Mandatory in Spain from 5 October 2026

Electronic transport documents:
eCMR and DeCA from one shipment

CargoPay issues both electronic documents for road freight from the data already on your shipment. The eCMR is the CMR consignment note for international movements, signed by shipper, drivers and consignee. The DeCA is required for public road freight within Spain, cabotage included, from 5 October 2026: a PDF generated from structured data, a QR code, and a permanent URL an inspector opens without signing in.

Issue my first document Which one do I need?
No app for the driver No account for signers or inspectors Trilingual EN · ES · RO
DeCA-2026-000184 Issued
Contracting loader
Envases Levante, S.L.
NIF B96·····
Effective carrier
Transportes Mérida, S.L.
NIF B06·····
Origin → Destination
Valencia → Badajoz
Transport date
05/10/2026
Plates
1234 JKL / R5678 BCD
Scan it and the PDF opens instantly.
No account. No password.

In short

  • The eCMR is the CMR consignment note signed electronically, valid under the Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention, and it documents international road freight.
  • The DeCA is mandatory for public road freight within Spain, cabotage included, from 5 October 2026 (Ley 9/2025).
  • The DeCA must be a PDF generated from structured data, under 5 MB, carrying a QR code and an HTTPS direct-download URL that needs no authentication.
  • It must contain the eight data items of article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012, including the contracting loader and the effective carrier identified by tax number.
  • The eCMR is optional: international transport can still use a paper CMR consignment note. The DeCA can no longer be on paper.

eCMR or DeCA: which one do you need?

It depends on where the transport starts and ends. A transport with its origin and destination in Spain, cabotage included, needs the DeCA from 5 October 2026. An international transport, even when part of its route runs through Spain, is documented with the CMR consignment note, on paper or electronic (eCMR). CargoPay issues both documents from the shipment data.

International → eCMR

  • Cross-border road freight under the CMR Convention
  • Signed by shipper, drivers and consignee
  • Optional: a paper CMR remains valid
About the eCMR

Spain, national → DeCA

  • Public road freight with origin and destination in Spain, cabotage included
  • PDF from structured data, opened by QR at a roadside check
  • Mandatory from 5 October 2026 under Ley 9/2025
About the DeCA

What exactly is an eCMR?

An eCMR is the CMR consignment note in electronic form. It carries the same content as the paper note (the parties, the loading and unloading places, the goods and their weight, the vehicles, the reservations) and plays the same role: it is the evidence of the contract of carriage, of the condition in which the goods were taken over, and of their delivery.

Its legal basis is the Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention concerning the electronic consignment note, adopted in Geneva in 2008 and in force since 5 June 2011. Its parties include Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Romania.

  • Signing follows a fixed order: shipper, then driver(s), then consignee.
  • Each party signs in a browser from a link sent by email, with no account and no app.
  • The result is a signed PDF with an audit trail; when the document came from a shipment, that shipment is marked delivered automatically.
Read the eCMR guide

What exactly is the DeCA?

The DeCA, or Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo, is the administrative control document that must be carried on board during public road freight transport within Spain and that inspection services can request at a roadside check. From 5 October 2026 it must be electronic: a PDF generated from structured data, identified by a QR code that lets an inspector open it on the spot.

The control document itself is required by article 222 of the ROTT (Real Decreto 1211/1990) and regulated by Orden FOM/2861/2012, whose article 6, as amended by Real Decreto 70/2019, fixes its minimum content. The eighth transitional provision of Ley 9/2025 makes it mandatorily digital from 5 October 2026, and the Resolución of 5 June 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784) sets its technical requirements.

It is not a consignment note. The consignment note is a commercial document between shipper and carrier; the DeCA is an administrative document that shows compliance with transport rules. Its format is free, though: it may use the layout of a consignment note, an ADR transport document, a waste identification document (DI) or a SANDACH document, provided it is electronic, contains every article 6 data item and names the contracting loader and the effective carrier expressly and separately. Using a CMR layout on a national transport does not bring that transport under the CMR Convention.

Who does it apply to, and from when?

It applies to public road freight transport with its origin and destination in Spain, cabotage included, from 5 October 2026. International transport that runs partly through Spain falls outside it and continues to use the CMR consignment note.

Within the DeCA

  • Public road freight with origin and destination in Spain
  • Cabotage performed on Spanish territory
  • Dangerous goods within Spain, alongside the ADR transport document

Outside the DeCA

  • International transport, which uses the CMR consignment note
  • Own-account transport of a company's own goods
  • Removals, and parcel services with a small number of packages
  • Broken-down vehicles carried on special vehicles, and transport that needs no authorisation

CargoPay issues both documents from the shipment data. For international transport, see the eCMR, the electronic consignment note.

What data must the DeCA contain?

Article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012 sets eight mandatory fields, lettered a to h. CargoPay's document covers all of them from data you already enter when creating the shipment.

