26th January 2022
New rules for international road haulage
The Department for Transport has released guidance on new rules for HGVs transporting goods to or through Europe.
Check which types of journeys you’ll need to register before 2 February 2022 and what documentation is required.
Journeys which must be registered from 2nd February 2022
If you use any of the vehicles listed below to transport goods between 2 separate points in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway for commercial purposes, you must register the journey. This means that if you load goods at one point within any of these countries, you will need to register your journey.
- vans of any size or other light goods vehicles (LVCs)
- vans towing trailers
- cars towing trailers
- HGVs
- HGVs towing trailers
There are no fees to use the EU portal to register a journey, but you must register your details before the journey starts to avoid a penalty.
If you’re a Northern Ireland vehicle operator, you will need to register journeys within Ireland if they’re covered by the rules.
Journeys that will not need to be registered
You do not need to register a journey if it is:
- using a vehicle not carrying goods
- travelling from the UK to one place in Europe, where you can both unload and load goods
- from the UK to Europe, and you unload goods at more than one place in Europe (but you cannot load goods in Europe)
- from Europe to the UK, and you load goods at more than one place in Europe (but you cannot unload goods in Europe)
- from the UK to a non-European country (but you cannot load or unload the goods while you’re in Europe)
Registering your journey
You need to create an account on the EU portal before you can register a journey and assign a driver.
You need information about your:
- company
- transport manager
- drivers
You’ll also need:
- the start and end dates of the journey (posting)
- the type of operation (cabotage or international carriage)
- the type of transport (goods or passenger)
- the vehicle registration (number plates) of the vehicle and trailer
- contact details for your transport manager or another contact person in the UK (so European countries can ask for further documents)
Documents that drivers must carry
As well as registering your journey through the EU portal, the driver must also carry a digital or physical copy of the information you have registered, along with the usual vehicle and trailer documents, driver documents and export documents.
From 2 February 2022, enforcement authorities in EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will be able to ask for:
- copies of the documents that drivers have to carry
- documents about the driver’s pay during the journey, their employment contract and timesheets for their work
You must upload the information you’re asked for using the online service within 8 weeks of being asked for it.
More information can be found in the UK Government guide for registering road haulage journeys from February 2022.