What is the DeCA (Spain's administrative control document)

The Documento de Control Administrativo (DeCA), or administrative control document, must go with every public road freight service within Spain. It is also called the "documento de control" or, day to day, the "albarán de transporte". It is regulated by Orden FOM/2861/2012 and lets transport inspectors check at the roadside who contracted the transport, who is carrying it out and what is being carried.

What the DeCA is for

The DeCA names the two companies responsible for each service: the contractual shipper (cargador contractual), who contracts the transport, and the actual carrier (transportista efectivo), who carries it out with its vehicles. With that, inspectors can check that the service is covered and know whom to contact if there is an infringement.

It is not an invoice or a contract: it is a control document. It can also serve as a contractual document if the parties use it that way, but that is not its main purpose.

What it must contain

Article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012 requires at least:

• Name or company name, tax ID (NIF) and address of the contractual shipper.
• Name or company name and tax ID of the actual carrier.
• Place of origin and destination of the goods.
• Nature and weight of the goods.
• The date of the transport.
• The vehicle plate (of the tractor unit and of the trailer or semi-trailer, if articulated).
• The special traffic permit, when the transport needs one.

If the vehicle changes once the transport has started, the change must be recorded on the DeCA. One DeCA can group several shipments if the contractual shipper and the actual carrier are the same for all of them. You can see all these fields in our DeCA example PDF.

Who issues the DeCA and who carries it

The DeCA is issued by the contractual shipper or, on its behalf, by the carrier. It is created before the service starts, and the driver must have a copy with its QR code before setting off, on a phone or printed.

At a roadside check, the driver shows the DeCA or its QR code. The officer scans it and downloads the current document.

Who must keep it, and for how long

Both the contractual shipper and the actual carrier must keep each DeCA for at least one year. They don't each have to create it: if one party issued it, it's enough that the other can download it during that year.

The DeCA is now electronic

Since 5 October 2026 the freight DeCA must be digital, under Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility. The Resolution of 5 June 2026 sets how: a native PDF of at most 5 MB, with a QR code leading to an https address that downloads it directly. Paper filled in by hand or a scan no longer counts. We explain it in detail in the electronic DeCA is mandatory.

Other documents that can serve as a DeCA

The Resolution accepts other transport documents, such as the CMR consignment note, ADR documents or waste documents, as long as they include all the article 6 data and clearly tell the contractual shipper from the actual carrier. International transports that only partly cross Spain use the documents set by international conventions.

How to issue a DeCA for free

With DeCA by Routyn you issue the electronic DeCA in under a minute, from the web, on WhatsApp or from your TMS through the API, with no per-document fees. To see the process step by step, read how to issue a DeCA.