Road, sea, air, customs, haulage and storage — the individual cargo services and how they combine into a complete shipment.
Cargo services in Saudi Arabia are best understood as building blocks that combine into a complete shipment. An importer might use sea cargo, customs clearance, container haulage and warehousing in sequence; a domestic manufacturer might use only road cargo. This breakdown describes each service, what it includes and when it is used, so shippers can assemble the right combination.
Road cargo
Domestic and GCC transport by truck: FTL for large consignments, LTL for a few pallets, dedicated fleets for regular routes, and refrigerated, flatbed and lowbed variants. The most-used cargo service in the Kingdom, covering everything from port drayage to regional distribution.
Sea cargo
International shipping by container through Jeddah and Dammam. Full container load (FCL) for whole containers; less-than-container load (LCL) for smaller consignments consolidated with other shippers' goods. Breakbulk and project cargo services for items that do not fit containers. Transit times of one to six weeks depending on origin.
Air cargo
Fast international and domestic transport through Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam airports. Priced per chargeable kilogram; used for urgent, perishable and high-value goods. Includes terminal handling, security screening and airline booking.
Customs clearance
Licensed brokerage for imports and exports: HS classification, declarations via FASAH, duty and VAT calculation, SABER and SFDA approvals, and inspection coordination.
Container haulage
Trucking of 20-ft and 40-ft containers between ports, container yards, dry ports and customer sites, including empty return.
Cargo warehousing
Short-term storage at gateways for de-stuffing, sorting and onward distribution, or longer-term storage in Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam with inventory management.
Specialised handling
Refrigerated cargo, dangerous goods, oversized and heavy items, and high-value or secure cargo, each with its own equipment, documentation and expertise.
Assembling a shipment
A typical import: sea cargo to Jeddah → customs clearance → container haulage to Riyadh → warehousing → road cargo to customers. A typical export: road cargo to Dammam → customs → sea cargo. Using one provider across the chain keeps documentation consistent and tracking continuous.
TQM International offers every cargo service above from Saudi Arabia and combines them into end-to-end shipments with a single point of contact.
