From 2 February 2022, you’ll need to use an online EU portal to register the details of some journeys within the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway before the journey starts.

This will apply to you if you use:

• vans of any size or other light goods vehicles (sometimes called ‘light commercial vehicles’)
• vans towing trailers
• cars towing trailers
• HGVs
• HGVs towing trailers

There’s are no fees to use the EU portal to register a journey.

Which journeys you must register

You must register the journey if you transport goods between 2 points in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway for commercial purposes. This means that you load goods at one point and unload them at another point in any of those countries.

This includes:

• cabotage jobs
• cross-trade jobs
• moving goods for your own business’ use

Cabotage is loading goods in one of these countries and unloading them at a different place in the same country, using a vehicle registered in the UK.

Cross-trade is loading goods in one of these countries and unloading them in different one of these countries, using a vehicle registered in the UK.

You must also register journeys where you move goods for your own business’ use between these countries. This includes if your business is not mainly about moving goods.

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 will not need to register the journey if it’s:

• using a vehicle not carrying goods
• 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)

Create an account on the EU portal

You’ll need to create an account when the EU portal is available. You can prepare to do this now.

You’ll need information about your:

• company
• transport manager
• drivers

Company information

To create your account, you’ll need your company’s:

• name
• address
• country of registration
• email address
• VAT number
• registration number
• UK Licence for the Community number

Transport manager information

To create your account, you’ll need your transport manager’s:

• name
• office address
• email address
• telephone number
• CPC certificate number

Driver information

To create your account, you’ll need this information for each of your drivers who drive in Europe:

• full name
• date of birth
• email address
• home address
• driving licence number
• driver card number
• internal reference number (for example, their employee number)
• ID document (for example, a passport) – you’ll need the document number, the issue date, the expiry date, and which country issued it
• start date of the drivers’ employment contract with you
• applicable law (what country’s law they’re employed under)

You’ll be able to upload your drivers’ details in a bulk file. Check back for more information about what format this needs to be in.

When you’ve created your account, you’ll then be able to register your journeys (make a posting declaration).

Register your journeys

Registering a journey is also known as making a ‘posting declaration’.

Each time you register a journey, you’ll assign a driver that you’ve already registered on the EU portal.

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 your driver will need to carry

From 2 February 2022, your driver must carry a digital or physical copy of the information you register for the journey.

The rules are not changing for the other documents your drivers will need. They will still need to carry all of the usual:

• vehicle and trailer documents
• driver documents – including tachograph records
• export documents – including an electronic consignment note (e-CMR) or a paper CMR