Gulf International Shipping runs land freight from Saudi Arabia to the UAE from every city in the Kingdom, crossing at Al-Batha, which faces the Ghuwaifat border post on the Emirati side. A shipment from Riyadh usually reaches Dubai or Abu Dhabi door to door in 3 to 5 days, and from Dammam in 2 to 4 working days. At Gulf International Shipping, consolidated road freight starts from SAR 7.5 per kg, a carton from SAR 92, a bedroom from SAR 1,100, an apartment’s furniture from SAR 4,150, a sedan on a multi-car carrier from SAR 1,100, and a full trailer from SAR 6,450.
This page is our main reference for the road between the two countries. It covers the route a truck takes from your city to the border, the expected transit time for each emirate, our price table, the difference between a full and a shared load, what customs ask for on each side, and when air or sea freight makes more sense than a truck.
In short
- Border crossing: Al-Batha in Al-Udaid governorate, Eastern Province — the sole road link into the UAE — with Ghuwaifat, open round the clock (24 hours), on the other side
- Distance to Dubai: about 900 km from Dammam, about 1,000 km from Riyadh and about 1,950 km from Jeddah, depending on the road and consolidation point
- Road transit: 2–4 working days from the Eastern Province, 3–5 days from Riyadh, 4–6 days from the western region; the northern emirates add about a day
- Air freight: 24–48 hours to Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, from SAR 46 per kg
- Prices: consolidated freight from SAR 7.5 per kg, a bedroom from SAR 1,100, a sedan from SAR 1,100, a shared pallet from SAR 740
- Delivery: door to door in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah
Route: your city → Al-Batha → Ghuwaifat → Abu Dhabi → Dubai and the northern emirates · Transit: 2–6 days by city · Contact: 0568829975
Route details and land transit time from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
Whatever city a truck loads in, every road shipment from the Kingdom to the UAE passes through a single point. That sets this lane apart from the routes to the Levant or Kuwait, where there are several border posts to choose from. Working out the transit time therefore always starts with two questions: how far is your city from Al-Batha, and which emirate is the delivery address in? At Gulf International Shipping we build the trip schedule around those two answers and send it to the customer before loading.
Al-Batha and Ghuwaifat: the one land crossing
Al-Batha sits in Al-Udaid governorate in the Eastern Province, and the Saudi encyclopedia Saudipedia describes it as the only crossing that links the Kingdom to the UAE by land. It operates under the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), its halls and lanes have been upgraded, and a design contract has been awarded for a new cargo facility. Across the line is the Emirati post of Ghuwaifat, open around the clock, where highway E11 begins its run through Al Dhafra to Abu Dhabi and on to Dubai.
Some shipping pages list “Al-Sila crossing” as a border point. It isn’t one: Al-Sila is an Emirati town just past Ghuwaifat on the same road. Others confuse Al-Batha with Salwa, but Salwa is the crossing between Saudi Arabia and Qatar and has nothing to do with the UAE road. These details matter, because anyone booking a shipment wants to know where the truck will actually stop and when it will cross.
From Saudi cities to Al-Batha
Trucks leaving Riyadh usually take the Haradh road south-east of the capital and then head for Al-Batha, the most common route for central-region cargo. Shipments from Dammam, Khobar, Jubail and Qatif run down through Al-Ahsa (Hofuf) and then onto the Al-Batha road, which makes them the closest to the border. Cargo from Jeddah, Makkah, Taif and Madinah crosses the whole width of the Kingdom and is often routed through, or consolidated in, Riyadh before continuing east. Tabuk is the farthest origin, travelling from the far north-west to the far east.
Note: distances are approximate and vary with the road and the consolidation point; transit time includes loading, clearance at both border posts and delivery in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
Each origin city has its own detailed guide on our site: land freight from Riyadh to the UAE, shipping from Dammam to the UAE, shipping from Jeddah to the UAE, shipping from Makkah to the UAE, shipping from Madinah to the UAE, shipping from Taif to the UAE and shipping from Tabuk to the UAE.
From Ghuwaifat to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates
Once through Ghuwaifat, the truck enters Al Dhafra, the largest region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by area, and heads east on E11. The first big city the truck meets is Abu Dhabi, so deliveries there — or in Mussafah and Khalifa City — usually happen a few hours before Dubai. After Abu Dhabi the truck reaches Jebel Ali, Dubai South and then central Dubai, and from Dubai loads fan out to Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. Al Ain is served from Abu Dhabi, while Fujairah and Khor Fakkan on the east coast normally need an extra distribution day.