Art. 6 Mandatory field How CargoPay covers it
a) Contracting loader: name or company name, NIF and address Printed in the parties table, with the loading company's tax number and full address.
b) Effective carrier: name or company name and NIF Printed in the transport table, alongside the carrier's tax number and contact details.
c) Place of origin and destination of the consignment Loading and unloading places, taken from the shipment's structured addresses.
d) Nature and weight of the goods Goods table with description, quantity, weight and volume for each line.
e) Identification of the special traffic authorisation, when the vehicle needs one Captured in the observations field when the vehicle requires a special permit.
f) Date the transport is performed A dedicated transport-date field, distinct from the record's creation date.
g) Vehicle plates (tractor plus trailer or semi-trailer), and any change of vehicle after departure Tractor, trailer and second-trailer plates in the vehicles table; a change of vehicle is recorded by issuing a revision.
h) Observations, reservations or other indications, when the parties ask for them Free-text observations and special instructions field.
The two roles most often confused. The contracting loader is whoever contracts the transport, which is not always whoever physically loads the goods. The effective carrier is whoever holds the authorisation under which the transport is actually performed. When carrier A subcontracts carrier B, B is the effective carrier and A the contracting loader. The contracting loader answers for data a) to d), the effective carrier for e) to g).

What technical requirements do the rules impose?

The Resolución of 5 June 2026 goes beyond content: it defines how the file must be generated, how it must be published, and how it must be readable at the roadside. Here are the requirements and CargoPay's answer to each.

PDF generated from structured data

The document is composed directly from shipment data. It is never a scan or a photograph, which the rules declare invalid.

Maximum size of 5 MB

A single-shipment document runs to a few hundred kilobytes, far below the ceiling.

A unique URL per document, HTTPS with TLS 1.2 or above

Every issued document gets its own unique identifier in the URL and is served over HTTPS only.

The link must work until the service ends

The rules allow download to be switched off seven calendar days after the service ends. CargoPay keeps the link live for as long as the document is issued.

Direct download, no credentials, no manual interaction

The link opens the PDF immediately. There is no login screen, no sign-up and no intermediate step.

A QR code with the URL, inside the PDF

The QR is printed in the document header with high error correction so it scans reliably from paper.

Created before the service starts, with creation and modification time as PDF metadata

The PDF metadata carry the document's creation and last modification time, and the header prints the creation time.

Changes during the service, with traceability

CargoPay issues a revision that names the document it replaces and the reason for the change; the original stays downloadable.

A copy for the driver before departure

On a phone or printed, always showing the QR code. Handwritten notes on a printed copy are not taken into account.

Retention for at least one year

Both the contracting loader and the effective carrier keep it; if one of them generated it, it is enough that the other can download it. CargoPay keeps issued documents available at their URL.

A note on electronic signatures: signing the DeCA is not required for it to be valid. If the parties sign it, for example because it also serves a contractual purpose, the minimum is an eIDAS advanced electronic signature (AdES); a qualified signature (QES) is also valid. CargoPay issues the DeCA without a signature.

No registration is needed: DeCA files are not uploaded to any Ministry platform, DeCA applications need no certification, and since the Resolución of 5 June 2026 the domain where the files are stored no longer has to be registered.

How do you issue a DeCA in CargoPay?

In five steps, with nothing typed twice: the document is built from the shipment data you have already recorded.

1

Record the shipment

Origin, destination, goods and weight. If the shipment already exists in CargoPay, there is nothing to re-enter.

2

Assign carrier and vehicle

The effective carrier with its tax number and the tractor and trailer plates.

3

Generate the document

CargoPay composes the PDF straight from the shipment's structured data. Never from a scan.

4

Issue it and get the QR code

On issue the document receives its permanent public URL, and the QR code is printed on the PDF itself.

5

Hand it to the driver

Before the service starts, on a phone or on paper, always with the QR code. At a check, the officer scans the QR and the document opens at once.

What happens at a roadside check?

The officer scans the QR code on the document and the PDF opens directly in their browser over HTTPS. There is no login screen, no account to create and no app to install: the rules demand direct download with no credentials and no manual interaction, and that is how it is built.

  • The driver needs only the QR code, on screen or printed.
  • The document lives on the server, not on the driver's phone.
  • The link is unique per document and is marked not to be indexed by search engines.
  • If the driver has only the QR code, presenting it is enough.
  • The link does not expire while the document is issued.

Scan → HTTPS → PDF.
Three seconds, no extra steps.

Frequently asked questions about the eCMR and the DeCA

It depends on where the transport starts and ends. A public road freight transport with its origin and destination in Spain, cabotage included, needs the DeCA from 5 October 2026. An international transport, even when part of its route runs through Spain, is documented with the CMR consignment note, which can be on paper or electronic (eCMR). CargoPay issues both documents from the shipment data.

No. The 5 October obligation concerns the DeCA, for transport within Spain. International transport keeps using the control documents of the conventions Spain has signed, in practice the CMR consignment note, which can still be on paper.

