Freight forwarding Switzerland - transit times, prices and particularities

Many of our new customers are surprised how simple and easy the transport of goods to and from Switzerland can be. Cargoboard will gladly take care of all the formalities for you and will support you when you need to take action yourself. The transport to Switzerland can be just as simple as any other shipment subject to customs duties.

Exports only need to be declared to customs if the invoice value is over 1,000€ or the weight of the shipment is over 1,000 kg.

You will need an EORI number, which you apply for at customs. This process is usually very quick and just the application for an EORI number is enough to complete the booking process with Cargoboard.

After booking, we will gladly provide you with a sample commercial invoice suitable for customs and take care of the export declaration as well as any further communication with customs.

Transit times to and from Switzerland

The transit times for your transport are variable due to the distance between the pickup and delivery locations. In the following overview you can find the standard transit times for the connection Germany - Switzerland.

View transit times for pan-European transports on our booking platform after entering your destinations

Delivery option 'preferred date'

The delivery option 'preferred date' is only available for groupage freight shipments. This delivery option allows you to send groupage freight shipments at a later preferred date. What exactly does that mean?

• Collection on the next business day or the preferred day
• Prioritized delivery on the preferred date
• Free storage of your goods for a maximum of 3 business days (5€ per pallet space and per business day afterwards)
• Minimum transit times are the same as for the Standard delivery option

Prices for transports to Switzerland

The cost of your transport is highly variable due to several factors. With the help of our freight cost calculator you can easily view the prices in real time.

Particularities for shipments to Switzerland

Switzerland is geographically located in the center of the EU, but is not part of it and therefore a third country. This means that your goods must be customs cleared in order to ship to Switzerland and you must submit an export declaration to your local customs office.

If you only ship to Switzerland occasionally, the customs issue seems too complex or you would like to concentrate on your core business, we can take care of the export declaration for you.

On our customs page you can read all relevant information about customs clearance and then check the completeness of your documents with the following checklist.

Learn more about our customs clearance

Switzerland as an economic area

The health and social care sector employs the largest number of people in Switzerland. A comparable number is employed in the automotive and construction industries. The country's economy is thus concentrated in the tertiary sector, followed by the industry.

At just 2.4%, agriculture has the lowest proportion of employees and continues to decline. Switzerland is generally considered one of the most stable and productive economies and has a low unemployment rate of 3%.

The traffic infrastructure of Switzerland

Switzerland is centrally located in Europe and has excellent transport links. Switzerland's highway network is one of the densest in the world. The highways are the main axes of international traffic. Of particular importance in Europe is the north-south connection through the Gotthard Road Tunnel.

The transport network in Switzerland is attractive for the transportation of goods and ensures reliable forwarding services. It should be noted, however, that trucks in Switzerland have to pay a performance-based heavy vehicle fee (LSVA). This depends on the height, weight and emission category of the vehicles. In addition, trucks in Switzerland are banned from driving at night and on Sundays.