In August 2022, a new rule aimed at ensuring the economic sustainability of transport companies came into force. The rule implies changes of many different kinds, particularly in the consignment note.
The new regulations make the consignment note an even more important document for the registration of transport services and provide for significant penalties in cases where all the information that is now considered essential has not been provided.
What has changed in the consignment note?
Specifically, the rule involves a change to Article 10 of the Land Contract Law, which regulates the consignment note.
Thus, for transports costing more than 150 euros, this document must include:
- Name or company name, VAT number and address of the shipper and, if applicable, of the sender.
- Name or company name and NIF of the actual carrier.
- Place, date and, if applicable, time of receipt of the goods by the actual carrier.
- Place, date and, if applicable, estimated time of delivery of the goods at destination.
- Recipient’s name and address
- Nature and mass of the goods.
- The agreed price of the transport, which must cover the total actual individual costs and which must include separately the cost of loading and unloading, if this has been agreed.
In the same sense, the new standard stipulates that the the contractual shipper and the actual carrier shall be liable for the costs and damages arising from the inaccuracy or inadequacy of the information that they are required to include in the consignment note, which must be kept for a period of one year.
Penalties for non-compliance with the consignment note regulation
Similarly, the Royal Decree also amends the Land Transport Law, the LOTT, to penalize infringements for not having a waybill in transport or for having filled out this document incorrectly.
Specifically, failure to formalize the transport document or the contract of carriage in writing, in the cases in which it is mandatory, will entail fines of between 801 and 1,000 euros.
In turn, failure to include the transport price in the consignment note entails fines of 401 to 600 euros when the transport price is between 1,000 and 1,500 euros.
Finally, failure to include the mandatory information that the consignment note must contain as a minimum will be subject to a fine of 401 to 600 euros. In this case, the shipper is presumed to be responsible for compliance with this infringement, unless he proves otherwise.
Digitalization of the consignment note or eCMR
As can be seen, the consignment note is a document that is the responsibility of both carriers and their customers. For this reason, it is incumbent upon both of them to record all the data in the document rigorously.
However, the speed at which logistics and transport activities are carried out does not always allow time to carry out the relevant checks. For this reason, the digitization of documentation is particularly important.
With digitized documentation , it is easier to verify all the data that must be included in the consignment note or eCMR and, with more advanced functions, notifications can be set up to alert of possible missing data or errors, for example.
This not only avoids administrative penalties, but also facilitates the processing of information and its error-free transmission along the supply chain.
In short, the use of electronic documentation in transportation allows for improvements that affect business management, customer relations and the competitiveness of each company.
FIELDEAS Track and Trace, security in your consignment note
The digitization of the consignment note requires legal certainty so that it has all the guarantees as a reliable proof and its completion is rigorous and in accordance with the rules.
FIELDEAS Track and Trace provides transport companies, agencies and logistics operators with a complete electronic waybill system with multiple functionalities.
The FIELDEAS Track and Trace electronic waybill solution is configured with more functionalities than other platforms on the market. This provides greater reliability, given its guarantees from a legal point of view, and a greater capacity for integration with the customer’s systems.
Along the same lines, FIELDEAS Track and Trace incorporates document authentication by digital signature in its waybills. The digital signature is a differential element that provides greater security to the exchange of information, by reliably identifying the actors involved in the preparation and transmission of any document.
Please note that, regardless of whether you are a customer or a carrier, you must complete the consignment note with all the information required by the new Spanish legislation.
Rely on FIELDEAS Track and Trace, avoid possible penalties and take advantage of the opportunity to boost digitalization in your transport operations with a reliable partner.
Give extra reliability to your transport operations.
