Commercial road haulage; application for a permit

Anyone who wants to transport goods commercially in Germany with motor vehicles over 3.5 tons needs a permit. For cross-border transport, a so-called community license is required for motor vehicles over 2.5 tons.

Road haulage is the transportation of goods by motor vehicle on a commercial basis or for a fee. An empty run carried out in connection with international commercial road haulage that is subject to authorization in accordance with a legal act of the European Union or an international agreement is considered road haulage.

Commercial road haulage is generally subject to authorization. The so-called "own-account transport" is not subject to authorization.

Anyone who carries out commercial road haulage as an entrepreneur based in Germany requires a Community license issued by a domestic authority (Section 3 of the Road Haulage Act).

No authorization under road haulage law is required for so-called own-account road haulage, i.e. road haulage for a company's own purposes, if

• the transported goods are the property of the company or have been sold, purchased, leased, rented, manufactured, produced, extracted, processed or repaired by the company,
• the transportation serves the delivery of the goods to the company, their dispatch from the company, their transfer within the company or for personal use outside the company,
• the motor vehicles used for the transportation are driven by the company's own staff or by staff made available to the company under a contractual obligation,
• the vehicles transporting the goods belong to the company or have been purchased or hired by it on account; and
• the transportation is only an ancillary activity in the context of the company's overall activity.

A weight limit of 3.5 tons applies as an exception for national goods transport (Section 2 (1) no. 10 of the Road Haulage Act).

However, if you want to transport goods across borders with motor vehicles over 2.5 tons, you need a Community license (Art. 1 Para. 5 Letter ca) of Regulation (EC) No. 1072/2009).

For commercial road haulage with countries outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you need bilateral permits or so-called CEMT permits in addition to the Community license for routes in third countries.

• Documents for the applying company:
  • Excerpt from the commercial, partnership, cooperative or association register, if a corresponding entry exists
  • for GbR companies: Excerpt from the GbR contract
  • Proof of authorization to represent the company if a person other than the applicant is qualified to do so
  • Proof of reliability:
    • Certificate of good conduct for the person authorized to represent the company (not older than three months)
    • Information from the central business register for the person authorized to represent the company (not older than three months)
    • Information from the driver's aptitude register for the person authorized to represent the company (not older than three months)
  • Proof of financial capability:
    • Certificate of no objection from the tax office (not older than three months)
    • Certificate of no objection from the municipality (not older than three months)
    • Clearance certificate of the health insurance company (not older than three months)
    • Certificate of no objection from the Berufsgenossenschaft Verkehrswirtschaft, Post-Logistik, Telekommunikation (BG Verkehr) (not older than three months)
    • Equity certificate as proof of financial capacity in commercial road haulage (Annex 2 of the General Administrative Regulation on Road Haulage Law (GüKVwV)) and
    • if necessary, additional certificate for proof of financial capacity in commercial road haulage (Annex 3 of the General Administrative Regulation on Road Haulage Law (GüKVwV))
  • Proof of professional suitability:
    • Certificate of having passed the IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) specialist examination or an equivalent recognized final examination, or
    • Proof of at least 10 years of managerial activity in a road haulage company (the Chamber of Industry and Commerce responsible for you will check whether the requirements have been met).
• Documents for persons appointed to conduct road haulage business:
  • Proof of reliability:
    • Certificate of good conduct (not older than three months)
    • Information from the central business register (not older than three months)
    • Information from the driver suitability register (not older than three months)
  • Proof of professional suitability:
    • Certificate of successful completion of the IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) examination or an equivalent recognized final examination, or
    • Proof of at least 10 years of managerial activity in a road haulage company (the Chamber of Industry and Commerce responsible for you will check whether the requirements are met)
  • Proof of financial capability:
    • Certificate of no objection from the health insurance company (not older than three months)
  • Proof of employment

A Community license is issued if

• the operator and the transport manager are reliable
• the financial capacity of the company is guaranteed and
• the operator or the transport manager is professionally qualified.

The operator must also provide proof of capital and reserves for international road haulage with motor vehicles over 2.5 tons.

The following applies:

• EUR 9,000 for the first vehicle used
• EUR 5,000 for each additional vehicle over 3.5 tons used
• EUR 900 for each additional vehicle used over 2.5 tons (up to 3.5 tons)

However, if you only intend to transport goods across borders with vehicles of 2.5 tons to 3.5 tons, you must pay

• EUR 1 800 for the first vehicle used and
• EUR 900 for each additional vehicle used.

Proof of professional competence must also be provided for international road haulage. This also applies if you only want to use vehicles of 2.5 tons. Here, too, professional aptitude may be given if it can be proven that you or the transport manager have worked in a managerial position in a road haulage company without interruption for a period of ten years prior to August 20, 2020.

You must apply for the Community license (EU license) from the transport authority responsible for your place of business.

You can obtain the application form from the competent transport authority. Online services are also available, depending on the services offered by the authority.

Complete the application form in full and submit it with the required documents.

The competent transport authority will give the following institutions the opportunity to comment:

• the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility,
• the Chamber of Industry and Commerce
• the relevant trade union and
• the transport industry association.

Once the deadline for comments has expired, the competent transport authority will decide on your application. You will receive a decision.

Community license: EUR 120.00 - 700.00

Further costs are incurred for information from the registers and for the preparation of other certificates.

• A CEMT permit is required for commercial road transport operations where the loading and unloading points are located in two different CEMT member states (over 30 countries in Europe).
  -> The Federal Office of Logistics and Mobility, Berlin approval office,
  balm-berlin@balm.bund.de
  is responsible for issuing these permits.
• A bilateral permit is required for cross-border road haulage with third countries.
  -> The Federal Office of Logistics and Mobility, Berlin permit office,
  balm-berlin@balm.bund.de is responsible for issuing these permits.

If the own-account road haulage for the company's own purposes does not require a permit, the company operating own-account road haulage is obliged to register its business with the Federal Office of Logistics and Mobility before commencing the first transport operation.