Szczecin – A11 – Berlin: the container corridor on your doorstep

Route economics: Szczecin instead of Hamburg

Drayage from Szczecin covers roughly 83 km and about 1 h 15 min of pure driving time (indicative) — the shortest sea-port connection to our dock. A comparable run from Hamburg is around 300 km and a good 3 hours depending on the route. For cargo destined for Berlin/Brandenburg this means an earlier gate-out, shorter chassis dwell time and less next-day driving-hours risk.

Non-binding indicative trucking cost (unverbindlicher Richtwert — not a freight quote from ImportPrep): a simple drayage Szczecin → Schorfheide typically sits in the broad band of roughly €150–300 depending on market load, while a comparable Hamburg run is often in the region of €600–900 — standard articulated truck, normal waiting times, daily market form. This transport is always booked by you or your forwarder with your own haulier; ImportPrep sells no transport services.

Port figures 2025 — dated and sourced

The Szczecin–Świnoujście port complex handled 34.79 million tonnes of cargo in 2025 according to the annual balance — up 7.5 % year on year (Quelle/Source: trade.gov.pl — https://www.trade.gov.pl/en/news/the-ports-of-szczecin-and-swinoujscie-summed-up-the-record-year-2025/ — Stand 2025).

The DB Port Szczecin container terminal crossed 100,000 TEU for the first time in 2025 — up around 25 % (Quelle/Source: bssc.pl — https://www.bssc.pl/2026/01/31/record-transshipment-of-141/ — and marinepoland.com — https://www.marinepoland.com/ports-of-szczecin-and-swinoujscie-close-2025-with-strong-growth-and-signal-readiness-for-the-challenges-ahead-2294 — Stand 2025). For importers the takeaway is that more feeder and direct services are choosing Szczecin as the gateway for Berlin-bound cargo — the short drayage over the A11 makes the corridor plannable.

EU customs 2026: de-minimis abolished, transitional €3 flat duty

Following the EU Council decision of 13 November 2025, the customs duty exemption for consignments under €150 (de-minimis) is being abolished. On a transitional basis, from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028 a flat duty of €3 per item applies to low-value consignments; full customs declarations are expected afterwards. Anyone importing small quantities from China regularly should adjust their landed-cost calculations.

Important for this corridor: ImportPrep is never the importer of record. We accept customs-cleared commercial B2B goods only. On this corridor import entry is normally already completed at the EU entry port (Szczecin/Świnoujście or Gdańsk) — we verify the documented customs status before confirming a slot, but we never handle import clearance ourselves.

Handoff workflow: from feeder to dock

Four steps: (1) After gate-out at the port, send us the container and seal numbers, packing list, ETA and load picture — and request a slot below at the same time. (2) Your forwarder hauls the container via the A6/A11 to Schorfheide; the request is answered after document and capacity review — confirmation follows within 12 hours after the documents are reviewed. (3) At destination: unloading and count against the packing list. (4) Onward: sorting, palletisation, FBA prep or direct reloading — you receive a documented report on your consignment.

This split is deliberate: you (or your forwarder) remain in control of the transport leg and freight cost, while ImportPrep delivers documented destination work on the A11. For projects with multiple consignees, the cross-dock package fits (sorting to up to 3 destinations, one week of buffer storage).

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