Your first DeCA, today
If you don't have it yet, don't wait for a lengthy rollout: sign up for Effic Flotas, try the module free for 8 days and make sure your truck leaves with its document.
Sign up
Create your company's account in Effic Flotas. The first 8 days are free.
Issue your first DeCA
With the quick wizard: who contracts, who carries it and with which vehicle, what you're carrying and where to. If the customer or vehicle is missing, you add it as you go.
The driver already has it
As soon as it's issued, the PDF with its QR code reaches the driver via WhatsApp, ready to show at a roadside inspection.
8-day free trial at efficflotas.com
Since 5 October 2026 paper no longer counts
The control document for domestic road freight in Spain is now mandatorily electronic, with a QR code and roadside download.
Current risk
Sticking with paper or a standalone PDF, with no QR code and no repository. Not having it—or missing essential data—is a serious infringement under art. 141.17 LOTT, with joint and several liability for the shipper and the carrier.
New requirement
A native digital PDF of up to 5 MB, with a QR code that downloads the document without credentials, date metadata, versioning of changes made en route, and one-year retention.
The Effic answer
A module already built into Effic Flotas: the document is issued from the route and the data already in the system, and the QR code is ready for the officer at the roadside.
Legal basis: Ley 9/2025 de Movilidad Sostenible (D.T. 8ª) · art. 222 of the ROTT · Orden FOM/2861/2012 · Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784), which sets out the technical requirements currently in force.
Which rules apply, and who must comply
Contracting shipper
The party that contracts with the actual carrier: this can also be another carrier, a cooperative, an agency, a freight forwarder or a logistics operator. Responsible for the parties, origin and destination, and the nature and weight of the goods.
Actual carrier
Holder of the authorization under which the transport is carried out; a provider, when the job is subcontracted. Responsible for the special authorization, the date and the registration plates.
What the document contains and what the rules require
Mandatory data (art. 6)
- a Contracting shipper: company name, tax ID (NIF) and address
- b Actual carrier: company name and tax ID, including when it's a subcontracted provider
- c Place of origin and destination of each shipment
- d Nature of the goods and their quantity: kg, m³, tonnes, pallets or packages
- e Special traffic authorization, where applicable
- f Date on which the transport takes place
- g Registration plates of the tractor unit and all trailers, including the second trailer of a Euro-modular combination
- h Remarks or reservations, for the document or for each shipment
The driver is optional data: the system supports it, but it isn't printed by default. The price is never part of the document. Items a, b, c, d, f and g are validated on the server at issue: a draft can be incomplete, an issued document cannot.
Technical requirements, and how Effic Flotas meets them
Native digital PDF of up to 5 MB
Generated from the data; the size is checked before issuing.
Creation and modification dates
Stored as PDF metadata and printed in the header. The creation date is always that of the first version.
Unique URL per document, HTTPS with TLS 1.2+
Random 128-bit identifier: it can't be guessed or enumerated.
QR code that downloads the PDF with no interaction
No login and no intermediate screen: the response is the PDF itself.
Corrections en route with printed history
Same QR code, new data, the reason and the previous value struck through within the document itself.
Copy to the driver before departure
Sent via WhatsApp when issued and when corrected, with the PDF attached.
7 days of download and 1 year of retention
The public window closes automatically; the versions are kept.
The quick wizard, in four steps
It asks only for what's needed and, if necessary, adds the customer and the vehicle along the way. For day-to-day work with every field, there's the full form.
Video (in Spanish): create your DeCA quickly · 1:16
Who is contracting the transport?
The contracting shipper, picked from your customer list or created on the fly. The address is the billing address on their record.
Who is carrying it, and in which vehicle?
I carry it myself or I subcontract it to a provider: the document names whoever actually carries the load. Tractor unit and up to two trailers.
What are you carrying, and where to?
Origin, destination, goods and quantity in whatever unit makes sense: kilos, tonnes, pallets or packages.
Review and issue
You see everything that will be printed before you issue it. Once issued, the PDF is on its way to the driver's phone.
From route to roadside, in five steps
The document is issued from the data the fleet already has in the system: customers, providers, vehicles and drivers.
Draft
Shipper, carrier, vehicles and shipments. Unlimited edits, and it can be duplicated to repeat a haul.
Issued
It's numbered, the PDF with the QR code is generated and stored, and it's sent to the driver via WhatsApp.
En route
The driver carries the PDF or the printed QR code. Inspectors download it by scanning it.
Corrected
A change—typically of vehicle—creates a new version with the change printed, at the same URL, and it's resent to the driver.
Delivery and closure
The recipient signs. Once every shipment is signed, the service closes automatically and the download is switched off after 7 days.
Everything the system includes
In the office
Work list
Search and filters. Issue, correct and duplicate straight from the row, without opening the form.
Assisted issuing
The shipper's company name, tax ID and address are pulled from their record. If the address is missing, you fill it in right there and it's saved for next time.
