The DeCA in container haulage
The DeCA is the control document that goes with every shipment of public road freight transport in Spain, including goods that travel in a container. Since 5 October 2026 it has to be electronic. Below is a sample DeCA for a container leaving the port of Valencia, with what the rules ask for in each box.
Reviewed on 19 October 2026. This is an informative summary, not legal advice. The text published in the BOE (Spain's official gazette) is what counts. See the rules
The DeCA in four facts
- Electronic, mandatory
- since 5/10/2026
- Minimum content
- Orden FOM/2861/2012, art. 6
- Format
- PDF with a QR code
- Kept for
- at least 1 year
The sheet, box by box
A sample DeCA for a 40-foot container leaving a terminal in the port of Valencia for a warehouse in Coslada. Each letter is a paragraph of article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012, which sets the minimum content. The layout and the name of the document are free (article 5); the file, however, has to be a PDF with its QR code.
Control document · DeCA
No. DC-0000-EXAMPLE
Created20/10/2026 18:05
a)Contracting shipper
b)Actual carrier
c)Origin and destination
- Origin
- MSC Terminal Valencia, port of Valencia
- Destination
- Importaciones Duero warehouse, Coslada (Madrid)
d)Nature and weight
e)Special traffic permit
f)Date of transport
g)Registration plates
- Tractor
- 0000 ZZZ
- Container chassis semi-trailer
- R 0000 ZZZ
h)Remarks
What goes in each box
a) Contracting shipper
Name or company name, tax ID (NIF) and address of whoever contracts the transport directly with the actual carrier. With a container this can be the shipping line, the freight forwarder, the importer or the exporter: whoever contracts the road leg. In the example, the importer.
Responsible for this data: the contracting shipper.
b) Actual carrier
Name or company name and tax ID of the holder of the licence under which the transport is physically carried out. If the shipment is subcontracted, it is the last one in the chain: whoever drives the truck.
Responsible for this data: the contracting shipper.
c) Origin and destination
Place of origin and place of destination of the shipment. In the example, the terminal where the container is collected and the warehouse where it is unloaded. If one DeCA groups several shipments, each has its own origin and destination.
Responsible for this data: the contracting shipper.
d) Nature and weight
What goods are carried and how much they weigh: the goods inside the container. If the exact weight is hard to know when loading, another measure is used to work it out.
Responsible for this data: the contracting shipper.
e) Special traffic permit
Only when the vehicle runs under a special permit issued by the traffic authority: that permit is identified. Without one, there is nothing to fill in.
Responsible for this data: the actual carrier.
f) Date of transport
The date on which that shipment is carried.
Responsible for this data: the actual carrier.
g) Registration plates
The vehicle's plate. For an articulated vehicle, the tractor's and the semi-trailer's or trailer's; with containers, usually a container chassis. If the vehicle changes once the transport has started, the transport company records it in the document.
Responsible for this data: the actual carrier.
h) Remarks
Remarks, reservations or any other useful note, when one of the parties asks for it. In the example, the container number and the seal number.
Responsible for this data: whoever adds it.
Responsibilities: article 7, as worded by Orden TRM/282/2026.
What the electronic format adds
- QR
QR code and web address
The PDF carries a QR code with its own web address, starting with https://. Opening it, the inspector downloads the PDF directly, with no password, sign-up or buttons. The link can be switched off seven calendar days after the service ends.
Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026, sections 2.3 and 3
- Created
Date and time of creation
The application records when the file is created, which must be before the service starts, and when it is changed. Both dates go in the PDF's metadata.
Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026, sections 1.2 and 2.1
Who issues it and who carries it
Two parties issue it
The contracting shipper and the actual carrier are both required to issue it. The rules don't say which of the two actually produces it. There are two copies, one each, and the carrier's travels on board.
Orden FOM/2861/2012, articles 4 and 8
When the job is subcontracted
If carrier A subcontracts a shipment to carrier B, B is the actual carrier and A becomes the contracting shipper.
Ministry of Transport, FAQ
Who doesn't need it
The order does not apply to:
- Transport that needs no prior licence from the Administration.
- Removals.
- Damaged or broken-down vehicles carried on special vehicles.
- Parcels and similar services: a few packages one person can handle with no more help than the tools on board.
Nor to own-account transport, a company moving its own goods: the order covers public transport only.
Orden FOM/2861/2012, articles 1 and 2
When the goods travel in a container
The order has no specific rules for containers. What follows is how the general rules apply to moving a container by road.
Who the contracting shipper is
The rules define it by the contract: whoever contracts the transport directly with the actual carrier, whether the shipper itself or an intermediary, and they name freight forwarders and logistics operators explicitly. If the shipping line contracts the road leg, the contracting shipper is the shipping line; if the importer, the exporter or their forwarder contracts it, it is them.
Orden FOM/2861/2012, article 4
One document per shipment
Under an ongoing contract, such as a forwarder that always works with the same carrier, there are as many control documents as shipments. One DeCA can group several shipments if the contracting shipper and the actual carrier are the same for all of them.
Orden FOM/2861/2012, article 3.2; Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026, section 6
Empty containers
The order speaks of a document that travels with the goods and does not mention empty containers. Neither does the Ministry's FAQ, as of 21 October 2026. If you collect or return empties, ask the Ministry or your trade association how to document them.
