On 5 October, the DeCA – the Electronic Administrative Control Document – comes into force. For all road haulage lorries, the DeCA will be mandatory in digital format, and only in this format. In other words, its physical equivalent, the traditional control document, will cease to exist. This marks a further step towards the digitalisation of the road haulage sector. But what exactly does this mean for a logistics operator like us?
First and foremost, the DeCA is not an entirely new document – quite the opposite, in fact. The administrative control document we have been using in paper form was already regulated by Order FOM/2861/2012. Therefore, this measure simply involves the digitisation of the document to streamline procedures and provide more accurate information. The purpose of the document remains unchanged in practical terms, although we will explain some nuances regarding its use and relationship with the national consignment note later on. Thus, the DeCA merely provides the relevant administrative information during an inspection of the vehicle and its cargo.
This requirement, which comes into force on 5 October, stems from Law 9/2025 of 3 December on Sustainable Mobility. This decree stipulates that the administrative control document for the public transport of goods by road must be in digital format within ten months of its entry into force. And recently, the DGT’s Resolution of 5 June 2026 has set out the technical specifications that both the document and the systems responsible for generating it must meet. Don’t worry: at Conde Fernández Hermanos we’ll explain everything in detail.
What is the purpose of the electronic administrative control document?
The function of the DeCA is, in essence, administrative. The document certifies to the inspection authorities the details of the goods being transported. It must therefore include information on the contractual shipper and the actual carrier, as well as the details required by the regulations governing the transport service. It is important that this information is available before the service actually commences. In other words, it must already be in the system so that it can generate the DeCA correctly.
Furthermore, the system must generate the document natively in PDF format. In other words, it is not sufficient to scan the paper form and then convert it to PDF. In addition, it must also include a QR code linked to a URL so that inspectors can access the DeCA directly. The aim is to facilitate access to the information, making the inspection much quicker and more secure.
DeCA and consignment note: are they the same thing?
One of the aspects of the DeCA that is causing the most headaches is its relationship with the national consignment note. The consignment note is another document that must be used when transporting goods by road, and its purpose is to formalise the contract of carriage within Spain. As it is valid in physical format, it has until now been very common to use it as both a consignment note and a control document, provided that the form included all the relevant information. However, now that the DeCA is no longer a physical document, this is no longer possible. Therefore, no: the DeCA and the national consignment note are not the same document.
Remember, the DeCA serves an administrative function, whilst the consignment note documents the terms of the transport contract and therefore serves a legal purpose. This means that the entry into force of the DeCA does not affect the consignment note, which can continue to be used in either physical or digital form. That said, if the consignment note exists in electronic format, then it is possible to use it in place of the DeCA, and vice versa, provided that the document in question meets the requirements set out in the regulations.
If, on the other hand, the national consignment note remains a physical document, then it is mandatory to have both the consignment note and the DeCA. This means that both documents can coexist, regardless of the formats chosen.
How does the new control document affect logistics operators?
The use of the DeCA is mandatory for all domestic public road freight transport; that is, journeys where both the point of origin and the destination are within Spanish territory. Cabotage services carried out in Spain must also carry this document. Conversely, international transport operations that pass through Spanish territory only in part fall outside the specific scope of this measure. Instead, they are governed by the control documents set out in international conventions, such as the CMR (or eCMR in its electronic version), which validates the international road transport contract.
For Spanish logistics operators, this means we must modify part of our internal management processes. This is a more complex change than it appears, as it involves the generation, management, availability and retention of electronic documents. As previously noted, the system must generate the DeCA before the transport service begins, recording the date and time of creation as well as any subsequent edits. These documents must be retained for at least one year. Consequently, operators must integrate this document management system into our standard applications in order to automate the process and ensure it is carried out correctly.
This makes having the right systems in place extremely important. Generating each document manually is a highly inefficient task, and even increases the risk of errors when entering the information. Integrating the DeCA with standard logistics management tools will enable a large part of the process to be automated. Of course, we must also facilitate access to the document during inspections via the associated QR code, without requiring any sort of password.
Shared responsibility between shipper and carrier
Another key aspect of the new regulation is the allocation of responsibilities. In the transport of goods, both the contractual shipper and the actual carrier have responsibilities regarding the information that must appear on the document. Order FOM/2861/2012 sets out which details correspond to each of these parties. The contractual shipper is responsible for certain details regarding the operation and the cargo, whilst the actual carrier is responsible for those relating directly to the transport service. With regard to the DeCA, this requires coordination between the logistics operator and the client, who must provide the relevant information for the preparation of the document.
We operate in the road freight transport sector, covering both domestic and international routes and providing our customers with logistics solutions for warehousing and distribution.
