Saudi Express is a shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UAE that collects from any city in the Kingdom, from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to Qassim, Tabuk and Abha, and drives your shipment in closed trucks through the Al Batha crossing and the UAE Ghuwaifat crossing to your door or warehouse in any emirate. We move household furniture with dismantling, packing and reassembly, cars in closed carriers, parcels and commercial goods, and we handle customs on both sides. A road shipment usually arrives in 2 to 7 days depending on the pickup city, and parcels start from SAR 140. To book, call or WhatsApp 0560533140.
- How it travels: closed trucks on the highway through Al Batha and Ghuwaifat, planes for urgent items, ships for commercial containers
- Transit: 2 to 4 days from the Eastern Province, 3 to 5 days from Riyadh, 5 to 7 days from Jeddah
- Parcels and boxes: from SAR 140
- Bedroom: from SAR 1,100 with dismantling, packing and reassembly
- Cars: from SAR 1,850 in a closed carrier
- Coverage: all 7 emirates, with pickup in more than 20 Saudi cities
Shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
Shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE starts from SAR 140 for parcels and boxes, SAR 1,100 for a full bedroom, SAR 1,800 for the furniture of a small apartment and SAR 1,850 for a car in a closed carrier. Treat these as entry prices; what you finally pay depends on volume, the pickup city in the Kingdom and the emirate where you receive.
What drives a road-freight bill is not the number of items but the space they take inside the truck. That is why two homes with the same number of rooms can be priced very differently: furniture that is dismantled, wrapped and stacked carefully may take half the space of furniture loaded as it stands. Send us photos or a short video of each room on WhatsApp, or we send a surveyor in the cities where we have one, then we calculate the volume in cubic metres and give you a clear number before loading day.
The second factor is the distance to Al Batha. The crossing sits at the far east of the Kingdom, so a load from Al-Ahsa or Dammam travels a short way to it, while a load from Jeddah, Tabuk or Jazan crosses the whole country first, and that shows in both price and transit time. The third factor is the type of load: a whole truck reserved for you, or a share of a truck carrying other customers’ loads. Shared loads are far cheaper if you are sending one room or a few boxes.
This table summarises starting prices for the main services from Saudi Arabia to the UAE:
| Service | Details | From (SAR) |
|---|---|---|
| Parcels and cartons | shared road freight for clothes, personal items and gifts | 140 |
| Full bedroom | dismantling, packing, loading and reassembly in the UAE | 1,100 |
| Small apartment | roughly two bedrooms and a living room, shared or private truck | 1,800 |
| Car | closed car carrier with export papers | 1,850 |
| Commercial goods by road | by weight in a consolidated load | 14 per kg |
| Air freight | actual or volumetric weight, whichever is higher | 46 per kg |
| Full truck for a villa | closed trailer for a whole house | ask for the price by call or WhatsApp |
How long does shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE take?
Road shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE takes 2 to 4 days from Dammam, Khobar and Al-Ahsa, 3 to 5 days from Riyadh, and 5 to 7 days from Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, with a day or two more for shared loads. Air freight usually arrives in 2 to 4 days door to door.
The journey has four stages, each with its own time. First, preparation day at your home: dismantling, packing, inventory and loading. Second, the drive inside the Kingdom to Al Batha, the longest stage if you ship from the west or south. Third, border formalities at Al Batha and then Ghuwaifat, where the customs declaration is matched against the load and the truck may be inspected. Fourth, the drive inside the UAE, unloading and reassembly in the emirate you chose.
The border is the stage that is hardest to predict. On ordinary days a truck clears within hours, but before and after holidays the truck lanes get crowded and waiting times grow. That is why we send the shipment details to the clearing agent before the truck moves, and we make sure the inventory matches what is in the box, so the truck does not stop at the border over an unlisted carton or a missing paper.
Which Saudi cities do we collect from for the UAE?
