Your first export load: a manufacturer’s plan from order to CMR

Who books the truck for an export load?

The party named by the Incoterms 2020 rule in the sales contract books the truck for an export load. Under DAP or CPT, the Lithuanian seller books and pays for the truck. Under EXW or FCA, the buyer abroad books it. So the sales manager makes the first transport decision when agreeing the price and delivery terms with the customer.

This guide follows one example, an illustration and not an RNJ Transport job. A furniture factory near Kaunas sends its first full load of flat-pack furniture to a customer’s warehouse in Sweden. The factory sells DAP, so it books the truck.

Furniture is a large part of Lithuania’s exports to Sweden. Eurostat data show that Lithuania exported goods worth 1,603 million EUR to Sweden in 2025. Almost one fifth, 316 million EUR, were goods in chapter 94 of the customs nomenclature: furniture, mattresses, lamps and prefabricated buildings.

Who does what in your company, step by step

Five people or departments prepare a first export load: sales, production, the warehouse, the person who books the truck, and accounting. Each step ends when one person gives the next one specific data or a document. The table shows nine steps. Write one employee’s name next to each step.

In a small company one person often does several steps. That works if each step has one named person.

Preparing the load: production and warehouse

Production and the warehouse decide how much space the load takes on the truck. The forwarder needs four facts: the number of pallets or boxes, their sizes, the gross weight and whether pallets can be stacked. From these the forwarder calculates the loading metres. One euro pallet uses 0.4 loading metres, and a standard curtainsider trailer has about 13.6.

In our example, the factory packed 36 euro pallets of flat-pack furniture. Not stacked, they would use 36 × 0.4 = 14.4 loading metres. Only 33 euro pallets fit on the floor of a standard curtainsider trailer, so three pallets would stay at the factory. Stacked two high, the 36 pallets use 18 floor places, which is 18 × 0.4 = 7.2 loading metres. All of them fit on one truck, with 6.4 metres of floor still free.

Production decides on stacking, because production knows how strong the packaging is. Mark on each pallet whether another pallet can go on top. Give the forwarder the height of each pallet too, because two stacked pallets must fit under the trailer roof. Our furniture transport page covers film, corner protection and loading.

In our example the truck drives from Kaunas to Klaipėda and takes a ferry to Sweden. The forwarder plans the loading time from the ferry check-in deadline. If some boxes are loaded by hand, tell the forwarder early. Hand loading takes longer than loading pallets.

Documents for a load to Sweden or Norway

A furniture load to Sweden usually travels with three documents: a CMR consignment note, an invoice and a packing list. Sweden and Lithuania are EU members, so EU goods need no export or import declaration. The sender and the carrier sign the CMR note at loading, and the receiver signs it at delivery.

For accounting, the signed CMR note is usually one proof that the goods left Lithuania. A 0% VAT sale to another EU country needs such proof. Under Article 45a of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011, the tax office treats the transport as proven when the seller holds two proofs that agree, from two independent parties. The tax office can still show the opposite. A signed CMR note and a bank record of the transport payment can be that pair. This is general information, not tax advice. Ask your accountant which documents to keep, and see our guide to customs inside the EU.

Norway is outside the EU customs union, so a load to Norway needs an EU export declaration and a Norwegian import declaration. Under every Incoterms 2020 rule except EXW, the seller is responsible for export formalities. Under every rule except DDP, the buyer is responsible for import formalities. Before loading, agree with the buyer who prepares each declaration, and tell the forwarder.

Since 15 September 2026, Norwegian Customs must receive Digitoll data on every truck with goods, no later than at the border crossing. The driver is responsible and can use a customs representative. From 1 March 2027, the Norwegian import declaration is also due by the crossing. Our blog post on Digitoll gives the details.

Delivery day and the documents after it

On delivery day the truck arrives in the customer’s time slot, and the driver gives the booking number. The warehouse counts the packages, checks their outside and signs the CMR note. The receiver writes visible damage on the note before signing. For hidden damage, the receiver writes to the carrier within 7 days, not counting Sundays and public holidays.

After delivery, the person who booked the truck gives the signed CMR copy and the transport invoice to accounting. Sales discusses any remark on the note with the customer.

Save your first transport order as a template, so the next loads need only new dates and quantities. When you know next month’s orders, send the whole volume to the forwarder at once.

How RNJ Transport runs a first export load

RNJ Transport moves full loads between Lithuania and Sweden with our own 2 MAN TGX trucks and curtainsider trailers. Partner carriers move loads to Norway and other countries, and we check each one before every load. One contact person follows the load from price to invoice, so your company needs only one person who talks to us.

Our trucks cross to Sweden on a ferry from Klaipėda, as our Sweden route page shows. Every order, CMR note and invoice stays in our transport management system, so we can trace any load. Regular customers call us with next week’s volumes, and we plan all the trucks.

1. 1

   Price

   You send the route, the date and the load size in the price form. We offer a price and a truck.

2. 2

   Written order

   You confirm the price and send a written transport order.

3. 3

   Truck and trailer numbers

   Before loading, we send the truck and trailer numbers and the driver’s phone number.

4. 4

   Delivery

   We follow the load until delivery. If the arrival time changes, we tell you.

5. 5

   CMR and one invoice

   After delivery, we send a copy of the signed CMR note and one RNJ Transport invoice.

Checklist for each department before the truck arrives

Write an employee’s name next to each row. Each department checks its row the day before loading.