Several shipments, one document
Origin, destination, goods, quantity, dates and remarks per shipment. A single shipment can be cancelled on its own and is printed as cancelled.
History printed on the PDF
Each correction prints which field changed, the previous value struck through, the new one and the reason. Including a change of vehicle under art. 6.g.
Shipping label
10 × 15 cm adhesive label per shipment for thermal printers, with recipient, contact, packages and QR code.
“No DeCA” alert
A red flag in the route list for domestic routes with no issued document: it warns you before the truck leaves.
On the road
Copy to the driver via WhatsApp
Sent automatically on issue and on correction, with the PDF attached and the QR link. The message never goes out without its document, and every send is logged in the history.
Driver app
Drivers see only their own documents; they can issue, show the QR code, print the label and close the service. They can't touch customer records or cancel documents.
Signed delivery
The recipient leaves their name, ID number and signature, on the driver's phone or by scanning a QR code with their own. With GPS location if they allow it.
Control and archive
Audit
Indicators, filters and Excel export. Per document: shipments, signatures, versions, activity and every QR download.
Downloadable archive
A ZIP with all the PDFs for the period and a CSV index. The one-year retention is yours: take it with you whenever you like.
API for your ERP
Odoo or any other system can create, issue, correct and download the DeCA. API keys per company with read and write permissions.
Complete guide: what the DeCA is, who must comply and how to issue it
Issue the DeCA from your ERP
If you already work with Odoo or another system, there's no need to switch screens: a single call creates and issues the document and returns the QR URL. The PDF is generated and stored in one place.
- API key per company, sent in the header and never in the URL
- Separate read and write permissions
- Documentation and Postman collection inside the application
- POST
/api/v1/decaCreate and issue - POST
/api/v1/deca/{id}/reemitCorrect with reason - GET
/api/v1/deca/{id}/pdfDocument PDF - GET
/api/v1/deca/{id}/qrQR code as PNG - GET
/api/v1/deca/{id}/label/{envio}10 × 15 label - POST
/api/v1/deca/{id}/envio/{envio}/cancelCancel a shipment - POST
/api/v1/deca/{id}/send-driverResend to driver - GET
/api/v1/deca/archiveZIP for the period - GET
/api/v1/deca/{id}/historyVersions and changes
On the road, and audit-proof
The moment of inspection
- The officer scans the QR code and the PDF downloads directly, with no username or password.
- If the document was corrected en route, the QR code already printed remains valid and leads to the current version, with the changes printed.
- The driver can carry it on their phone or on paper; handwritten notes have no validity.
- Every download is logged as proof that the document was available.
Data protection
- Data minimization: the driver isn't printed unless expressly requested, because the rules don't require it.
- For access logs, only a hash of the IP address is stored, never the IP in clear text.
- The public download is switched off 7 days after the service ends; if it's never closed, 30 days after the transport date.
- Who creates, issues, corrects, closes or cancels each document, with date and time.
Infrastructure
- PDFs are kept in private storage in the Madrid region: the data never leaves Spain.
- The one-year retention is enforced by the infrastructure itself, not just the software.
- Every version carries its own digital integrity fingerprint.
- The public link is protected against link scraping without slowing down inspectors.
The questions that always come up
What exactly is the DeCA?
The electronic administrative control document for goods transport required by Spanish regulations. It replaces the paper control document: a native digital PDF, with a QR code that downloads it at the roadside without credentials.
When does it become mandatory?
From 5 October 2026, under the eighth transitional provision of Ley 9/2025 de Movilidad Sostenible.
Who is liable if it's missing?
The contracting shipper and the actual carrier, jointly and severally. The shipper is exempt if it can prove it issued the document. It's a serious infringement under art. 141.17 LOTT.
Does the software need to be certified?
No. There is no certification, prior registration or authorization: the system isn't approved in advance, it's checked at the roadside.
Which transport operations are excluded?
Under art. 2 of Orden FOM/2861/2012: international transport, own-account transport, parcel delivery or distribution of a few packages that one person can handle alone, and removals.
I subcontract the haul: who is listed?
The actual carrier is whoever physically carries the load: the provider. The contracting shipper is still your customer. The wizard handles this with the “I subcontract it to a provider” option.
What if I switch trucks mid-route?
The document is corrected with a mandatory reason. The printed QR code remains valid, the PDF shows the previous registration plate struck through alongside the new one, and the driver receives the corrected version via WhatsApp.
I don't know the exact weight. What do I enter?
The rules allow another measure when the weight is hard to determine. You can enter volume, tonnes, pallets or packages.
How do you prove the goods arrived?
With the signed delivery: the recipient leaves their name, ID number and signature on the driver's phone, or on their own by scanning a QR code. The signature is stored in the document's file.
Can I issue it from my ERP?
Yes. Odoo or any other system can create, issue and correct the DeCA via API, with keys per company and read and write permissions.