We collect UAE-bound shipments from almost every region of the Kingdom, and each region has its usual road to Al Batha. The table below shows the main pickup cities, the route the truck takes and the approximate time to Dubai or Abu Dhabi:
| Pickup city | Route to the UAE | Approximate time |
|---|---|---|
| Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Jubail | south along the coast to Al Batha | 2 to 3 days |
| Al-Ahsa, Hofuf, Mubarraz | east from Hofuf to Al Batha | 2 to 4 days |
| Riyadh, Al Kharj, Majmaah | via Haradh, then Al Batha | 3 to 5 days |
| Buraydah, Unaizah, Ar Rass | via Riyadh, then Al Batha | 3 to 6 days |
| Hail, Al Jouf, Hafar Al-Batin | via Qassim or Dammam, then Al Batha | 4 to 7 days |
| Jeddah, Makkah, Taif | via Riyadh, then Al Batha | 5 to 7 days |
| Madinah, Yanbu | via Qassim and Riyadh, then Al Batha | 5 to 8 days |
| Tabuk | via Madinah or Hail, then Riyadh | 6 to 8 days |
| Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, Najran | via Riyadh or Wadi Al-Dawasir, then Al Batha | 5 to 8 days |
Each major city has its own page on shipping to the UAE, with the districts we collect from and local prices: shipping from Riyadh to the UAE, shipping from Jeddah to the UAE, shipping from Al-Ahsa to the UAE, shipping from Qassim to the UAE, shipping from Makkah to the UAE and shipping from Madinah to the UAE.
Eastern Province: the shortest road to the border
Residents of Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Jubail, Ras Tanura and Al-Ahsa are closest to Al Batha, so their shipments are the fastest and cost the least. In the Eastern Province you can often load in the morning and cross the border the next day, which suits employees transferred between company branches in Khobar and Dubai, and people moving between Jubail and the industrial areas of Abu Dhabi.
Riyadh, Qassim and central Saudi Arabia
From Riyadh the truck takes the Khurais road and then Haradh until it reaches Al Batha, the busiest truck route to the UAE. We collect from north Riyadh districts such as Al Malqa, Al Yasmin and Al Narjis, eastern ones such as Al Rawdah and Al Naseem, central ones such as Olaya and Sulaymaniyah, and from Al Kharj, Diriyah and Muzahmiyah. Qassim loads from Buraydah, Unaizah, Ar Rass and Al Bukayriyah pass through Riyadh on the way, which adds roughly a day.
Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah, the south and the north
Shipping from the west to the UAE is a journey across the whole Kingdom, from the Red Sea coast to the Gulf coast. We collect from Jeddah districts such as Al Shati, Al Rawdah, Al Safa and Al Hamdaniyah, from Makkah, Taif, Madinah and Yanbu, from Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran in the south, and from Tabuk, Hail and Al Jouf in the north. Because the road is long, packing matters here more than on any other route: every extra hour on the road means more vibration and more heat inside the box.
Shipping methods from Saudi Arabia to the UAE: road, sea and air
Road freight suits most shipments from Saudi Arabia to the UAE, since a direct highway joins the two countries and a dedicated truck crossing, so your belongings go from your home to your new home without unloading at a port or airport. Air freight is for urgent, light items, and sea freight for traders shipping full containers. Truck and route details are on our shipping to the UAE page.
Road freight: a full truck or space in a shared truck
Road freight comes in two forms. The first is a full truck, known in the trade as FTL, reserved for your goods alone and leaving on the date you set; it suits whole homes, villas and offices. The second is shared freight, or LTL, where you pay only for the space you use inside a truck carrying several customers’ shipments; it suits a single room, boxes and appliances. A shared truck is cheaper, but its departure depends on the load filling up, and it stops at more than one address in the UAE.
