DeCA transport requirements are already raising many questions in day-to-day operations: who should generate the document, what happens when transport is subcontracted, how multiple destinations should be handled, which data is mandatory, how the driver should receive the document, or what happens if the information changes during the transport service.

During the latest webinars on the Electronic Control Document held together with Leviahub, we received dozens of questions from transport companies and professionals. Some came up in all three sessions. Others focused on very specific situations that many companies are likely to encounter in their own operations.

We have selected the most frequently asked questions and reviewed them against the current regulations to bring them together in this practical guide to DeCA.

What is DeCA and when is it mandatory?

DeCA is the Administrative Control Document required to document public road freight transport operations that fall within its scope. Under the new regulations, this document must be managed electronically and comply with specific requirements regarding its generation, access, modification and retention.

The document must be generated before the transport service actually begins, and the system used must record the date and time of its creation.

This is where many of the questions we received begin.

1. Who should generate the DeCA?

This was one of the most frequently asked questions during the webinars.

To answer it, two roles need to be clearly understood: the contractual shipper and the actual carrier.

The contractual shipper is the individual or legal entity that directly contracts the actual carrier to perform the transport. The actual carrier is the party that physically carries out the transport.

Both parties are required to formalise the control document and are responsible for the information corresponding to them.

This distinction is particularly important because the owner of the goods is not necessarily the contractual shipper.

2. What happens when transport is subcontracted?

Subcontracting was probably the topic that raised the most questions.

Consider the following chain:

Company A → Carrier B → Carrier C → Carrier D

To identify the parties involved in the corresponding document, it is necessary to determine who physically performs the transport and who directly contracted that party.

Therefore, where there is a subcontracting chain, identifying only the company that initially commissioned the transport is not enough. The contractual relationship that gives rise to the transport service ultimately being performed must be analysed.

This distinction between the contractual shipper and the actual carrier is essential for correctly managing DeCA.

3. Who is responsible for the data included in the DeCA?

The regulations divide responsibility for the information between the two parties.

The contractual shipper is responsible for the accuracy of:

• the contractual shipper's name or company name, tax identification number and address;
• the actual carrier's name or company name and tax identification number;
• the origin and destination of the shipment;
• the nature and weight of the goods.

The actual carrier is responsible for:

• details of any special circulation authorisation, where required;
• the date on which the transport is carried out;
• the registration numbers of the vehicles used.

This distinction is particularly relevant when DeCA is generated automatically using information held in different systems.

4. What information must the DeCA include?

In addition to identifying the contractual shipper and the actual carrier, the document must contain enough information to correctly identify the transport operation.

The essential information includes the origin and destination of the shipment, the nature and weight of the goods, the date of transport and the registration numbers of the vehicles used.

Where a special circulation authorisation is required, the corresponding information must also be included.

The regulations also allow the parties to include any additional information they consider useful for documenting the operation.

5. Does the driver's name or tax ID have to appear?

No. These are not among the mandatory data established for the control document.

This does not prevent a company from including additional information about the driver when useful for its internal processes.

The same applies to photographs, seals, observations or other evidence relating to the operation: they may form part of the company's document workflow, but they should be distinguished from the information specifically required by the DeCA regulations.

6. What happens if we do not know the exact weight of the goods?

The weight of the goods is part of the information that must appear in the document.

However, the regulations provide for cases where the circumstances of the load make it difficult to determine the exact weight. In these situations, , another type of measurement may be used to determine its weight..

It is important not to confuse this information with the total weight of the vehicle: the document refers to the weight of the goods being transported.

7. What happens if the weight or other information changes after the DeCA has been generated?

This is a common situation: the planned weight may be one figure, but the actual weight changes once the vehicle has been loaded. A vehicle registration number or other transport information may also change.

The regulations establish two ways of handling a modification.

The first is to modify the original PDF by adding the new information and the reason for the change, while retaining the previous information and clearly identifying it as no longer valid.

The second is to generate a new, updated PDF. In this case, a new URL and QR code are also generated, while the original document must be retained.

In both cases, the updated document must be provided to the driver.

This ensures that any modification preserves the traceability of the previous information.

8. Can a single DeCA be used for multiple destinations?

Yes, provided certain conditions are met.

The regulations allow several services to be recorded in a single DeCA when the contractual shipper and the actual carrier are the same for all of them..

Each shipment must be individually identified, including its origin and destination, the nature and weight of the goods, and any other mandatory information that differs between shipments.

This makes it possible to manage certain operations involving multiple loading or unloading points within a single document without losing the identification of each shipment.

9. What if we make several journeys between the same origin and destination?

Several services may also be grouped into a single DeCA provided the same requirements are met: the same contractual shipper, the same actual carrier and individual identification of each shipment.

This is particularly relevant when several transport services are carried out between the same locations during the same day but, for example, the weight or characteristics of the goods change.

Each service must be clearly identifiable within the document.

10. What happens in operations involving hubs or cross-docking?

Several questions during the webinars concerned goods collected from different locations, transported to a hub, consolidated and subsequently transported to another destination.

There is no specific DeCA rule governing cross-docking as an operation.

To determine how it should be documented, the different transport services involved must be analysed, identifying the contractual shipper and actual carrier for each one.

The presence of multiple origins, destinations, vehicles or contractual relationships may lead to different documentation requirements. This makes it particularly important to analyse the actual transport flow in these operations.

11. Is DeCA mandatory for international transport?

The Electronic Control Document applies to domestic transport operations that fall within its scope.

International transport operations that travel partly through Spanish territory do not have to be documented using DeCA simply because they circulate in Spain. In these cases, the documents established under the relevant international conventions are used, such as the CMR where applicable.

