There are now only a few days left before it becomes compulsory to carry the Electronic Administrative Control Document (DeCA) on board vehicles; specifically, the regulation comes into force on 5 October, according to information from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.

All domestic transport within the national territory originating in or destined for Spain, as well as cabotage operations, must carry the document; however, international transport that passes partially through Spain is exempt. The following would therefore be affected by this measure:

Contractual shippers

those who contract the transport service.

Actual carriers:

those who physically carry out the transport.

Logistics operators

acting as intermediaries with contractual responsibility for the operation.

The regulations set out in Order TRM/282/2026 have clarified the scope: the shipper is responsible for the consignment details; the carrier, for the operational details; and both may face penalties if the document is missing, was not generated before the start of the journey, or fails to include mandatory information.

For companies such as ours, which transport liquid foodstuffs, where each service may be subject to changes to stops or changes of plan during the journey, generating the documentation before the driver sets off can be complicated if the process is not centralised and digitised.

In our case, we have implemented the management of these DeCA documents via our ERP system, and the traffic department generates and distributes this documentation to our drivers based on route planning carried out through our internal applications.

Mandatory requirements that this document must meet are

• It must be generated before the start of the route

• It must be capable of being displayed during a check via a screen or a printed QR code

• It must contain the contractual shipper’s details, the actual carrier, origin, destination, date, nature and weight of the goods, and the vehicle registration number.

• Access to the information must be retained for the statutory period

This digitisation represents a further step towards transport traceability and control based on digitised information; in fact, from July next year, the CMR or international consignment note will be valid throughout Europe in its digital eCMR version, although it will still be possible to carry it in printed form.

Legislation is therefore moving towards fully digitised road transport management, which in most cases simplifies administrative procedures and helps companies like ours to be more efficient and have greater control over our vehicles and deliveries.

A delivery doesn’t begin when the tanker sets off, nor does it end when the goods are delivered. Our team is working behind the scenes long before and after the service to ensure everything is in place.

It all begins when a customer issues a loading order, which can reach us through various channels – mostly via the customers’ own portals or by email, although we also receive orders via WhatsApp.

From there, our team springs into action, and the first step is to enter the order into our ERP system. This ensures it is recorded, and the system automatically retrieves the information needed to plan the collection:

Type of load

What it is: milk, drinking water, olive oil, sunflower oil, wine, fruit juices, glucose… depending on the product, different isothermal tankers are allocated, each with varying equipment.

Location, date and time of collection

Punctuality is important not only for delivery but also for collection, to facilitate industrial production processes and stock planning in warehouses.

Cargo specifications regarding required equipment

Fresh milk does not have the same characteristics or requirements as olive oil, let alone glucose. Whilst maintaining a constant temperature is essential for fresh milk, olive oil has a higher density and is loaded more slowly. At the other end of the scale, glucose requires special lobe pumps for loading due to its density.

Previous loads in the tanker.

It is common for isothermal tankers used to transport products such as fresh milk to carry only this product, or to require that previous loads meet certain specifications.

Availability of drivers

If we need to collect 8,000 litres of Ribera del Duero red wine in the province of Segovia for delivery to Burgos, we look for a way to dispatch the isothermal tanker that is closest and compatible with the load; however, the driver should not be close to the limit of their driving hours, so that they have sufficient time to complete the entire journey before the mandatory rest periods.

Potential subsequent load

The equation for finding the perfect isothermal tanker and driver also includes the factor of the load following unloading. If, in the previous example, we leave the 8,000 litres of wine in Burgos and take the opportunity to load 12,000 litres in Logroño to take to France, we only have a 130-kilometre empty journey, thereby making the most of the routes.

Once the driver, tanker and route have been selected, we finalise all the details in our management system and inform the client of all the service details by sending all the necessary documentation, such as identification documents, registration numbers, insurance certificates, etc.

The day before loading, the transport department sends all the instructions to the assigned driver via our digital tools, specifying all the load details and indicating the address of the associated tank-cleaning facility along with the cleaning specifications, as certain products require specific components in the cleaning process for isothermal tankers.

During the service, the transport department is constantly updated on the status of the consignment in real time, and we upload the documentation as it is generated (inward, collection, delivery and outward waybills, etc.) to the client’s portals.

Once the delivery is complete, the administrative work continues for the invoicing department, which is responsible for processing all the information contained in the ERP system and issuing the invoice within the timeframes agreed with the client, subject to approval by the transport department, which will verify that all invoiced items correspond to the services provided.