All our trucks have closed boxes, from small dyna trucks for light loads to trailers for large homes. The closed box keeps out dust, rain and sun, and the box is sealed once loaded and stays shut except for an official inspection or when it reaches your door. That matters on a long desert road where summer heat can damage leather, candles and sensitive electronics if they are exposed.
Sea freight: for commercial containers
Sea freight from King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam or Jeddah Islamic Port to Jebel Ali is an option for traders and factories shipping large quantities in 20 or 40 ft containers. It is slower than road and passes through two ports, so we do not suggest it for household furniture; we suggest it when a container works out cheaper than several trucks, or when the goods are going straight into the Jebel Ali free zone.
Air freight from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
Air freight from Saudi Arabia to the UAE suits you when you need your things within two to four days, or when the shipment is small and valuable: documents, electronics, commercial samples, urgent spare parts, or clothes for the first days before the furniture arrives. We ship from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, then deliver to your address. More details are on our air freight page.
Air freight starts from SAR 46 per kg and is charged on the higher of two weights: the actual weight on the scale, or the volumetric weight. To get volumetric weight, multiply length, width and height in centimetres, then divide by 6,000. A 60 × 40 × 50 cm box has a volumetric weight of 20 kg, so if it really weighs only 8 kg you are charged for 20 kg. That is why air freight does not suit sofas, cushions and other bulky light items, and works well for heavy, compact ones.
An air shipment needs different packing from a road one: double-wall cartons, filler in every gap, strong tape on every edge, and a label with the recipient’s name and UAE number. Loose batteries, large quantities of perfume and flammable liquids are restricted on aircraft, so we check the contents with you before the box is sealed, so it is not returned from the airport.
Moving household furniture from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
Furniture moving from Saudi Arabia to the UAE is a complete service that starts with dismantling inside your home and ends with reassembly inside your new one, and a full bedroom starts from SAR 1,100. The crew takes apart beds, wardrobes and bookcases, numbers the parts and keeps the screws in bags tied to each piece, then wraps everything in the material that suits it.
Packing is what separates furniture that arrives as it left from furniture that arrives scratched. Wood is wrapped in blankets and then stretch film, corners get cardboard guards, glass and mirrors go between boards and into dedicated crates, and dishes are wrapped piece by piece in packing paper and placed in small cartons so the box does not get too heavy and split. Leather sofas are never wrapped directly in plastic, because heat traps moisture against them; a fabric layer goes on first.
After packing we inventory every item on a numbered list and give you a copy. This list is not a formality: it is what the customs officer checks against the truck, and it is what you use to check your belongings on arrival in the UAE. At delivery the crew places each piece in the room you choose, reassembles beds and wardrobes, hangs what needs hanging and takes the packing materials away.
Air conditioners and fitted kitchens
A split air conditioner must have its refrigerant pumped down into the outdoor unit by a technician before it comes off the wall, and it is refitted in the UAE with the connections tested. A fitted wooden kitchen is dismantled unit by unit and numbered by its position on the wall, but wall sizes in the new home may differ, so send us the UAE kitchen layout before shipping and we will tell you whether it can go up as it is or needs adjusting by a local carpenter.
Car shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
We ship your car from any Saudi city to the UAE in a closed car carrier, starting from SAR 1,850 for a sedan. The car is covered, strapped down by its wheels inside the carrier and kept away from sun, gravel and sand for the whole trip, and it usually arrives within the same road-freight transit time. Full service details are on our car shipping page.
If you are transferring the car to the UAE
A car that will be registered in the UAE must be in your name before it leaves, with its traffic fines paid, and then get an export certificate from the Saudi traffic department. UAE import rules then apply: in Dubai and Abu Dhabi a used car must not be older than 10 years counted from the year it was built, and it must be of a specification approved for GCC markets; customs duty is 5% of the car’s value including freight and insurance, followed by 5% VAT, and then testing, registration and UAE insurance.