How long does land freight from Saudi Arabia to the UAE take?
Real transit time has four stages: collection and packing in your city, the drive to Al-Batha, exit and entry formalities at the two border posts, and distribution inside the UAE. On a typical Riyadh-to-Dubai shipment with Gulf International Shipping, the stages run like this:
- Day 1: door collection, inspection and packing, with a photo inventory of the contents
- Day 2: loading into a closed truck, with the load details entered on Fasah about a day (roughly 24 hours) before it reaches the border
- Day 3: arrival at Al-Batha and exit formalities, then the crossing to Ghuwaifat and entry formalities
- Days 4–5: the drive to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, delivery and unloading at the address
Eastern Province shipments save roughly a day because Dammam is the Saudi city closest to Al-Batha, and western-region shipments add a day because of the extra distance before the border. During holiday seasons and peak days at the crossing, waiting times can stretch, and we tell the customer about any change the moment it happens.
Land vs air vs sea freight to the UAE
For most customers the truck is the default: it combines a reasonable price with door-to-door delivery and no extra handling at ports. Air is worth the premium when time is the deciding factor, and sea makes sense when the cargo fills a whole container and loads in a coastal city near the port.
Approximate shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
The figures below are Gulf International Shipping’s starting points, set below the prices other carriers publish on this lane. In each cell the first figure is the lowest we start at, and the second is the ceiling that bigger or trickier loads usually reach.
Note: a truck normally takes 2–4 working days from the Eastern Province, 3–5 days from Riyadh and 4–6 days from the western region, varying with the emirate and how smoothly both border posts clear it; air takes 24–48 hours.
Full road and air price list
Anything not on the list — heavy equipment, refrigerated loads, oversized pieces — is priced on volume, weight and truck type; send us the details on WhatsApp and request a quote. For city-by-city figures, see shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UAE.
Work out the cost of your road shipment to the UAE
Send us the shipment type, loading city and delivery emirate, and we’ll reply with a price, a loading date and the expected transit time.
What do we move by road from Saudi Arabia to the UAE?
A truck heading for the UAE rarely carries just one kind of cargo. At Gulf International Shipping we plan each load around what is in it: heavy commercial goods never ride on top of household furniture, and food is never mixed with anything else.
- Household furniture: bedrooms, majlis seating, kitchens, dining tables, glass furniture, carpets, air-conditioning units and appliances
- Office furniture: workstations, meeting tables, cabinets, and computers and servers in wooden crates
- Cartons and personal belongings: clothes, books, kitchenware and gifts, by the carton or by the kilo
- Cars: sedans, SUVs, luxury and electric cars, on multi-car carriers or dedicated flatbeds
- Commercial goods: stock for shops, factories and e-commerce, as full loads, shared loads or by the pallet
- Dates and food: suitably packed, in refrigerated trucks where needed, with the certificates the importer requires
Most of what we move goes through consolidation: small shipments from different cities arrive at the consolidation warehouse, are sorted by destination emirate and then loaded onto one truck. That is what makes a shared load so much cheaper than booking a whole truck — and it is also why the two options differ slightly in transit time.
Commercial freight: full truckload (FTL) or shared load (LTL)
A trader sending goods to the UAE chooses between two approaches. With a full truckload, the whole truck is booked: it leaves as soon as loading ends and arrives without any intermediate unloading. With a shared load, you pay only for the space your goods take up — by the pallet, the cubic metre or the tonne — and the shipment waits for the load to fill.
Goods made in the Kingdom and backed by a GCC certificate of origin are normally regarded by the GCC customs union as local products, so they pay no customs duty, though the UAE’s 5% VAT still applies depending on the importer. Foreign goods that entered the Kingdom and are now being re-exported sit in a different customs category, which is why we ask for the commercial invoice, commercial registration and certificate of origin before loading. The full details are in our guide to shipping goods from Saudi Arabia to the UAE, and on our land freight service page.
Shipping furniture from Saudi Arabia to the UAE by road
Moving a whole home to the UAE is a different job from sending goods, because furniture has to be dismantled, packed in several layers and then reassembled in the new house. At Gulf International Shipping the work starts with a survey, by photos or a visit. We then take large pieces apart, wrap them in blankets, stretch film and heavy-duty cardboard, and put glass pieces and ornaments into wooden crates. Every carton carries a number that matches a line on the contents list — the same list that is presented to customs.
The part many people overlook is UAE customs. UAE customs normally waive duty on used furniture for anyone relocating there for the first time, as long as they can show they now work or live in the country and hand in a complete inventory of the contents; brand-new pieces and appliances pay duty. We explain the official conditions in detail in our guide to UAE used household goods customs, and the full furniture service on furniture shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE and our furniture moving abroad service page.
