Top Tips on Shipping Pallets to Finland From the UK

Finnish customers can be an essential part of British companies’ growth plans when it comes to exporting commercial goods. Located in the easternmost part of Scandinavia, it is not always simple for exporters to get their goods into the country from the UK. However, there are plenty of viable options when it comes to vans and light commercial vehicles so long as you know what you are doing. What should you do if your firm has a pallet or two of goods that have been bought by a Finnish client and you want to ensure they arrive in good condition without a lengthy time in transit? Read on to find out.

Ship Via Sweden

Firstly, it should be noted that there are plenty of land routes to Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and Finland’s other big population centres. However, accessing them via Russia is a no-go for many British firms these days. Therefore, many British freight forwarding firms like Barrington Freight – a BIFA-accredited company – will route palletised goods from the Humber estuary to Sweden. According to them, there are six crossings per week that make landfall at Gothenburg from the UK at the moment. From there, a pallet to Finland can be sent north on the E4 to enter the country at Tornio. Alternatively, shipments heading to places further south in the country can access direct ferry services from eastern Sweden, such as Umeå or Stockholm, for their onward journeys.

Ship Via Estonia

Another good option – especially in winter when the Baltic Sea may be less navigable than at other times of the year – is to despatch a pallet to Finland via the Estonian capital of Tallinn. It is a short ferry crossing over the Gulf of Finland to get a pallet to Helsinki from here. Indeed, the Estonian port city can be reached from Dunkirk or Calais in northern France in about 26 hours with a two-driver team. This makes this route a viable option for urgent pallets to Finland and can sometimes even be quicker than air freight. It certainly often makes more sense to drive most of the way if your distribution centre or production facility is in southern England where accessing Channel crossing services is most convenient.

Track Transit Movements Continually

When you ship goods well over a thousand miles, it is easy to lose the confidence of your customer if you are not in a position to update them regularly about progress. This is particularly so after Brexit because Finnish firms can wonder about how long delays might be at the border let alone the distances involved.

To keep your customers in Finland happy, make sure you have prepared your customs declarations before your pallet to Finland arrives at the EU border. Equally, use a service provider that tracks progress and can provide you with live updates. Not only will this help to improve your customer service but it will also mean your shipment is more secure since you will always have an idea of exactly where it is.