If you will drive your own car
Some families prefer to ship their furniture with us and drive the car themselves through Al Batha. That works if you carry the original, valid registration card and your driving licence; if you are not the owner you need an external authorization from the owner through Absher. At the border, insurance covering the UAE is usually bought there if your policy does not include it. If you need temporary entry into a country that asks for a customs pass, see our car triptyque page.
Shipping commercial goods and parcels to the UAE
We ship commercial goods from Saudi Arabia to the UAE by road in consolidated loads from SAR 14 per kg, or in full trucks for large volumes. This suits online stores selling to customers in Dubai and Sharjah, factories distributing across the Gulf, and showrooms moving stock between branches.
Commercial goods need more paperwork than personal belongings: a detailed commercial invoice, a certificate of origin proving the goods are Saudi-made where that is true so they benefit from the Gulf exemption, a packing list with weights and dimensions, and the commercial registration of exporter and importer. Export data in the Kingdom is submitted through the Fasah platform, and we arrange with the UAE clearing agent for delivery to the customer’s warehouse or to the Jebel Ali free zone.
Personal parcels start from SAR 140: a gift for your family in Al Ain, clothes for your son studying in Sharjah, or things you forgot after moving. We need a description of the contents and their approximate value, plus the recipient’s name, mobile number and address, and we send it on the next shared truck.
Moving offices, electrical appliances and dates to the UAE
We move offices and showrooms from Saudi Arabia to the UAE the same way we move homes, organised around work: every desk, filing cabinet and device carries a number showing its place in the new premises, so everything is unloaded where it belongs and staff start working without searching through boxes.
Fridges, washing machines, screens and computers need special care on a long, hot road. Screens travel upright in reinforced cartons with foam padding, never flat; the washing-machine drum is fixed with transit bolts or padding so it cannot move; and the fridge is switched off, dried and kept upright in the truck. For office computers we suggest backing up the data before shipping: the machine travels safely, but data cannot be replaced.
Dates and food products ship in personal quantities with ordinary loads if they are packed and sealed, and in commercial quantities with their health papers and certificate of origin. In the summer months we suggest shipping soft dates and heat-sensitive products in a refrigerated truck or by air, because a standard closed box keeps out dust but does not cool what is inside.
Required documents and customs clearance between Saudi Arabia and the UAE
For personal shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE you usually need a copy of your ID or iqama, a copy of the recipient’s passport and Emirates ID or visa, and a detailed list of the items. We prepare the customs declaration and follow it through Al Batha and Ghuwaifat until the shipment clears.
- Furniture and personal effects: ID or iqama, recipient details in the UAE, and a numbered inventory in Arabic and English.
- Cars: original registration card, an export certificate from the traffic department when ownership moves, the owner’s ID, and an authorization if the shipper is not the owner.
- Commercial goods: commercial invoice, certificate of origin, packing list, commercial registration, and the HS code for each item.
- Parcels: a description of the contents, approximate value, and full recipient details.
Used furniture and personal effects are normally exempt from customs duty in the Gulf states for people moving to live there, provided they are used and for personal use, not for sale. New appliances still in their boxes, or repeated quantities of the same item, may be treated as commercial goods, with an invoice requested and duty and VAT charged. So keep the list honest and detailed: “Box 14: winter clothes and shoes” is far clearer at inspection than “Box 14: miscellaneous”.
Protecting and insuring your shipment
Protecting your shipment starts before insurance: proper packing, a written inventory, photos of valuable pieces before loading, and a closed truck that is not opened on the road. These four prevent most problems before they happen, and insurance then covers what cannot be prevented.
If you want the shipment insured, we need an estimated value for your belongings or for the valuable pieces in particular, and before loading we explain what the cover includes and excludes and how long you have to report damage after delivery. The simple rule: check your belongings at unloading with the crew present, and write any remark on the inventory before signing for delivery. A note written on the spot carries far more weight than a call a week later.
