DeCA roadside check: what the inspector asks for
At a check, the inspector does not ask whether you have a consignment note: they ask for the control document of the service you are performing, with its data and its QR code.
Free: no fee, no document limit and no commitment.
A practical guide, with the Resolution of 5 June 2026 at hand.
What the inspector asks for
The check looks at the carriage on the road, not at the company’s general paperwork.
- The DeCA for the service.
- Not any document of the company: the one for the carriage on the road, with its origin, its destination and its goods.
- The article 6 data.
- Contractual consignor, actual carrier, dates, plates, and the special permit where one applies.
- The QR code.
- The code sits inside the PDF and opens the document without asking for an account. It can also be carried as a separate image.
- Any changes.
- Every modification appears with its reason, and the original is kept.
How to show it
The Resolution accepts the phone and paper. What it does not accept is being unable to show the document.
- On the phone or on paper.
- The driver decides how to carry it, but must be able to show it at the check.
- The QR code alone is enough.
- If the PDF is not at hand, the QR code the driver carries opens the document.
- Without authentication.
- The download the QR code leads to cannot ask for a user and a password.
What else the inspector reads
A document that exists is not enough if it does not match the carriage being performed.
- That it existed before the service.
- A DeCA created after the carriage started does not explain the journey already under way.
- That the data matches.
- The plate, the driver and the goods on the sheet are the ones in the vehicle.
- That the QR code does not lead to an old version.
- The code link always opens the latest version of the document, and the history says what changed.
If something does not add up
Most problems at a check are solved by showing the right document, not by arguing.
- If the QR code does not open.
- Show the downloaded PDF. If you do not have that either, the check can ask the company for an explanation.
- If the change came at the last minute.
- Record it through the document link before the inspector asks: the change keeps its reason and its time.
- If you disagree.
- Do not argue at the roadside. Ask for the report and read the text of the rule calmly.
What the Resolución requires of the file
It exists before departure
The file is generated before the service starts, and the driver carries it on a phone or on paper, always with the QR code.
A PDF of up to 5 MB
With the creation date and the date of the last change inside the file itself.
A QR that leads to the document
Inside the PDF, as required; a separate image is optional. Whoever scans it downloads the PDF directly, with no sign-in.
Changes, with their reason
If something changes during the journey, the new item is added with its reason and the previous one is marked as no longer valid, or a new file is made and the original is kept.
It is kept for one year
The contractual shipper (cargador contractual) and the actual carrier keep the files they generate for one year.
Article 6, box by box.
The condition can be checked, so here it is checked: what the rule asks for, and where it lives on the sheet.
Who answers for it
- Contractual shipper: name, tax number and address. Printed on the sheet.Box 1
- Actual carrier: name and tax number. Printed on the sheet.Boxes 6 and 7
What moves, and where
- Place of loading and place of delivery. Printed on the sheet.Boxes 3 and 4
- Nature and weight of the goods. Printed on the sheet.Boxes 10 to 15
- Date of carriage. Printed on the sheet.Boxes 3 and 21
What moves it
- Tractor unit and trailer plates. Printed on the sheet.Box 6
- Remarks. Printed on the sheet.Boxes 13, 18 and 24
- Special movement authorisation. Printed on the sheet.Box 18
Checked against the data model on 1 September 2026. It is our own check on our own document, not anybody’s approval.
Questions about the DeCA roadside check
What people ask when they show the DeCA.
- Which document is shown at a roadside check?
- The DeCA for the service being performed, with the article 6 data and the QR code that opens the document.
- Is the phone enough, or is paper required?
- Both are accepted. The DeCA can be carried on the phone or on paper, as long as it can be shown.
- Does the QR code need an account?
- No. The QR code leads to a direct download of the document, with no authentication.
- What if the carriage changes mid-route?
- The change is added to the document with its reason, or goes in a new file that keeps the original.
- Does the DeCA replace the consignment note?
- It can be the same sheet: the consignment note is prepared to be used as a DeCA when it carries the article 6 data. In international carriage, the document is the CMR consignment note or the eCMR.
Section Eight of the Resolución allows the DeCA to take the format of a consignment note, of an ADR transport document or of a waste identification document, provided it carries every item of data in article 6 of the Orden FOM/2861/2012. The DeCA in detail
Keep reading
The other answers this site gives, each on its own page.
Where each fact comes from.
Checked on 23 September 2026.
BOE-A-2026-12784
Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026Digital obligation from 5 October 2026, native PDF up to 5 MB, QR carrying the document URL, direct download without authentication, one year minimum retention, advanced signature at least where the DeCA is also used for a contractual purpose and has to be included signed, and section Eight on the consignment note format.
BOE
Ley 9/2025, de 3 de diciembre, de movilidad sostenibleEntry into force on 5 December 2025 and transitional provision eight: the administrative control document of public road haulage of goods must be digital ten months later, which sets 5 October 2026.
BOE
Orden FOM/2861/2012Article 6: the list of data the control document has to carry.
Ministerio de Transportes
Preguntas frecuentes DeCAScope of the obligation, and the role of SIMPLE.
Comisión Europea
Reglamento (UE) 2020/1056Full application on 9 July 2027 and who it binds, with its implementation page.
Naciones Unidas
Protocolo Adicional al CMRElectronic consignment note: states party, and article 3 on a reliable method of signature.
BOE
Ley 15/2009Inland carriage contract: articles 10 bis, 11 and 15 on the consignment note.
BOE-A-1987-17803
Ley 16/1987, de 30 de julio, de Ordenación de los Transportes TerrestresArticles 141.17 and 143.1.d: the missing mandatory control documentation and its fine of 401 to 600 euros.
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