Germany is the European industrial lane that U.S. East Coast services were built for: weekly calls at Hamburg and Bremerhaven, and daily widebody capacity into Frankfurt. The ocean crossing is straightforward; the hold, when it happens, is almost always classification, dual-use screening or a missing EORI on the German importer.
Choose ocean when you have three weeks and the volume fills a container or a serious LCL. Direct North Europe loops from Newark and Savannah beat a transhipment via Rotterdam on both days and handling risk — worth paying for on machinery.
Air is the right call for dense, urgent or high-value cargo into Frankfurt or Leipzig. Entries can be pre-lodged so the cargo clears the day it lands rather than sitting in a bonded shed overnight.
North Europe consolidations are frequent, so LCL to Hamburg is competitive under about 8–10 m³. Above roughly 15 m³ a 20-foot container is usually cheaper and always faster, because it skips the destination CFS. For automotive and machinery we default to FCL unless the piece count is genuinely small — deconsolidation damage is more expensive than the extra ocean rate.
| Lane | Transit | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| East Coast (Newark) → Hamburg | 13–17 days | Ocean FCL |
| East Coast (Savannah) → Bremerhaven | 15–19 days | Ocean FCL |
| Gulf (Houston) → Hamburg | 18–24 days | Ocean FCL |
| West Coast (LA) → Hamburg | 28–35 days | Ocean FCL, via Panama |
| Newark → Hamburg | 20–26 days | Ocean LCL |
| JFK / ORD → Frankfurt | 2–3 days | Air |
Actual time depends on whether the service is direct, congestion in Hamburg, and the German entry being lodged before arrival. LCL adds CFS time at both ends.
Germany's main container port and the default for East Coast loops. Best inland reach into the North and the industrial centre.
Cleaner for vehicles and when Hamburg is slow. Strong rail connections inland.
Deep-water alternative for large vessels and overflow when the Elbe ports are tight.
The primary U.S.–Germany cargo airport: freighter and belly capacity, and the usual clearance point.
Express and e-commerce gateway; useful when the delivery is eastern Germany rather than the Rhine–Main.
Southern Germany without trucking a Frankfurt clearance across Bavaria.
Germany clears under the Union Customs Code. The importer needs an EORI, a correct TARIC code, and — for many consumer shipments — packaging-act registration. Dual-use and chemical cargo add a second agency on top of Zoll.
| From | To | Transit | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark, NJ | Hamburg | 13–17 days | Ocean FCL |
| Savannah, GA | Bremerhaven | 15–19 days | Ocean FCL |
| Houston, TX | Hamburg | 18–24 days | Ocean FCL |
| Los Angeles, CA | Hamburg | 28–35 days | Ocean FCL |
| JFK, NY | Frankfurt | 2–3 days | Air |
| ORD, Chicago | Frankfurt | 2–3 days | Air |
North Europe loops leave from our home port. Cargo staged in our warehouse four minutes away does not miss a cut-off because a dray was late from inland.
TARIC, dual-use flags and the importer’s EORI are checked at quoting. That is where German entries actually fail.
The coordinator who booked the box also chases the German agent and the final delivery — including when Bremerhaven is the smarter discharge than Hamburg.
Port to port, 13–17 days Newark to Hamburg and 15–19 Savannah to Bremerhaven on direct services. LCL adds roughly a week. Air is 2–4 days into Frankfurt. Door to door, add pickup, filing and German inland delivery.
Import VAT is 19% of the customs value plus duty and freight. Duty follows the EU tariff and is often 0% on machinery. We calculate both before you commit so landed cost is visible.
The importer does. Applications are not slow, but a shipment that arrives first will not clear. We check the number exists before the cargo is accepted for export.
Hamburg for most general cargo heading inland. Bremerhaven for vehicles and when Hamburg is congested. We pick on the destination postcode and the current port situation, not on habit.
Yes — that is most of our volume on this lane. Crating, out-of-gauge and dual-use screening are the questions that matter, not whether Germany is “open”.
Under about 8–10 m³, usually yes, because North Europe consolidations are frequent. Above 15 m³, FCL is typically cheaper and faster. We price both.
Send the volume and the German postcode — we quote FCL, LCL and air, with duty and VAT shown separately.