For pieces money cannot replace, such as a family painting, an inherited antique or a manuscript, we suggest a wooden crate built to size, or carrying it with you if its size allows. No insurance brings back an item of sentimental value, but proper packing makes damage very unlikely.
Prohibited and restricted items when shipping to the UAE
We do not ship flammable or pressurised materials to the UAE, nor weapons, ammunition or replicas, narcotics, or medicines in commercial quantities or without a prescription. Some items are allowed with conditions: they need a permit or an invoice, or are accepted only in limited quantities.
- Gas cylinders, even empty ones, petrol, diesel, solvents, paints and pesticides.
- Damaged or swollen loose batteries, and appliances that leak fluids.
- Perishable and frozen food, plants, seeds and soil.
- Cash, gold, jewellery and original documents, which you carry yourself.
- Unapproved wireless devices and drones without a permit.
- Printed or other material that breaches the rules of either country.
Dates and commercially packaged food usually ship without trouble in personal quantities; larger quantities need certificates. If you are unsure about a particular item, ask us before packing, because pulling something out of a sealed truck at the border costs far more time than a quick WhatsApp question.
Emirates we deliver to from Saudi Arabia
We deliver shipments from Saudi Arabia to every one of the seven emirates, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, plus the inland city of Al Ain. After Ghuwaifat, Abu Dhabi is the first emirate on the road, then Dubai, then the northern emirates, with Fujairah on the east coast the furthest.
Residential towers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi usually require an access permit from building management and a booked slot for the service lift, so we arrange this with you before the truck arrives and it does not wait in the street. For villas we check that the truck can enter the street; if not, we transfer the goods to a smaller vehicle at the entrance to the neighbourhood.
How shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE works with us
Shipping with us from any Saudi city to any emirate follows seven clear steps, and at each step you know where your shipment is:
- Contact us on 0560533140 and send photos of your items, your pickup city and the destination emirate.
- We work out the volume and shipping method and give you the price and loading date.
- We send the list of required documents for you to prepare before loading day.
- The crew arrives, dismantles, packs, inventories, loads and locks the truck.
- The truck heads to Al Batha, and we keep you updated on its location and clearance.
- The truck clears Ghuwaifat and drives to your emirate; we call you before arrival to set the unloading time.
- The crew unloads and reassembles, you check the list and take delivery.
If your UAE home is not ready when the shipment arrives, the furniture can be kept in a closed warehouse until you get the keys, or stored in the Kingdom before shipping if you leave your home before you travel. Details are on our furniture storage page.
Common mistakes when shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
The costliest mistakes when shipping to the UAE happen in preparation, not on the road. These are the main ones to avoid:
- A vague inventory: “household items” with no detail invites a full inspection of the truck at the border.
- Last-minute additions: anything added after the declaration is prepared needs it amended, which can delay departure by a day.
- Undervaluing your belongings: an unrealistic value raises the officer’s suspicion and weakens any claim you may need to make.
- Forgetting the building permit: a truck arriving at a Dubai tower without a permit waits for hours or comes back another day.
- Shipping a car before checking its age: a car over the permitted limit cannot be registered in the UAE, so check the build year before booking.
Tips before shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UAE
The most important tip is to start early, at least a week before you leave your home, because hurry is what raises costs and delays shipments most: a private truck instead of a shared one, belongings not sorted, papers missing.
- Sort your belongings first: sell or donate what you will not need in the UAE, because every cubic metre has a price.
- Switch off the fridge and freezer a day before loading and dry them well so no smell builds up on the road.
- Photograph valuable furniture before packing and keep the inventory on your phone.
- Make sure your UAE address is clear and the recipient’s number works and answers.
- If the UAE building needs an access permit, request it two days before the truck arrives.
- In summer, ask for extra packing for appliances, leather, candles and perfume.
If your final destination is Oman, the route is a little different: either direct through the Empty Quarter crossing or via the UAE. Details are on our page about shipping from Saudi Arabia to Oman.