Car shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
Cars travel to the UAE by road in three ways. A multi-car carrier takes several vehicles together and is the most economical: at Gulf International Shipping it starts from SAR 1,100 for a sedan and SAR 1,390 for an SUV. A dedicated hydraulic flatbed moves a single car directly, and an enclosed trailer suits luxury, classic and electric cars, from SAR 2,300.
What the Saudi side requires
- Export plates, plus a final export certificate issued by the Saudi traffic department (Muroor)
- An Absher authorization if someone other than the owner hands over the car
- A clearance certificate showing no outstanding traffic fines and no lien on the car
- The owner’s ID or passport, the registration card (istimara) and a Fasah authorization for the carrier
What the UAE side requires
On entry a car pays 5% customs duty on its value plus freight and insurance, and VAT of 5% is then added on top. Several emirates cap the age of an incoming car at roughly ten years from manufacture, so we check the destination emirate’s rule before the car is loaded. Right-hand drive is only permitted on cars over 25 years old, and a car with a record of serious damage or flooding can be turned away. Cars from the Kingdom are GCC-spec to begin with, which smooths testing and registration once they arrive.
Before handover, leave only a quarter tank of fuel, take every personal item out of the car and photograph it from all sides. Electric cars should be handed over with the battery at 20–50%. The full guide is on car shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE and our car shipping service page.
Shipping cartons, parcels and personal belongings to the UAE
Not everyone shipping to the UAE is moving house. Many of our customers are students or employees who have started a job in Dubai and want their clothes and books sent on, or families sending gifts to relatives. At Gulf International Shipping a personal parcel starts from SAR 37, a carton from SAR 92 and a suitcase from SAR 138; larger quantities go by the kilo from SAR 14 for personal items, or from SAR 7.5 per kg consolidated for light commercial shipments.
Our advice: use new double-wall cartons, keep each carton to a weight one person can lift, and write the name, mobile number and emirate on two sides of the box. More detail is in our guide to shipping cartons and parcels to the UAE.
Air freight from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
When a shipment can’t spend days on the road, we fly it from Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam airports to Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah. Air cargo usually arrives within 24 to 48 hours of collection, and Gulf International Shipping’s rate starts from SAR 46 per kg. Air freight is charged on the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight, so a large but light carton can be billed at more than it actually weighs.
Air freight suits documents, electronics, urgent spare parts, product samples and luggage a traveller needs on arrival. It does not suit bulky furniture, because the cost climbs quickly with volume. Read more in our guide to air freight from Saudi Arabia to the UAE and on our air freight service page.
Sea freight: when is it better than a truck?
For most shipments the road is the fastest option, but the sea remains practical in two cases. The first is a full container from the Eastern Province: the voyage from King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam to Jebel Ali takes about 5 to 7 days, and 7 to 14 days for full containers depending on the vessel schedule. The second is very heavy cargo from Jeddah, where the voyage from Jeddah Islamic Port to Jebel Ali takes about 7 to 12 days because the ship sails around the Arabian Peninsula. A 20 ft container starts from SAR 2,600 and a 40 ft container from SAR 3,330, port to port.
When do we recommend sea freight?
When the cargo fills a whole container, delivery isn’t urgent, and collection at or near Jebel Ali works for the consignee. Otherwise the truck stays faster and simpler, because it delivers door to door.
Customs formalities at Al-Batha and Ghuwaifat
Every shipment goes through two customs stages. On the Saudi side, the shipment data is filed on Fasah, the ZATCA platform, the shipper grants the carrier an electronic authorization, and the truck is inspected at Al-Batha and stamped out. On the Emirati side, the customs declaration is lodged at Ghuwaifat, the load is matched against the contents list and invoices, and the truck may be X-rayed or opened by hand.
At Gulf International Shipping we file the data roughly 24 hours before the truck reaches the border and check the paperwork before loading, not after — because the most common causes of delays at the crossing are a contents list that doesn’t match, a missing invoice, or a new item nobody declared. See our customs clearance service page and our guide to the Al-Batha border crossing.
