How to Time Your Shipment to Israel

One of the most important parts of planning your aliyah shipment is properly timing your shipment. Many clients focus only on the sailing time itself, but in reality, there are several stages before and after the ocean voyage that can affect the overall timeline.

When deciding on your packing dates, it’s important to consider your personal living situation and not just the shipping schedule. Questions to think about include:

• When is the closing date on your home?
• When does your lease end?
• Where will life be easiest without your furnishings?
• Will you stay with family, in temporary housing, or at an Airbnb?
• Do you need certain items with you until the last minute?
• Are school schedules, work schedules, or holidays a factor?

For summer moves — especially June through August — it’s best to schedule your pickup approximately 30 days in advance. Summer is the busiest season for international moving. During the rest of the year, 2–3 weeks advance notice is usually sufficient in most cases.

Typical Transit Timing

Approximate ocean transit times are:

• East Coast USA/Canada to Israel:
  • Approximately 5–6 weeks (+/-)
• West Coast USA/Canada to Israel:
  • Approximately 7–10 weeks (+/-)

Of course, not all shipping lines are punctual, and delays are common in international shipping.

Important Timing Differences

Container shipments and partial shipments operate differently.

Container Shipments

After loading, containers are usually returned to the port where they wait for vessel loading. This stage alone can take approximately:

• 3–8 days (+/-)

Once the shipment arrives in Israel, delivery for a container shipment is typically:

• Approximately 7 days (+/-)

Partial Shipments

Partial shipments require the collection and consolidation of multiple shipments into a shared 40-foot container. This consolidation process can take:

• Approximately 2–8 weeks

Shipments picked up in the NY/NJ area are commonly exported within approximately 5 weeks of pickup.

Once a partial shipment arrives in Israel, delivery is generally:

• Approximately 10–16 days

Delays Are Common

It’s important to understand that there are no guarantees on consolidation schedules, vessel departures, or transit times. Delays, sailing changes, port congestion, inspections, and even sailing cancellations are relatively common in international shipping.

Another important factor is the Israeli holiday calendar. High Holidays and holiday periods that fall in the middle of the week can significantly slow Customs processing and reduce delivery opportunities. During these periods, shipments may sit longer waiting for inspections, releases, trucking appointments, or warehouse scheduling.

International shipping works best when clients allow flexibility in their planning. Building extra time into your schedule can help reduce stress and make the overall moving process much smoother.