Transports exempt from the DeCA

Which transports it applies to

Orden FOM/2861/2012 regulates the control document for public road freight transport: transport a company does for another in return for a price. It applies within Spain, cabotage included.

Transports that don't need a DeCA

Article 2 of the Orden excludes:

1. Transports that need no transport authorisation (título habilitante).
2. Removals.
3. Transport of crashed or broken-down vehicles on special vehicles.
4. Parcel services and similar pick-up or delivery services.

Own-account transport (transporte privado complementario), where a company moves its own goods with its own vehicles as part of its business, is also outside the Orden, because it isn't public transport.

Cases that are often confused

• International transport: doesn't use the DeCA but the documents of international conventions, such as the CMR consignment note. See DeCA vs CMR.
• Vans and light vehicles: the exemption doesn't depend on vehicle size but on whether the transport needs an authorisation. Check what authorisation your vehicle has before assuming you're exempt.
• Parcels vs full loads: a truck carrying a full load from one customer to another isn't a parcel service, even if the company also delivers parcels.
• eFTI data: if the transport data is handled through the European eFTI platform (Regulation (EU) 2020/1056), it doesn't need to be presented as a DeCA.

When in doubt

If in doubt, issuing the DeCA costs nothing and avoids a possible fine of 401 to 600 euros. With DeCA by Routyn you do it for free in under a minute.