Documents required for road freight to the UAE
Prohibited and restricted items for shipping to the UAE
The list below covers the common prohibited items we refuse to carry or need a permit for; we confirm each case individually before loading:
- Prohibited: explosives, weapons and ammunition, narcotics, alcohol, counterfeit currency and fake goods, indecent material, and cash
- Hazardous materials: flammables, gas cylinders, perfume in large quantities, loose lithium batteries, and chemicals without a safety data sheet
- Permit required: drones, wireless and military equipment, prescription medicines, seeds, grains and plants, dates and agricultural produce
Be careful
One prohibited item inside a single carton can hold up the whole truck at the border for hours or days. If you’re unsure about something, ask us before packing, not after.
Steps to ship by road from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
- 1Send us the shipment details
Shipment type, loading city, emirate and area, with photos or a list, on WhatsApp 0568829975. - 2Get the price and schedule
We choose the truck type and shipping method and send the price, loading date and expected transit time. - 3Prepare the documents
We send you the list of papers your shipment needs and review them with you. - 4Collection and packing
Our team arrives on time, dismantles, packs and numbers each item, and records a photo inventory. - 5Loading and data filing
The shipment is loaded into a closed truck and its data filed on Fasah before it reaches Al-Batha. - 6Crossing and clearance
The truck completes formalities at Al-Batha and then Ghuwaifat, and we update you at every stage. - 7Delivery and assembly
We deliver to your UAE address, unload and reassemble the furniture if you ask us to.
Delivery across the UAE
Gulf International Shipping covers all seven emirates door to door. The table shows the areas we usually deliver to and the expected transit time when loading in Riyadh.
Deliveries to residential towers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi usually need to be arranged in advance with building management, including a service-lift booking and an unloading slot. We ask for these details at booking so the truck isn’t left waiting outside the building for permission.
How is the cost of land freight to the UAE calculated?
There is no single price that fits every shipment, because the cost moves with these factors:
- Volume and weight: consolidated freight is charged per cubic metre or per kg, on the greater of actual and volumetric weight
- Type of cargo: glass furniture and sensitive appliances need extra packing and wooden crates, which adds cost
- Loading city: Dammam is closer to the border than Jeddah or Tabuk, so the road leg costs less
- Emirate and area: Abu Dhabi and Dubai are on the main road; Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah need extra distribution
- Truck type: a shared load is cheaper, a full truck is faster
- Extra services: professional packing, clearance, storage, assembly, and insurance on the declared value
A worked example
A family is moving from Riyadh to Dubai with the furniture of a two-bedroom apartment and a sedan. At Gulf International Shipping, apartment furniture starts from SAR 4,150, full professional home packing from SAR 920 if ordered as a separate service, clearance and documents from SAR 460, and a sedan on a multi-car carrier from SAR 1,100. The total therefore starts from about SAR 6,630, with the final price set after the survey based on the number and size of the pieces.
The cheapest way to ship from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
- Choose a shared load instead of a full truck if you aren’t in a hurry
- Cut the volume: sell or donate large old pieces before shipping — space is what you pay for
- Dismantle beds and tables, and gather small items into cartons of the same size
- Book early and avoid peak days in holiday seasons
- Send the car on a multi-car carrier rather than a dedicated flatbed unless it’s a luxury model
- Fly only what you need on arrival and leave the rest for the truck
Common mistakes to avoid when shipping to the UAE
- Hiding new appliances among used furniture: new appliances are dutiable, and concealing them holds up the whole shipment
- A vague contents list: writing “household items” without detail leads to a longer inspection
- Leaving belongings inside the car: the car ships empty; belongings go in separate cartons
- Relying on the wrong crossing name: the UAE road passes through Al-Batha and Ghuwaifat only
- Forgetting the building permit in Dubai: a truck that arrives without a lift booking is unloaded late
- Not checking the car’s age: some emirates set an age limit for imported cars
Why Gulf International Shipping?
The right route from day one
We know Al-Batha is the only crossing and plan the road from your city to the border and on to your emirate.
Published “from” prices
A clear list per kg, carton, room, apartment, car and trailer before any survey.
From every Saudi city
Loading in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Makkah, Madinah, Taif, Tabuk, Qassim and Hail.
Paperwork checked first
We review the contents list and invoices before loading so the truck doesn’t sit at the border.
All seven emirates
Door-to-door delivery in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.
Updates all the way
We keep you posted at every stage — loading, crossing, arrival, delivery — on 0568829975.
Ready to ship your belongings to the UAE?
Contact us now on 0568829975 with your shipment details and we’ll prepare your schedule and price the same day.
Related articles
- Furniture shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
- Car shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
- Shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
- UAE used household goods customs
- The Al-Batha border crossing to the UAE
- Furniture moving from Riyadh to the UAE
- Land freight from Riyadh to the UAE
- All shipping destinations from Saudi Arabia
