From 23 January 2026, Rios Sangiao will begin providing food liquid transport services with loads of up to 44 tonnes.

According to the publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of Order PJC/780/2025, which amends the General Vehicle Regulations, general cargo trucks can increase their capacity to 44 tonnes in Spain as of 23 October.

In the case of tanker trucks, which is the case that affects us at Rios Sangiao, we will be able to operate with 44 tonnes from 23 January next year.

At present, our isothermal tankers cannot travel at full load, which means that on each journey there is a loss of efficiency due to unused space.

This change therefore represents an optimisation of resources and an improvement in our competitiveness, given that all our vehicles with isothermal tanks for transporting liquid foodstuffs are approved for loads of up to 44 tonnes, as referred to in the text. Next year, we will be able to make more effective use of the full capacity of our lorries, achieving greater efficiency.

It should be noted that although most European Union countries have already adopted this measure, there is still no complete harmonisation at European level with regard to regulations on weights and dimensions in road transport. Trucks carrying 44 tonnes of cargo will not be able to continue to operate cross-border for the time being, as no truck will be allowed to cross a border with a load exceeding 40 tonnes.

This last part affects us significantly because a large percentage of our liquid food transport operations are carried out on international routes throughout the European Union, mainly to the Netherlands and Holland, so we hope that the next step for the authorities in the not too distant future will be to harmonise regulations at European level European Union and the opening of borders to these more competitive, efficient and sustainable loads.

In conclusion, this change paves the way for us to improve efficiency in 2026 in an area in which we specialise, namely the transport of dairy products, cream and the daily collection of raw milk from farms to factories. As these are domestic routes, we will be able to take full advantage of the potential and load capacity of our isothermal tankers and achieve more competitive costs.

If you don't have one, start looking for one because stocks are expected to run out towards the end of the year. From 1 January 2026, all passenger cars, adaptable mixed-use vehicles, goods vehicles and non-special vehicle combinations must have one of these beacons to signal in an emergency.

Logically, all our vehicles already have this signalling system, as at Rios Sangiao we believe that the professional transport of liquid foodstuffs means that the safety protocols we apply must be more stringent than the legislation.

When asked whether the beacons sold to date are valid, the answer is very Galician: IT DEPENDS.

The DGT establishes the mandatory requirement for geopositioning and connectivity of the beacon with Traffic Control Centres, something that many older models in circulation do not have (especially basic models), meaning that they will not comply with the legislation and must be replaced.

What are the requirements for valid beacons as of 1 January 2026?

• Be type-approved
• Have geopositioning capability
• Autonomous connectivity with Traffic Control Centres
• Pre-established connectivity plan with a minimum of 12 years from the date of purchase.
• Be visible from a minimum distance of 1,000 metres in optimal conditions.

It must be carried in the glove compartment or somewhere accessible without leaving the passenger compartment and, in an emergency, it must be placed on the roof or in a visible area of the vehicle within reach, only leaving the vehicle if we have first ensured that it is safe to do so.

The DGT (Spanish Traffic Authority) has published a list of devices approved in accordance with regulations on its website, along with a series of frequently asked questions and answers about the use of this type of beacon.

The Galician Federation of Freight Transport (FEGATRAMER) has launched an initiative to challenge in court the well-known and much-discussed nullity of the AP9 concession on the basis of its illegality, as declared by the European Commission more than five years ago.

Galicia is structured around the Atlantic corridor that connects Ferrol, Coruña, Santiago, Pontevedra, Vigo and Portugal, facilitating the movement of people and goods and consolidating a logistics corridor that is essential for the competitiveness of Galicia's productive fabric.

In addition to its role as basic transport infrastructure, the AP-9 is a strategic element for the future development of the region. It is key to attracting investment, boosting tourism and promoting business cooperation, and its continuity towards Portugal makes Galicia a privileged gateway for trade with
the Portuguese market and the European area, thus reinforcing the geostrategic position of the community in the north-west of the peninsula.

