PLS arranges road transport to destinations far beyond the usual Western European routes, such as Kazakhstan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, Greece and Tunisia. We organise each trip through a fixed network of hauliers, with one point of contact from pickup to delivery, customs included.
Which remote destinations does PLS cover by road?
Alongside the daily traffic within the Benelux and Western Europe, PLS also handles the trips many forwarders turn down. On request, we arrange road transport to the following destinations, among others, grouped by region.
- Central Asia and the CIS: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
- The Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- Turkey and the Middle East: Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
- South-East Europe and the Balkans: Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo.
- North Africa: Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
Is your destination not on the list? Just ask. For these trips, what matters is whether the route is workable and the customs side is watertight.
How is road transport to remote destinations different from a European trip?
Within the EU, a truck runs from loading to unloading address without border checks. The moment you leave the EU, that changes. A customs check follows at the external border, and every crossing has its own rules and waiting times.
Those borders often set the transit time, more than the distance does. A trip to Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan runs through several transit countries, each with its own formalities. Preparing the paperwork well keeps a truck from standing idle for days at a post.
A real example. For a client in the machinery business, PLS moved machines by tautliner from Antwerp to Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, among others. It ran to several trucks a month, until the factories on site were fully equipped. The main challenge was not the distance but the waiting. At the Turkish border crossings into Central Asia, queues sometimes built up sharply, which stretched the transit time. PLS factored this into the planning and kept the client informed along the way.
Which documents do you need to export from the EU?
For a shipment leaving the EU, the export declaration is the basic document. PLS files this electronic customs declaration with Belgian customs before the goods depart. An EORI number is required. A commercial invoice and a packing list always travel with the load.
On the road, the shipment moves under a CMR consignment note. For transit through third countries, such as the route via Turkey and the Caucasus into Central Asia, transport usually runs under a TIR carnet. This customs document lets the truck cross several borders under customs seal, without advancing import duties at each one.
Turkey has a separate document: the A.TR certificate, tied to the customs union between the EU and Turkey. For destinations covered by a trade agreement, an EUR.1 certificate or a certificate of origin can lower the import duty. PLS makes sure the right documents are ready, from the export declaration to the TIR carnet, so your shipment does not stall over a missing paper.
How does PLS handle this type of transport?
You send us the pickup and delivery addresses, the type of cargo and the timing you need. We find the haulier in our network who knows the route and has the right equipment, from a tautliner to an open trailer, and confirm a price and a schedule.
During the trip, your fixed contact tracks the transport. If something goes wrong at a border or on the road, we step in straight away. That personal follow-up is the difference from a case number in a call centre. PLS has worked this way for more than 20 years.