Longest and Shortest Transit Times for Shipping to Germany

The longest transit times for delivery to Germany by ocean freight are to be endured by businesses shipping from China. For instance, it can take up to 48 days for cargo from Shanghai to arrive in Hamburg. At the other end of the scale, the shortest trade lane that’s not entirely within Europe is the one that connects Germany with North Africa. The route from Tanger Med in Morocco, to Germany’s Bremerhaven Port, involves a mere eight to nine days of transit time.

Ocean Freight to Germany: Key Shipping Routes

Please note that all transit times shown in the list below are for your interest and general guidance only. They are not guaranteed to be precise, and your freight may be in transit for more or less time than the charts indicate.

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From America

Country of Origin	Port of Origin	Destination Port	Duration
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Hamburg	28 Days
Brazil	Santos	Hamburg	20 Days
Brazil	Paranagua	Hamburg	22 Days
Brazil	Itapoa	Hamburg	25 Days
Canada	Montreal	Bremerhaven	12 Days
Chile	Valparaiso	Hamburg	28 Days
Colombia	Cartagena	Hamburg	16 Days
Ecuador	Guayaquil	Hamburg	20 Days
Ecuador	Guayaquil	Bremerhaven	21 days
Mexico	Altamira	Bremerhaven	25 Days
Mexico	Veracruz	Bremerhaven	25 Days
Panama	Manzanillo	Bremerhaven	15 Days
Panama	Balboa	Hamburg	16 Days
Peru	Callao	Hamburg	25 Days
United States	Los Angeles	Bremerhaven	28 Days
United States	Long Beach	Bremerhaven	28 Days
United States	Los Angeles	Hamburg	28 Days
United States	Long Beach	Hamburg	28 Days
United States	New York	Hamburg	26 Days
United States	New York	Hamburg	26 Days
United States	Seattle	Hamburg	27 Days
United States	Seattle	Bremerhaven	30 Days
United States	Philadelphia	Hamburg	19 Days
United States	Baltimore	Bremerhaven	17 Days
United States	Baltimore	Hamburg	20 Days
United States	Houston	Bremerhaven	16 Days
United States	Houston	Hamburg	21 days
United States	Charleston	Bremerhaven	13 Days
United States	Miami	Bremerhaven	12 Days
United States	Mobile	Bremerhaven	21 Days
United States	New Orleans	Bremerhaven	22 Days
United States	Norfolk	Bremerhaven	12 Days
United States	Port Everglades	Bremerhaven	19 Day
United States	Savannah	Bremerhaven	20 Days

From Africa and the Middle East

Country of Origin	Port of Origin	Destination Port	Duration
Dubai	Jebel Ali	Hamburg	32 Days
Dubai	Jebel Ali	Bremerhaven	38 Days
Egypt	Alexandria	Bremerhaven	15 Days
Egypt	Alexandria	Hamburg	17 Days
Egypt	Port Said	Hamburg	19 Days
Morocco	Casablanca	Bremerhaven	11 Days
Morocco	Tanger Med	Bremerhaven	8 Days
South Africa	Cape town	Bremerhaven	20 Days
South Africa	Port Elizabeth	Bremerhaven	10 Days
South Africa	Durban	Bremerhaven	29 Days