Orden FOM/2861/2012, article 3.1
Electronic since 5 October 2026
Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility gave ten months from its entry into force for the control document to be «necessarily digital». The Ministry gives 5 October 2026 as the date and states that the rules provide for no later grace period without penalties.
Dates in the rules
- 05/07/2013Orden FOM/2861/2012, which regulates the control document, comes into force.
- 05/12/2025Law 9/2025 comes into force. Its eighth transitional provision gives ten months to go digital.
- 29/03/2026Orden TRM/282/2026 corrects article 7: which data each party answers for.
- 12/06/2026The BOE publishes the Resolution of 5 June 2026 with the DeCA requirements: PDF, QR code and web address.
- 05/10/2026The electronic DeCA becomes mandatory.
Which transport it covers
Domestic public road freight transport: national transport and cabotage in Spain. International transport carries the control documents of the conventions Spain has signed.
Regulation of the Land Transport Act (ROTT), article 222
What the electronic format changes
Going digital doesn't change Orden FOM/2861/2012: same data, same parties. What changes is how it is produced, how it travels and how it is shown, as set by the Resolution of 5 June 2026.
| Topic | What the rules say | Where |
|---|---|---|
| In the cab | Before setting off, the driver gets a copy, on the phone or printed, and always with the QR code. On a paper copy, anything handwritten doesn't count. | Resolución, section 7 |
| At a roadside check | The driver shows the DeCA with its QR code, or just the QR code. The inspector downloads the PDF from the web address. | Resolución, sections 3 and 7 |
| If something changes on the way | Either the new data is added to the same PDF with the reason, marking the old data as no longer valid, or a new PDF is generated at a new address and the original is kept. Either way, the driver gets the updated PDF. | Resolución, section 5 |
| Several shipments in one DeCA | Allowed if the contracting shipper and the actual carrier are the same for all of them. Each shipment has its own origin, destination, nature and weight. | Resolución, section 6 |
| Signature | Not required. If it is signed, it must be at least an advanced electronic signature; a qualified one also works. | Resolución, section 4 |
| Keeping it | At least one year, by the contracting shipper and the actual carrier. Each may keep its own repository; if one generated it, it is enough for the other to be able to download it during that year. | Orden, article 9; Resolución, section 2.4 |
| Ministry | DeCAs don't have to be uploaded to any Ministry platform, and the application doesn't need certifying. The PDFs must sit in a repository they can be downloaded from at a check. | Ministry of Transport, FAQ |
| Other documents | A consignment note or other transport document works as a DeCA if it carries all the data in article 6 and tells the contracting shipper apart from the actual carrier. | Orden, article 2.2; Resolución, section 8 |
International transport: CMR and eCMR
The DeCA is for domestic transport. International transport uses the control documents of the conventions Spain has signed, such as the CMR consignment note.
The eCMR is that consignment note in electronic form. It is allowed by the Additional Protocol to the CMR, signed in Geneva on 20 February 2008, which gives it the same evidential value as paper. Spain acceded in 2011 and the protocol has applied to Spain since 9 August of that year. Portugal acceded in 2019.
Using it is optional: the Ministry states that since 5 October the eCMR is not mandatory in international transport. Conversely, using the CMR format for a domestic transport doesn't make it a CMR transport; it works as a DeCA if it carries the data in article 6.
What ContainerPlat does, and what it doesn't
ContainerPlat does not issue the DeCA. When the shipper awards a quote, it generates the transport order as a PDF with the customer and the awarded carrier, the stops on the route, the agreed dates, and each container with its goods and weight. That order has no registration plates and no QR code, which the rules require, so the contracting shipper or the carrier still issues the DeCA with another tool.
Sources
The rules this guide is based on, linked to the official text.
- Orden FOM/2861/2012, de 13 de diciembre (texto consolidado)
What the control document is, who issues it, minimum content, copies and how long to keep it.
www.boe.es
- Ley 9/2025, de 3 de diciembre, de Movilidad Sostenible
Eighth transitional provision: the control document goes digital ten months after the law comes into force.
www.boe.es
- Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026, de la Dirección General de Transporte por Carretera y Ferrocarril
DeCA requirements: PDF, QR code, web address, driver's copy, changes, signature and keeping.
www.boe.es
- Orden TRM/282/2026, de 25 de marzo
Corrects article 7 of Orden FOM/2861/2012: which data each party answers for.
www.boe.es
- Real Decreto 70/2019, de 15 de febrero
Gives article 6 of the order its current wording and adds paragraph 2 to article 222 of the regulation.
www.boe.es
- Reglamento de la Ley de Ordenación de los Transportes Terrestres (Real Decreto 1211/1990)
Article 222: control documents on board and, in international transport, those of the conventions.
www.boe.es
- Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible: preguntas frecuentes sobre el DeCA
Date, scope, signature, subcontracting, exemptions and eCMR.
www.transportes.gob.es
- Protocolo adicional al Convenio CMR relativo a la carta de porte electrónica
Spain's instrument of accession, BOE of 14 June 2011.
www.boe.es
- Convenio relativo al contrato de transporte internacional de mercancías por carretera (CMR)
Spain's instrument of accession, 1974.
www.boe.es
- Naciones Unidas: estado del Protocolo eCMR
Acceding countries and dates of accession.
treaties.un.org
We review this guide when the rules change. It is not legal advice: if in doubt, the text published in the BOE prevails.