Since its construction in 1973, it has been a toll motorway in order to recoup the €1.428 billion invested, with its first concession ending in 1994 with a compensatory extension of 10 years until 2004, but the Administration extended the term for another 25 years and it was sold for around €1 billion to a consortium of companies whose economic objective was to reach €98 million per year to amortise the purchase and the outstanding capital.000 million euros to a consortium of companies whose economic objective was to reach 98 million euros per year to recoup the purchase and the outstanding capital.

These two extensions are contrary to European law, and for this reason, various groups, including FEGATRAMER, have taken legal action to demand that the route be made free of charge.

These claims highlight the illegality of the process due to the profit motive behind the operation and the absence of announcements or tendering procedures. Therefore, we request the immediate cancellation of the tolls and the reimbursement of the amounts paid to the concessionaire, as the contract
would be considered null and void.

It is clear that, from the transport sector's point of view, the AP9 toll road being free of charge will result in lower logistics costs for goods originating in or destined for our region. For a product that is of particular concern to us at Rios Sangiao, namely the transport of fresh milk from farms to factories, it
would be hugely beneficial to be able to pass on the savings to our customers and provide a much more competitive service.

Food logistics faces a constant challenge: ensuring that products reach their destination with the same physical, chemical, and organoleptic properties they had at origin. In the case of transporting liquid foods, this challenge intensifies during the summer months, when outside temperatures easily exceed 38°C and remain so throughout entire days of travel.

At Ríos Sangiao, we have been specializing in this field for decades and have a fleet of high-efficiency isothermal tanker trucks that minimize temperature variations throughout the entire journey.
Thanks to this technology, we ensure that the products transported experience a deviation of less than 3°C, even on journeys of thousands of kilometers and under conditions of intense external heat.

How does the isothermal capacity of a tanker work?

Isothermal tanks are constructed with materials and coatings specifically designed to thermally insulate the interior of the tank. This insulation prevents thermal energy from the outside environment from being
transmitted to the liquid inside, thus maintaining the temperature of the cargo within a controlled range.
In our equipment, this insulation capacity is reinforced by:

• Multi-layer insulation layers that minimize heat transfer.
• Control and monitoring systems that allow temperature stability to be verified during transport

This level of precision is particularly important for sensitive food liquids such as juices, wines, oils, and especially milk and cream, where excessive temperature variation can affect not only the taste or texture, but also food safety.

Advantages of keeping temperature variation below 3°C

Thermal control provides concrete and measurable benefits throughout the entire supply chain:

1. Preservation of organoleptic quality: liquids arrive with the same properties they had when they left their place of origin.
2. Food safety: the proliferation of microorganisms or product degradation due to temperature changes is prevented.
3. Regulatory compliance: we comply with European and national requirements for the transport of food products.
4. Reduction of losses: the product arrives intact, minimizing waste and ensuring end customer satisfaction.

Experience and commitment

The recent period of extreme heat has tested the reliability of our tankers. Once again, the results have been conclusive: our vehicles have maintained thermal stability even under the most demanding
conditions, reinforcing the trust our customers place in us.

At Ríos Sangiao, we understand that it is not just a matter of transporting food liquids, but of doing so under the exact conditions that each product requires. That is why we continuously invest in technological innovation, specialized maintenance, and training for our team.

In short, the isothermal capacity of our tanks represents a key competitive advantage for our customers, especially in times of intense heat. Being able to guarantee a variation of less than 3°C over thousands of kilometers is not only a technical achievement, but also a commitment to food safety
and product quality.

At Ríos Sangiao, we continue to move in the same direction: offering transport solutions that combine experience, technology, and rigor, ensuring that the product reaches its destination in perfect condition.

Rios Sangiao is a family business now in its third generation in the food liquid transport sector and has always been closely linked to its place of origin.

Our offices have always been based in Oroso (A Coruña, Spain) and from here we have grown to reach international markets, but always with an eye on the place where we started out.

We feel very connected to Galicia, which, with its strong dairy industry, has been and continues to be an essential market for us in the transport of liquid foodstuffs. Furthermore, due to the characteristics of fresh milk, we have specialised in one of the most delicate liquid foodstuffs to transport and ensured that our quality standards have always been the highest. Our land has taught us to work with the utmost care.