From Asia

Country of Origin	Port of Origin	Destination Port	Duration
Country of Origin	Port of Origin	Destination Port	Approximate Duration
Bangladesh	Chittagong	Hamburg	34 Days
Bangladesh	Chittagong	Bremerhaven	34 Days
China	Shanghai	Hamburg	35 Days
China	Shanghai	Bremerhaven	37 Days
China	Ningbo	Bremerhaven	36 Days
China	Ningbo	Hamburg	38 Days
China	Guangzhou	Hamburg	34 Days
China	Guangzhou	Bremerhaven	34 Days
China	Qingdao	Bremerhaven	45 Days
China	Qingdao	Hamburg	46 Days
China	Shenzhen	Bremerhaven	35 Days
China	Shenzhen	Hamburg	35 Days
China	Lianyungang	Hamburg	45 Days
China	Dalian	Bremerhaven	32 Days
China	Dalian	Hamburg	45 Days
China	Xiamen	Hamburg	42 Days
China	Xiamen	Bremerhaven	42 Days
China	Nanjing	Bremerhaven	43 Days
China	Nanjing	Hamburg	43 Days
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Bremerhaven	42 Days
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Hamburg	38 Days
Indonesia	Jakarta	Bremerhaven	37 Days
Indonesia	Jakarta	Hamburg	34 Days
Indonesia	Surabaya	Hamburg	36 Days
Indonesia	Surabaya	Bremerhaven	36 Days
Japan	Yokohama	Hamburg	42 Days
Japan	Yokohama	Bremerhaven	42 Days
Japan	Kobe	Hamburg	38 Days
Japan	Kobe	Bremerhaven	38 Days
Malaysia	Tanjung Pelepas	Bremerhaven	23 Days
Malaysia	Tanjung Pelepas	Hamburg	22 Days
Malaysia	Port Klang	Hamburg	23 Days
Malaysia	Port Klang	Bremerhaven	32 Days
Philippines	Manila	Hamburg	36 Days
Philippines	Manila	Bremerhaven	36 Days
South Korea	Busan	Hamburg	42 Days
South Korea	Busan	Bremerhaven	36 Days
Singapore	Singapore	Bremerhaven	34 Days
Singapore	Singapore	Hamburg	24 Days
Sri Lanka	Colombo	Bremerhaven	24 Days
Taiwan	Kaohsiung	Hamburg	37 Days
Taiwan	Kaohsiung	Bremerhaven	37 Days
Thailand	Laem Chabang	Bremerhaven	37 Days
Thailand	Laem Chabang	Hamburg	37 Days
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City	Bremerhaven	37 Days
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City	Hamburg	37 Days
Vietnam	Hai Phong	Hamburg	35 Days
Vietnam	Hai Phong	Bremerhaven	35 Days

Air Freight Shipping to Germany

The information we present here relates to some of the main air freight routes serving Germany. You may notice that we only cover airport-to-airport shipping legs on this page, but Shipa Freight also provides port-to-door and door-to-door services to any location in Germany.

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This section contains some useful information about air freight shipping to Germany. Air freight is ideal if you have goods of a high value to send to Germany, if your shipment is time-critical, and/or your shipments will not be very large. However, if you intend to send very small consignments on a regular basis, this type of freight service will probably not be suitable. Courier services tend to be more straightforward than air freight if you just wish to ship packages to Germany on an occasional, or even a regular basis.

Highest Volume Routes for Air Freight to Germany

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the highest-volume air freight routes to Germany are intra-European. Here are five of the routes that see some of the highest numbers of dedicated cargo flights:

London Heathrow (UK) to Frankfurt
Paris (France) to Frankfurt
Manchester (UK) to Frankfurt
Vienna (Austria) to Frankfurt
Brussels (Belgium) to Frankfurt

Air freight routes from the United States are also busy, especially those that connect New York and Chicago with Frankfurt. Trade lanes from Asia are not quite so well covered, with the exception of the route from Shanghai to Frankfurt, frequented by almost as many cargo flights as some intra-European routes.

By Air to Germany: Longest and Shortest Transit Times

Many of the routes connecting Germany to its European neighbors could qualify for the shortest transit time. Airport-to-airport times for these routes are typically less than one hour. Therefore, it’s difficult to pick out any one route as being the shortest.

Identifying the longest air-freight transit time to Germany is not quite so tricky. Lufthansa (Germany’s national airline) regularly flies cargo from Buenos Aires in Argentina, to Frankfurt, on a direct route that takes around 13 hours end-to-end.

Air Freight to Germany: List of Routes

Despite the fact that air freight services for shipping to Germany cost a lot more than ocean freight, many importers and exporters prefer this mode of transportation. That’s a fact evidenced by the sheer number of freight-only flights in operation.

The list below is just a sample of the thousands of routes present in our platform’s database. However, it should give you an idea of the locations from which shippers can transport air freight to Germany, and the average transit times involved.

Please note that all transit times shown in the list below are for your interest and general guidance. They show flight durations for direct routes only, and your freight may be in transit for more or less time than the charts indicate.