From Monday 7 December to Monday 11 January, there is less transport capacity in Europe. There is a simple reason: many drivers want to be at home with their families over the holidays. Below you can read what this means for your orders and what you can do to keep the impact as small as possible.
Driving Home for Christmas, Chris Rea's Christmas classic, plays in the cabs of the hundreds of drivers who move cars from A to B across Europe every day, especially in the dark days before Christmas. Here we explain what it means for car transport in Europe when fewer drivers are on the road in this period.
Why is there less transport capacity around the holidays?
In short: the people behind the wheel want to be at home over the holidays too.
Driving home for Christmas
A driver's life is harder than it looks from the outside. Long days, weeks away from home, and evenings alone in the cab at a parking area beside the motorway. Many drivers at our transport partners live in countries such as Poland and Romania, where the journey home is a long journey in itself.
For many of them, Christmas is the moment when the whole family is round the table again. So they drive home around the holidays, and we are glad they can. The result is fewer trucks on the road at that time.
"For many drivers, this is the time of year when they are finally home again. We are glad for them, and we plan around it with our partners as well as we can."
Ana Tasca, Partner Manager Romania
Public holidays and driving bans coincide
Christmas Day (Friday 25 December) and New Year's Day (Friday 1 January) both fall on a Friday this year, and Epiphany falls on Wednesday 6 January. That makes for long weekends and a broken working week, for us and at the locations where we pick up and deliver. In Poland, among other countries, 6 January is a national public holiday. In Germany it applies in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt. Truck driving bans also apply around the holidays. You can read which ones in our overview of truck driving bans in Europe and in European public holidays in 2026.
A tight market, also outside the holidays
The driver shortage is a structural problem for the sector, and around the holidays it becomes more visible. When there is little room to begin with, you notice every journey home straight away.
Why does the period run from 7 December to 11 January?
An order you book from 7 December is normally scheduled for the following week. From that point, availability decreases, and in the week before Christmas many partners are already driving home. The first week of January is also a broken week, with Epiphany on Wednesday 6 January. After 11 January, our partners are available at full capacity again. That does not mean everything will be cleared by then: we will still be working to transport the orders from the preceding period as quickly as possible.
What will you notice?
In practice, you can expect longer lead times, some routes unavailable on certain days, some orders slipping past the new year and less room for last-minute changes. These are expectations, not fixed dates. We keep track of when partners are back on the road.
| Period | What to expect |
| Up to and including 6 December | Normal capacity |
| 7 December until Christmas | Availability decreases; more and more partners head home |
| Christmas until 6 January | Fewer trucks on the road; some orders slip further |
| 7 to 11 January | Recovery, not yet at full strength |
| From 12 January | Partners available at full capacity again; we are still clearing orders from the holiday period |
What do we do?
Our network of 2,000+ transport partners and our spotfilling algorithm use every available slot, now as well, and you can follow the status of your order in the platform. We also try to keep everyone involved informed about available capacity.
What can you do yourself?
You can reduce the chance of delays, although we cannot promise you will avoid them entirely. This helps most:
- Book as early as possible anything that still has to move this year. The sooner an order reaches us, the better the chance of a suitable trip. You book via the platform.
- Decide what really has to be delivered before the new year. Anything that only needs to arrive later can be booked now. There is no need to wait until after 11 January. The sooner you book, the better we can plan.
- Tell us about any deviating opening times. If a pickup or delivery location is closed on certain days or has shorter hours, mention it when you book.
- Make sure the car is ready. The car should be accessible, with keys and documents present and a contact person who answers the phone. A failed pickup attempt costs a lot of extra time in these weeks.
Frequently asked questions
When is there less transport capacity?
From 7 December 2026 up to and including 11 January 2027.
Will my car still be delivered before Christmas?
We cannot promise that. The earlier you book, the better the chance, but it depends on the route and availability.
Until when can I book for delivery this year?
There is no fixed deadline. Our advice is to book as early as possible.
When is capacity back to normal?
After 11 January, our partners are available at full capacity again. Orders from the busy weeks will not all have been transported by then; we will clear them as quickly as we can.
Questions about an existing order? Feel free to get in touch, and we will look at what is possible together.
We wish everyone who is on the road in these weeks a safe journey home. And to you, happy holidays.
