TRANSIT TIME
Where the clock starts on this lane
On this page
Every enquiry opens the same way: how many days? A single number answers it badly, because this route contains two separate stretches — cargo from the origin warehouse to the border, and cargo from the border to the destination customs. Moving out of Xinjiang covers the two corridors; this page only fixes where the count begins.
- Counting starts at the Wuqia border, not at the factory
- Mashhad: 18–21 days direct, 24–28 transload
- Tehran: 21–23 days direct, 26–30 transload
- These are currently figures, not guarantees, and exclude Iranian clearance
Two clocks, not one
We take the cargo at a hub or yard, run it to the Wuqia border, and the Iran leg begins there. Origin warehouse to Wuqia is about 7 days currently, and it is always stated separately: it is not added to the border-to-customs figures, and it is never presented as a door-to-door promise.
The reason is ownership. Before the border the work is ours and the warehouse's — loading, export declaration, the border queue. After the border it belongs to the tractor, the transit procedure and the crossings. Adding the two produces a number nobody has underwritten.
From Xinjiang the lane runs through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, entering Iran at Sarakhs. Sarakhs is the entry point, not a sellable destination. What we sell is delivery to the destination customs: Mashhad Customs or Tehran West Customs (Shahriyar / Aprin).
Direct and transload, side by side
A direct truck runs Wuqia to Bukhara with a single transload there, then Iran. Direct does not mean zero transloads; it means one, at a known point. A transload truck runs Wuqia to Osh with a transload, then Bukhara with a second one, then Iran, or a transload at the Iranian border.
Each transload consumes its own time, which is why the table carries two columns instead of one average figure that fits neither.
| Destination | Direct | Transload |
|---|---|---|
| Mashhad Customs | 18–21 days | 24–28 days |
| Tehran West Customs | 21–23 days | 26–30 days |
Three things the figures exclude
Clearance in Iran is the first. It sits with the buyer and their broker, together with its costs. We deliver to the destination customs, CPT or DAP; door-to-door and DDP are not offered on this lane, and this page does not quote them.
Border customs time is the second. We do not publish it, because it has no stable value and we would be inventing one. The third is the Khorgos lane, where we hold no approved day figure at all: timing is stated per shipment, against that week's schedule.
What a written rate carries is a validity date, not a transit promise. The day figures above are the current operating plan; they are revised when the plan changes, and the written offer is the only document that binds us to anything.
FAQ
Are these days counted from cargo readiness at the factory?
No. Counting starts at the Wuqia border. Origin warehouse to Wuqia is about 7 days currently, stated on its own, not added to these figures.
Why is there no day figure for the Khorgos lane?
We hold no approved figure for that lane. Timing is stated per shipment, against that week's schedule.
Do these days include Iranian clearance?
No. Clearance, and its costs, sit with the buyer and their broker; delivery is at the destination customs.
Related: Moving out of Xinjiang · Choosing the exit · Mashhad Customs · Aprin dry port · Get a Freight Quote