For example, a Barcelona–Bremen transport carried out as a single international operation does not become subject to DeCA during the Spanish section of the journey.

There is one important exception to bear in mind: cabotage operations carried out within Spain are included within the scope of DeCA..

12. What happens if there is a domestic transport operation before or after an international one?

The different operations need to be distinguished.

If there is an independent domestic transport service that takes the goods to the point from which a subsequent international operation begins, that first transport service must be analysed separately.

Therefore, a previous or subsequent journey cannot automatically be considered international simply because the goods eventually leave Spain.

The key is to correctly identify each transport operation and the contractual relationship behind it.

13. Does DeCA replace the CMR, delivery note or consignment note?

Not necessarily.

One of the options provided for by the regulations is to use the format of other documents employed in transport as the DeCA, provided that they contain all the information required for the Electronic Control Document and expressly identify the contractual shipper and actual carrier.

This may apply, for example, to certain transport documents, consignment notes or specific documentation associated with particular types of goods.

A company therefore does not necessarily have to multiply the number of documents it manages if a single document can meet the different applicable requirements.

14. What happens with ADR or waste documentation?

The existence of DeCA does not remove any specific documentation obligations associated with the type of goods being transported.

The regulations allow other documents to be used as the control document provided that they contain all the information required for DeCA and comply with the applicable requirements.

Documents associated with dangerous goods, waste or other specific transport operations may therefore be integrated into document management processes, provided that the obligations applicable in each case are met.

15. Does the driver need to install an app to carry the DeCA?

No.

Before the service begins, the driver must have the document available and carry it on board so that it can be presented if requested by an authority during transport.

This can be done using an electronic copy that can be displayed on a mobile device or a printed paper copy..

Both options must include the corresponding QR code.

The driver may also carry the QR code as a separate file to make it easier to present during an inspection.

A specific app is therefore not required.

16. How does the DeCA QR code work?

Each Electronic Control Document has a unique and specific URL, which is incorporated into the document through a QR code.

While the transport service is being carried out, that URL must allow the corresponding PDF to be downloaded directly.

Access cannot require credentials, authentication, clicking buttons or carrying out other manual actions before the document can be downloaded.

Once the transport has been completed, downloading through the URL must remain available for the established period. Seven calendar days after completion of the service, access through that URL may be disabled.

The document itself must still be retained for the corresponding statutory period.

17. What happens if the driver has the QR code but cannot access the document?

The driver must be able to present the document during transport if requested.

For this reason, the DeCA may be available electronically, as a printed copy with its corresponding QR code, or through the QR code itself as a separate file.

How this is managed will depend on each company's operations, provided that access to the document complies with the requirements established by the regulations.

18. Does the DeCA have to be signed?

No. An electronic signature is not required for the DeCA to be valid as a control document..

A different situation arises if the same document is also used to evidence contractual relationships or for another purpose for which a signature is required.

In that case, the requirements corresponding to that additional purpose must also be met.

This distinction avoids adding requirements to the DeCA process that actually relate to other documents or functions.

19. Can a scanned document be used as a DeCA?

No.

The DeCA must be a native digital PDF generated from structured data.

A document created by scanning a paper document or consisting simply of digitised images does not meet this requirement.

In addition, the generated PDF file cannot exceed 5 MB..

20. When must the DeCA be generated?

Before the transport service actually begins.

The system used must record the exact date and time the document was created.

This requirement is particularly relevant when DeCA is generated automatically from an ERP, TMS or another platform, as document generation must be integrated into the operational workflow before transport begins.

21. How long must a DeCA be retained?

The contractual shipper and actual carrier must retain the electronic DeCA files for at least one year..

Where one of the parties generates and stores the documents, the other party may fulfil this obligation if it is able to access and download them throughout that period.

In addition to generating the document, it is therefore advisable to define how it will be stored, who will be able to retrieve it and how long it will remain available.

22. Do DeCA documents have to be sent to a government platform?

No.

The document can be stored in the repository used by the company, and the domain from which access is provided can be any domain.

There is no requirement to notify the authorities of that domain in advance.

What matters is that the system allows the documents to be generated, retained and presented in accordance with the established requirements.

23. How does DeCA integrate with an ERP or TMS?

Much of the information required to generate a DeCA is usually already available in a company's management systems: orders, customers, addresses, goods, vehicles and carriers.

Integration makes it possible to reuse this data to generate the documentation and reduce manual data entry.

In a TMS, documentation can also be linked to the transport operation itself. The Control Document can be centralised alongside other transport documentation and kept accessible for consultation or in the event of an inspection.

This allows DeCA management to be incorporated into the same workflow used to plan, assign and manage transport operations.

DeCA transport: 10 quick answers

Many questions, but some issues come up again and again

After three webinars on DeCA, the questions we have heard most often relate to very common situations: subcontracting a transport service, changing a vehicle, modifying the weight after loading, working with several destinations or making sure the document reaches an external driver correctly.

It is therefore worth reviewing the entire process: who holds each piece of information, when the document is generated, how it is updated if something changes, how the driver accesses it and where it will be stored afterwards.

When document management is connected to an ERP or TMS, much of this information can be taken directly from the systems already involved in the operation. Within a TMS, the Control Document can also be centralised alongside the rest of the transport documentation, making it accessible for consultation or during an inspection.

The questions raised during these three webinars have shown us that many companies are encountering very similar situations.

Bringing them together in one place can help resolve them before they arise in day-to-day operations.

Regulatory sources

This article has been prepared with reference to the current regulations governing the Administrative Control Document:

• Order FOM/2861/2012 of 13 December – consolidated text published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE)..
• Resolution of 5 June 2026 of the Directorate-General for Road and Rail Transport..