Custom cabotage counter and documentation file
After an international trip, a haulier may only carry out a limited number of domestic trips in the host member state: under Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009, up to three cabotage trips, with the last unloading within seven days. Since the Mobility Package, a four-day cooling-off period then applies for the same vehicle in the same member state. At a roadside check, the haulier must show clear evidence of the international trip and of every cabotage trip. Appfront builds the software that counts, monitors and documents this per vehicle.
What is software that counts cabotage trips and bundles the evidence per trip?
A cabotage counter keeps track, per vehicle, of how many domestic trips it has made in another member state after an international trip, and how many it may still make. Under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009, after delivering the incoming international load, a haulier may make up to three cabotage trips with the same vehicle, or with the same tractor unit in the case of a combination, and the last unloading must take place within seven days of the last unloading of the international trip. If the vehicle enters a member state unladen, one cabotage trip is permitted there within that period, within three days of entry. After that, under paragraph 2a, the vehicle may not carry out cabotage in that member state for four days.
According to the ILT (the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate), that cooling-off period starts at 00:00 on the day after the last cabotage trip and ends at 23:59; if the end falls on a weekend or public holiday, the next working day is added. At a check, the haulier must provide clear evidence of the preceding international trip and of every cabotage trip, and, if the vehicle was already in the country in the four days before, of what it did then. For each trip, this includes the client, haulier and consignee, the place and date of loading and unloading, the goods, the gross weight and the registration numbers. This evidence may also be shown or sent electronically.
At most companies, that knowledge sits in the planner's head, and the consignment notes are in the cab or in another system. We build custom software because every company operates differently. A charter operator with a few tractor units in Germany has different questions from a haulier running scheduled services across Europe. Which planning system you use, whether you work with electronic consignment notes and which countries you drive in determine what the software does. For hauliers from the Benelux countries, no cabotage restrictions apply between them; according to the ILT, however, registration in IMI is required there for the posting rules.
Per vehicle
Trips per member state.
Warned in time
Before it is no longer allowed.
Evidence at hand
Bundled per trip.
How we build software that counts cabotage trips and bundles the evidence per trip
We start with your trips: which countries you drive in, how international and cabotage trips are currently entered in your planning, where the consignment notes and trip data come from, and how the planner currently keeps track of what is still allowed. Then we build a first version that counts the trips per vehicle and shows the time limit and cooling-off period, fed from your planning. Your planners work with it for a while. If that goes well, the warnings in the planning, the documentation file per trip and the display at a check follow. After that, we maintain the software when the rules or your systems change.
Countries, planning, paperwork.
Per vehicle and member state.
Evidence per trip.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What software that counts cabotage trips and bundles the evidence per trip actually does
The components below appear in almost every cabotage counter with a documentation file. Which ones you need depends on your trips and on the systems you already use.
Count
Trips per vehicle.
Deadline
Seven days monitored.
Cooling-off
Four days per member state.
Warnings
In the planning.
Supporting evidence
Bundled per trip.
Validation
Show or send.
Who we build software for that counts cabotage trips and bundles the supporting documents per trip
The software is intended for hauliers who regularly load and unload in other member states, where planners currently have to remember for themselves what is still allowed. The more vehicles and countries, the more it delivers.
Transport operators
International trips.
Planners
See what is still allowed.
Compliance
Evidence per trip.
Shippers
Insight into hauliers.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we make your idea tangible in a single day for €1,150, so you know whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we deduct the cost in full.
View OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about counting and documenting cabotage trips. For driving times and infringements per driver, see our page on tachograph analysis and driving time software; for reports per branch or fleet, our page on driving time analysis and infringement reporting; and for A1 certificates and posting notifications, our page on A1 registration and notification obligations. If you work with electronic freight transport information, also take a look at our page on eFTI integration. You can read about our way of working on building custom software.
Why Appfront for your software that counts cabotage trips and bundles the supporting documents per trip?
A fourth cabotage trip planned by mistake, a trip during the cooling-off period, or a driver who cannot show the consignment note of the international trip at an inspection leads to a fine and a haulier that is stuck at a standstill. That is what we build around: what is still allowed visible per vehicle, the planner warned in good time, and the evidence for every trip close at hand.
Overview
Per vehicle and country.
Prevent
Advance warning.
Demonstrable
Evidence per trip.
Security and privacy for software that counts cabotage trips and bundles the supporting documents per trip
The software processes trip data, licence plates, data on clients and consignees, and drivers' names. Access is set up per role: a planner sees the counter and the warnings, compliance sees the file, and a driver sees the documents for their own trip. Every change is recorded with name and time.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage and daily backups. Supporting documents are stored per trip exactly as they were received, so a later change to the planning does not alter the file of a trip that has already been driven.
Frequently asked questions about software that counts cabotage trips and bundles the supporting documents per trip
Questions that owners, planners and compliance departments at transport companies ask before they get started.
Software that tracks, per vehicle and per member state, how many cabotage trips have been made after an international trip, how many are still allowed, when the time limit expires and when the cooling-off period ends. With the documentation file alongside, the supporting documents for each trip are ready.
Under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009, up to three after delivery of an international load, with the last unloading within seven days. When entering without a load, one trip per member state within three days. For your situation, for example combined transport, check with your adviser or the ILT (the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate).
After cabotage in a member state, the same vehicle may not carry out cabotage there for four days. According to the ILT, that period starts at 00:00 on the day after the last cabotage trip and ends at 23:59, and the end moves to the next working day if it falls on a weekend or public holiday.
Clear evidence of the preceding international trip and of each cabotage trip, including for each trip the client, haulier, consignee, place and date of loading and unloading, the goods, the gross weight and the licence plates. According to the ILT, in practice this means CMR consignment notes.
Yes. Under Article 8(4a) of the Regulation, they may be presented or sent electronically during a roadside check, in a structured format such as an electronic consignment note. The software bundles the documents per trip, so the driver or the office can show them quickly.
For hauliers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg holding a Community licence issued in the Benelux, no cabotage restrictions apply between them, and so there is no cooling-off period. According to the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), registration in IMI is still required for the posting rules.
For hauliers with several vehicles that regularly load and unload in other member states, and whose planning currently relies on the planner's memory. If you rarely do cabotage, a fixed check in your planning is often enough.
Always know which cabotage trip is still allowed?
Tell us which countries you drive in, with how many vehicles, and how your planning and consignment notes currently work. We will show you how the software can handle it.