If you move freight by road in Spain, you may have heard of the DeCA — the Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo (electronic administrative control document) — without anyone clearly explaining what it actually is, who asks for it, or what it has to contain. This post lays out what we know for sure, what we don't, and exactly what existox's DeCA tool does — and doesn't do — for you.
We're putting the uncertainty first on purpose, because it matters more than any feature list before you trust your paperwork to any tool — this one included.
What the DeCA is, in plain language
The text embedded in the PDF this tool generates cites Orden FOM/2861/2012, de 13 de diciembre — the Spanish ministerial order on the administrative control document required for public road freight transport. That order is the regulatory reference the document's format was built against. We have not independently verified, clause by clause, that every transport scenario is covered by that order in the same way — which is why we recommend checking the official text on Spain's official gazette (link under "Sources" below) if you need legal certainty for your specific case.
In practice, a DeCA captures the minimum information an inspector needs to verify who is transporting what, for whom, between which points, in which vehicle, and with which driver:
- The carrier company: legal name and CIF (Spanish tax ID).
- The client/shipper, and the origin and destination sites.
- The assigned driver (and license number, if on file).
- The vehicle: plate number and type (rigid truck, tractor unit, trailer…).
- A description of the goods and, if applicable, weight in kg.
- The scheduled date and time of the trip.
What this tool actually generates
When you create a trip in the transport panel, existox automatically generates a native PDF (real embedded text, not a scanned image) containing that data, plus a QR code linking to a public verification page for the document. That PDF and QR code together are the trip's DeCA.
If something changes mid-trip — say you swap in a replacement vehicle or change the destination — the tool doesn't edit the original PDF in place: it issues a new version with a new QR code and marks the previous one as superseded. The old code keeps working (in case the driver already printed it), but it clearly shows it has been replaced. That's a traceability design choice on our end, not a guarantee that it matches exactly what every inspector expects — again, when in doubt, ask whoever audits you.
What we can't promise you
- It's not an official stamp. No PDF generated here carries a qualified electronic signature or validation from a public authority — it's a document you generate yourself, with your own data, in the format we've interpreted from the regulation.
- Free-plan limits can change. Today the free plan caps the number of documents per month and the number of vehicles, drivers, and clients you can register; those numbers haven't been validated yet against real usage or pricing data, so don't treat them as a fixed long-term promise — check the panel for the limits currently in effect.
- There's no live payment flow yet. Paid plans are defined in the product, but upgrading isn't processed automatically yet — if you need more capacity than the free plan offers, get in touch rather than assuming you can self-upgrade from the panel.
- It doesn't cover every transport scenario. The trip form assumes a carrier that already has a vehicle, driver, and client on file; it isn't built (yet) for more complex cases like multimodal transport, dangerous goods with additional ADR requirements, or subcontracting between carriers.
How it works, step by step
The mechanics, plainly:
- Go straight to the transport panel and set up your carrier company profile (legal name and CIF) — no account needed before you start.
- Add at least one vehicle, one driver, and one client with a site — the trip form needs all three before it can generate a DeCA.
- Create the trip: client, origin, destination, driver, vehicle, goods, weight, and scheduled date.
- On save, your first DeCA's PDF and QR code are generated automatically — without ever having logged in.
- At this point you'll see a prompt to create a free account (email and password). It isn't required to generate the document — it's only there so you don't lose it: signing up attaches the company, vehicle, driver, and trip you just created to your new account, and from there you can re-download the PDF, generate more trips, and check the version history if anything changes. If you close the tab without creating an account, that progress is lost.
Generate your first DeCA
You can generate your first DeCA without creating an account. Once it's ready, we'll ask for an email and password just to save it — the transport panel itself is a Spanish-language interface (the product is built for Spain's regulatory context). Always check the current plan limits, and if your case has specific requirements, confirm them with your gestoría before relying on this document alone.
Go to the transport panel →Sources
- Regulatory reference cited by the generated document itself: Orden FOM/2861/2012, de 13 de diciembre (Spain, Spanish-language only). Read the full, current text on Spain's official gazette, the Boletín Oficial del Estado (boe.es) — we don't reproduce it clause by clause here, and recommend reading it directly if you need certainty for your specific case.
This article describes how the product works today and is not legal or tax advice. The plan limits, pricing, and capabilities mentioned are current as of publication and may change without notice — always check the transport panel for the current state.