An eCMR is the CMR consignment note in electronic form: the same document that accompanies a road freight shipment and records what was loaded, by whom, for whom and in what condition it arrived, signed on a screen instead of on three paper copies.

Yes, between countries party to the Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention concerning the electronic consignment note, adopted in Geneva in 2008 and in force since 5 June 2011. Its parties include Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Romania.

No. Shipper, drivers and consignee each receive a link by email and sign in the browser, on any phone or computer. Only the company issuing the document needs a CargoPay account.

The DeCA (Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo) is the administrative control document that must be carried on board during public road freight transport within Spain, and that transport inspectors can request at a roadside check. From 5 October 2026 it must be electronic: a PDF generated from structured data and opened through a QR code. It is not a consignment note: the consignment note is a commercial document between shipper and carrier, while the DeCA shows compliance with transport rules.

On 5 October 2026. The eighth transitional provision of Ley 9/2025 makes the control document mandatorily digital ten months after the law entered into force, and the Resolución of 5 June 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784) sets its technical requirements. According to the Ministry of Transport, no further period without penalties is planned after that date.

No. The DeCA covers transport with its origin and destination in Spain, including cabotage. International transport, even when part of it runs through Spain, continues to be documented with the CMR consignment note under the CMR Convention, which CargoPay issues as an eCMR.

No. It is required for public road freight transport only, so a company carrying its own goods (transporte privado complementario) is outside it, although it must carry other documents under article 102.2 of the LOTT. Article 2 of Orden FOM/2861/2012 also exempts removals, parcel and similar services with a small number of packages that one person can handle, transport of broken-down or damaged vehicles in special vehicles, and transport that needs no authorisation.

Orden FOM/2861/2012 obliges both the contracting loader and the effective carrier to formalise it, without saying which of them produces it. Both are liable if it is missing from the vehicle, unless the contracting loader proves that it was issued. When carrier A subcontracts carrier B, B is the effective carrier and A is the contracting loader.

Both the contracting loader (cargador contractual: name or company name, NIF and address) and the effective carrier (transportista efectivo: name or company name and NIF), under article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012.

No. From 5 October 2026 the control document must be electronic, and the Resolución of 5 June 2026 requires the PDF to be generated directly from structured data: scanned or photographed documents are not valid. The driver may carry a printed copy of the DeCA, as long as it shows the QR code; handwritten notes on it are not taken into account.

Yes, as a format. The DeCA has no fixed layout, so it may use the layout of a consignment note, a CMR, an ADR transport document, a waste identification document or a SANDACH document, provided it is an electronic document that meets the Resolución of 5 June 2026, contains every article 6 data item, and names the contracting loader and the effective carrier expressly and separately. Using a CMR layout on a national transport does not bring that transport under the CMR Convention.

No. Neither Orden FOM/2861/2012 nor the Resolución requires a signature for the document to be valid. If the parties sign it, for example because it also serves a contractual purpose, the minimum is an eIDAS advanced electronic signature (AdES); a qualified signature (QES) is also valid. CargoPay issues the DeCA without a signature.

They scan the QR code printed on the document. The link opens the PDF directly over HTTPS with no username, no password and no additional manual step. If the driver has only the QR code, presenting it is enough.

Article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012 requires a change of vehicle after departure to be recorded. The Resolución allows either adding the new data to the existing PDF, which keeps its URL and QR, or issuing a new PDF with a new URL and QR while keeping the original for traceability. CargoPay issues a revision that names the document it replaces and the reason; the original stays downloadable. In both cases the new PDF must reach the driver.

At least one year, by both the contracting loader and the effective carrier. If one of them generated it, it is enough that the other can download it for that year. CargoPay keeps each issued document downloadable at its URL.

No. The DeCA is not a Ministry application, and DeCA files are not uploaded to any Ministry platform: they stay in a repository from which they can be downloaded at a roadside check. DeCA applications need no certification, and since the Resolución of 5 June 2026 the domain of the repository no longer has to be registered.

No. eFTI (Regulation (EU) 2020/1056) is the European framework for exchanging freight transport information electronically between companies and authorities through certified eFTI platforms. The DeCA is the Spanish control document. The Resolución states that when the article 6 data are managed and presented using the eFTI scheme, the DeCA PDF is not needed. CargoPay issues the DeCA as a PDF under the Resolución.

Issue your first transport document

Walk the whole flow from the shipment to the finished document: a DeCA opened by QR code before the 5 October obligation takes effect, or an eCMR signed by every party.

Issue my first document Read the eCMR guide See CargoPay Payments too

Notice. This page summarises the applicable rules for information only and is not legal advice. References are to the Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention concerning the electronic consignment note, Ley 9/2025 (eighth transitional provision), article 222 of Real Decreto 1211/1990, the Resolución of 5 June 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784), Orden FOM/2861/2012 as amended by Real Decreto 70/2019 and Orden TRM/282/2026, and the Ministry of Transport's DeCA FAQ. For how they apply to your own operation, consult the official text in the BOE or your adviser.