And, of course, Oroso has always been our home. It is where our tanker trucks return at the end of the year and where our workshops and offices are located. It is where we are enveloped by the fog and humidity of winter and where we sweat in the stifling heat of summer. But we like it because it is our place.

For all these reasons, we have always wanted to collaborate with the local community, and we are putting this collaboration into practice by supporting sporting activities such as today's Half Marathon and 10 km race on the English Way, organised by Rede Stelar.

We feel part of our community, a large part of our staff belongs to it, and together we work for a social environment with quality employment and social well-being.

Those of us who work in road transport, especially the transport of liquid foodstuffs, know that to arrive on time at our destination, it is not important to drive fast, but rather to plan the route well and avoid setbacks.

Although we usually associate road logistics with experienced drivers, the truth is that behind the collection or delivery of milk, wine, glucose, etc., there is not only a driver and a truck with an insulated tanker, but also a team of people providing technical and planning support.

Our traffic team is based at our offices in Oroso (A Coruña, Spain), and their duties range from optimising route planning to resolving incidents that occur on our vehicles' routes.

Route optimisation ensures that each truck makes the most of every journey. If we have to deliver olive oil to Antwerp, for example, our traffic team looks for a nearby location where they can load the same product or a washing facility to clean the tanker and load it again so that it can return with a new load or
even be taken to another destination, such as Munich in Germany.

The traffic team also plans the farms where our trucks collect fresh milk every day to take it to the factory, taking into account the litres loaded at each farm, the capacity of each insulated tanker and the distance to the factory.

This entire real-time puzzle of routes, driving times, vehicle and isothermal tank positions, service points, loading and unloading points is organised using management software that helps us quickly find the best option for each scenario.

This technology requires continuous training for the team assigned to traffic so that they can implement the improvements that technology offers us through new telemetry systems, artificial intelligence and vehicle parameter management.

So, it has long since ceased to be a matter of starting the truck and heading to the destination. We plan, optimise, anticipate and finally arrive on time. Every collection is made on time and every delivery is made at the right moment so as not to interrupt the logistics chain for liquid food products as delicate as
fresh milk, cream or olive oil.

In our last post, we talked about the safety measures we incorporate into our vehicles to minimise unforeseen events during loading and unloading in industrial areas and factories producing dairy products or food liquids in general. However, there are other additional measures that have a
greater impact on safety on the road, helping to minimise any incidents.

One of these measures that also contributes to driver comfort is the front radar or distance control. This is a device located at the front of the tractor unit that is capable of detecting obstacles and vehicles travelling in front of the truck in order to modulate its speed and automatically maintain a safe distance at all times. This device also emits an audible warning to the driver in the event of obstacles and, if necessary, can brake the truck if the driver does not respond to the alarm for any reason.

This measure is complemented by speed control, which is more widely implemented in all types of vehicles and keeps the truck at a constant speed without the driver having to keep their foot on the accelerator, greatly contributing to comfort on the road.

The importance of driver comfort translates into less fatigue and better responsiveness to unforeseen events.

Another fundamental part of the transit of our isothermal tanker trucks is the application of route control and monitoring. This helps us to optimise the route by planning stops from the outset. rest breaks, refuelling points, and departure and arrival times at each point.

This planning requires constant communication between our vehicles and the traffic team at our offices, who are on the lookout for any changes that may arise due to unforeseen circumstances such as traffic jams or the unavailability of a refuelling point, to give just two examples.

Nowadays, route optimisation is an essential tool in our work to reduce fuel consumption, cost per journey and delivery times. In the same way that we renew our trucks, we apply a continuous training system to our staff with the improvements that technology offers us.

Maintaining a fleet of vehicles in good condition is a significant undertaking for a business, and sometimes the question arises: is it worth it? Of course it is.

One of the key points to consider in new isothermal tanker trucks is safety. The first priority is the safety of our drivers in the event of an accident, but fortunately, such incidents are becoming less and less frequent.

However, minor collisions and accidents without personal injury are more common, but these can cause major inconveniences in terms of delays in the delivery or collection of the liquid food stuffs we transport. Damaged goods during loading or unloading, a minor collision while driving or an incident during a break may not pose a serious risk, but they can disrupt delivery schedules, causing delays and affecting the productivity of the destinationplant.

