We arrange freight from France to Austria as full truckloads, part loads or groupage from one pallet, and transit is usually 2–3 days. Paris to Linz is about 1,100 km, to Vienna and Graz about 1,250 km, and Lyon to Vienna about 1,300 km – goods collected on Monday normally reach the consignee on Wednesday. This is a lane between two countries outside the Czech Republic, which we coordinate from Břeclav for French suppliers and Austrian buyers alike.
Which day should you load so the goods arrive the same week?
Three different weekend regimes for trucks over 7.5 t meet on this route: France from Saturday 22:00 to Sunday 22:00, Germany on Sundays 0:00–22:00 and – strictest of all – Austria from Saturday 15:00 to Sunday 22:00 and on public holidays. A guide for collections in Paris or Lyon:
| Loading day in France | Expected delivery in Austria | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Wednesday | Linz sometimes Tuesday evening |
| Tuesday | Thursday | no weekend risk |
| Wednesday | Friday | last safe date before the weekend |
| Thursday | Saturday morning, otherwise Monday | Austrian ban starts Saturday 15:00 |
| Friday | Monday, Styria sometimes Tuesday | truck waits until Sunday 22:00 |
Before public holidays we add a day of buffer. Some holidays are shared by all three countries, Austria has its own national and church holidays, and Germany has regional ones valid only in certain federal states.
Why doesn't the truck go through Switzerland?
From Lyon or Alsace the route via Basel and Zurich looks shortest on the map. Switzerland, however, is outside the EU, so the shipment would need transit customs documents and would face stricter rules for heavy vehicles. We therefore normally run through Germany, where the goods stay in the EU without customs the whole way. The Swiss option is used only exceptionally and by agreement.
Routes to each part of Austria
- Vienna and Lower Austria – from Paris on the A4 to Strasbourg, over Kehl onto the A5 and A8 via Stuttgart, Ulm and Munich, Walserberg border, then the A1.
- Linz and Wels – via Saarbrücken and the A6 to Nuremberg, then the A3 through Regensburg and Passau, crossing at Suben onto the Innkreis motorway.
- Graz – off the A1 at Voralpenkreuz onto the Pyhrn motorway A9 heading south.
- Tyrol and Vorarlberg – through Baden and Bavaria; shorter than Vienna, so the goods arrive sooner.
- From Lyon – via Besançon and Mulhouse to the Rhine, then as from Alsace.
Night restrictions and morning deliveries in Austria
Many Austrian roads restrict noisy heavy vehicles at night, and selected routes add summer rules. We build the schedule so that the driver takes his rest break while still in Bavaria and enters Austria in the morning. Warehouses and plants then receive the truck in a morning window; we need the booking number or a contact name in advance. French péage, German Lkw-Maut and Austrian GO-Maut are included in the price.
What Austrian companies source from France
Wine shops and wholesalers in Vienna and Salzburg buy wine and cognac from Bordeaux and the Charente – the excise accompanying document is issued by the shipper. Matured cheese from Savoy and the Jura travels in a reefer. Engineering firms in Linz, Wels and Steyr buy machine tools and spare parts from Lyon and Saint-Étienne, for which we need dimensions, weight and lifting points. From the Toulouse area we collect components for aerospace suppliers in the Innviertel, and from Franche-Comté and Île-de-France car parts for Styria.
Pallet, part load or full trailer?
A full trailer offers 13.6 loading metres, 33 euro pallets and around 24 t; one euro pallet takes 0.4 ldm. For one to five pallets we use groupage, where you pay only for your space, and larger volumes run as a part load. Goods from several French suppliers are consolidated onto one vehicle, and because Vienna is close to Brno and Bratislava, a second drop in the Czech Republic or Slovakia adds hardly any detour. General collection details are on transport from France, Austrian deliveries on transport Austria. Connected lanes: France–Germany, France–Slovakia, Spain–Austria and Portugal–Austria.
Delivery terms, documents and your enquiry
Under EXW or FCA the Austrian buyer books the transport; under DAP the French seller does. The goods travel with a CMR note and a delivery note or invoice, and no customs apply within the EU. Tell us:
- From – the French supplier's address, loading hours and collection reference,
- To – the address in Austria and any further drop,
- What – pallet count or machine dimensions, weight and stackability,
- When – loading day and required delivery day; we check it against the table above.
During office hours we send a price within 30 minutes, and after confirmation we usually arrange the vehicle within 24 hours. We have been forwarding since 2011 and work with more than 500 vetted contracted carriers.
Need goods from France to Austria on a regular basis? We set the fixed loading day so that it avoids the weekend bans – details on regular transport, or get in touch via contact.
Related guides: Importing goods from the EU · Machinery transport · Preparing pallets