For most importers and exporters, the first step in moving goods by road from Türkiye to Iraq is asking a carrier for a quote. How quickly that quote arrives, and how closely it matches the real cost, depends almost entirely on the information you send with the request. An incomplete request usually turns into a round of back-and-forth questions, followed by a price that doesn't reflect the actual shipment.
This guide walks through what we recommend preparing before you request a road freight quote on the Türkiye–Iraq route.
1. Describe your cargo precisely
The carrier's first question is always what is being moved. Be as concrete as you can:
- Product description: "Palletised packaged food" or "machinery spare parts" rather than "general cargo".
- Weight: Gross weight in kilograms or tonnes.
- Volume and dimensions: Total cubic metres, plus pallet or carton dimensions.
- Packaging type and count: Pallets, cartons, bags, crates and so on, with quantities.
- Stackability: Whether the cargo can be stacked.
- Special conditions: Temperature sensitivity, fragility, out-of-gauge dimensions or dangerous goods status must always be declared.
These details determine which vehicle is suitable and whether your cargo needs a truck of its own or can travel alongside other shipments.
2. Full truckload or partial load?
Road freight comes in two basic loading types:
- Full truckload (FTL): The whole truck is dedicated to your cargo. This is usually the choice when your goods fill most of the vehicle's capacity, or when you want direct point-to-point transport.
- Partial load (LTL): Your cargo shares a truck with other shippers' goods, and you use only part of the capacity. For smaller volumes this can make more economic sense.
If you're not sure which fits, simply say so in your request; it can be assessed together based on your cargo details. Our comparison of full and partial loads covers the decision in more depth.
3. Loading and unloading points
"Istanbul to Erbil" is fine for a first conversation, but proper planning needs more:
- Loading address (city, district and ideally the full address)
- Unloading address (city and delivery point)
- Whether a loading dock, forklift or crane is available at each end
- Site working hours or any restrictions on vehicle access
These details matter for route planning and delivery coordination. The main road border crossing between the two countries is Habur on the Turkish side and Ibrahim Khalil on the Iraqi side; route planning takes the border crossing into account alongside your loading and delivery points.
4. Documents at a glance
Some documents come up in almost every international road shipment:
- Commercial invoice: The core document showing the value of the goods, the seller and the buyer.
- Packing list: Contents, weights and dimensions per carton or pallet.
- CMR consignment note: The standard transport document for international road carriage.
- Certificate of origin: Shows the country where the goods were produced.
Depending on the product, additional conformity documents or permits may be required on the Iraqi side. Because these requirements can change over time, we recommend confirming the current position with our team or your customs broker before shipping. Describing your product accurately at the quote stage makes it easier to see early on which documents may be needed.
To see how customs procedures are handled, take a look at our customs coordination service.
5. Timing
The planned loading date is one of the most important pieces of information in a quote request, because vehicle planning is built around it. It helps to include:
- The date your cargo will be ready
- Whether the loading date is flexible
- Any target delivery window on the consignee's side
Booking a truck before the ready date is confirmed can lead to waiting time and extra cost. If the date isn't fixed yet, say so clearly; that keeps the planning realistic.
6. How the quote process works
At MCK Logistics, quoting starts with the quote form on our website. The form asks for:
- Service type
- Company name and tax ID
- Contact person, phone and email
- Country
- Loading place and unloading place
- Planned loading date
- Cargo details
Once you submit the form, our operations team reviews the request and gets back to you. The more completely you fill in the cargo details field with the information above, the faster and more accurate the assessment will be.
How MCK Logistics can help
MCK Logistics provides full truckload (FTL) and partial load (LTL) road transport from Türkiye to Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. The service covers shipment planning, freight organisation, route management and delivery coordination. For shipments between Türkiye, Iraq and the Middle East, we coordinate customs procedures together with a contracted customs brokerage firm.
Our headquarters is in Erbil. For details of the service, see our international road freight page.
If your shipment details are ready, send your request through the quote form and our operations team will get back to you.