For this reason, the safety measures implemented in our trucks help to reduce the risk of minor incidents that in practice result in significant delays and financial losses.

In the latest MAN vehicles purchased in recent weeks, drivers have a 5-metre panoramic view of the cab's surroundings thanks to wide-angle cameras, which virtually eliminate blind spots around the truck.

They also incorporate proximity sensors that detect any object that comes into the vehicle's path when manoeuvring. In these cases, it is usually the people involved in loading and unloading who inadvertently place themselves in dangerous areas.

This makes loading and unloading food liquids much safer and ensures that everything goes according to plan, meeting delivery deadlines and respecting the controlled times and temperatures for the food liquids we transport.

In addition, there are other safety measures that have a greater impact on the reliability of goods transport, which we will explain in a future blog post.

Safety translates into reliability in transport and on-time deliveries.

We recently told you how the delivery of the ten new trucks we have added to our fleet had gone and that this would strengthen our quality of service and reliability in logistics deliveries.

Our fleet of isothermal tankers is on average about three years old and this, apart from reducing emissions and being more sustainable, helps us to raise our punctuality rates beyond 90%.

We can boast that our deliveries arrive on time more than 90% of the time and this means arriving when the delivery is due. Not before and not after and those of us in logistics know that this is important. It is important to note that the remaining cases include all the causes of delays due to unforeseen traffic
problems, delays in unloading slots or bay allocations, etc.

In any case, the modern systems with which our trucks are equipped allow us to recalculate deliveries and adjust schedules so that our customers always have up-to-date information and can better manage deliveries.

In ports such as Rotterdam, where thousands of trucks arrive and depart daily, it is essential to arrive at the time of unloading and leave as soon as possible. The logistics companies we work with there apply meticulous planning to their loading, unloading and storage times for huge quantities of goods.

Another case where punctuality of deliveries and collections is crucial is in the dairy sector, where we must collect the products when the factory completes its storage capacity or unload them before production is interrupted due to lack of stocks. All this, in the context of a liquid food product with an extremely high turnover due to the short times in which it has to be handled to keep its properties intact.

Thus, being on time does not mean arriving ahead of schedule, but arriving at the right time. And for this it is important to have a modern fleet of isothermal tankers that reduce unforeseen events to a minimum, offer full availability and help us to avoid unforeseen events through telemetry and active safety systems.

That's why we invest in innovation and that's why we deliver.

Last Thursday, June 5, a meeting took place at MAN Coruña, attended by the General Manager of the brand in Spain, the Marketing Manager, our CEO Brais Sangiao and more than 150 people representing companies linked to the world of logistics and road transport.

It was the presentation of two new engines. On the one hand, the new D30 engine, with a maximum efficiency of more than 50% and one of the best fuel consumptions in its category, saving 5% of fuel and emissions, and on the other hand, the electric propulsion of the eTGX model, which represents a new paradigm in the sustainability of road freight transport, with great challenges still pending at the level of recharging infrastructures.

In this event we also delivered the 10 new units recently acquired by Rios Sangiao that will replace vehicles of our fleet that were already around seven years of service. These new vehicles, equipped with the latest MAN D30 engine, reduce the average age of our fleet to 3 years and make our trucks a more efficient and sustainable fleet, reducing our carbon footprint.

The new tractor units that will be incorporated into the latest isothermal tanks acquired have a maximum efficiency of more than 50% and one of the best fuel consumptions in their category, among the most advanced commercial vehicle engines in the world, saving 5% in fuel and emissions
compared to previous generations.

In addition, these new cabins incorporate new safety measures that, although not yet mandatory, will be obligatory in the medium term and put us a step ahead in terms of innovation in our vehicles and in terms of safety regulations.

In this way, we achieve several of our policy objectives

• emission reduction in the transportation of liquid foodstuffs
• gaining efficiency in road transport
• to further increase the reliability of our equipment in order to continue
  to deliver on time
• make our drivers' jobs safer

The continuous improvement of our processes and, in short, of our service, entails this type of investment in order to have better working tools that result in efficient and reliable transportation.