Say you have a car brought from Germany to the Netherlands. After unloading in Zwolle, the truck that delivered it stands there with room to spare. The logical thing would be for it to pick up a few Dutch jobs before heading back. Yet it can only do that within limits. Behind this sits a European rule that every carrier knows by heart, and that rarely comes up with car companies, even though it shapes what your transport costs and how quickly it arrives.
That rule is called cabotage. In this article we explain what it is, why the EU regulates it, and above all what it means in practice for your delivery time and your price.
What is cabotage?
Cabotage is domestic transport carried out by a carrier from another country, following an international delivery. A Polish carrier who delivers a car in the Netherlands and then takes on a Dutch job before driving home: that is cabotage.
It sounds like something that should be free within a single European market, but it deliberately is not. Cabotage is regulated for two reasons. First, a level playing field: without rules, carriers from lower-cost countries could take over domestic jobs in more expensive ones without limit. Second, to prevent exploitation, as drivers would otherwise keep moving from one country to the next for months without returning home. The rules strike a balance: foreign carriers can take part in the domestic market, but within clear limits.
The rules in plain language
The link with an international delivery
Cabotage never stands on its own. A carrier may only do domestic jobs in another country after delivering an international load there. So it is always a follow-on from a cross-border trip, never a separate activity.
Three jobs in seven days, then a four-day cooling-off
After that international delivery comes the core of the rule: a carrier may run up to three domestic jobs within seven days using the same vehicle. A four-day cooling-off period then follows: in that same country, that vehicle may not take on a new cabotage job for four days.
| Step | What's allowed | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 1. International trip | Deliver a load across the border | From or to the EU, Norway or Iceland |
| 2. Cabotage | Pick up domestic jobs | Max. 3 jobs within 7 days, same vehicle |
| 3. Cooling-off | No cabotage in that country | 4 days, same vehicle |
One practical nuance for car transport: a delivery with several drop-off addresses on the same trip counts as one cabotage job, not three. The European Commission does advise recording it on a single CMR consignment note listing all drop-off addresses, because some countries otherwise count each consignment note as a separate job.
What the Mobility Package changed
These numbers were not invented out of nowhere. The EU Mobility Package tightened the existing cabotage rules and, since 21 February 2022, added that four-day cooling-off period. The aim was to stop arrangements in which trucks stayed permanently on the road in another country. In practice it means a foreign carrier cannot keep stacking domestic jobs indefinitely.
At the same time something less visible changed that still counts: since 2 February 2022 a driver carrying out cabotage is treated as a posted worker. They then fall under the pay and working conditions of the country where they drive, including the local minimum wage with overtime and paid leave. That makes cabotage not only more limited but also administratively heavier and more expensive.
Why this matters for car companies (not just carriers)
For a carrier this is everyday business. For you as the customer it usually stays invisible, until it touches your delivery time or your price. That happens in three ways.
It sits in your delivery time
A carrier who has used up their three cabotage jobs in a country cannot simply add your transport as a fourth one. They first have to cross the border or wait out the cooling-off period. What looks like "the truck is already there" can therefore still slip by a day or more.
It sits in available capacity on a corridor
On busy international routes, cabotage helps determine how many vehicles are available for domestic jobs at any given moment. Combined with other planning factors, such as driving bans on European routes, capacity shrinks or grows by the day. As a customer you only notice it once a corridor is "full".
It sits in your price
The biggest hidden cost is the empty kilometre. When a carrier has to drive back empty because of the cabotage rules instead of picking up a return load, someone pays for those empty kilometres, and it ends up in the transport price. It is the same mechanism at work in what those kilometres really cost in tolls and fuel. On top of that come the extra administration and the posting rules: those, too, make a cabotage job more expensive than it looks at first glance.
A concrete example
Take a trip from Zwolle to Vienna. A carrier delivers a load of cars there. In Austria they may now pick up up to three domestic jobs within seven days, for example Vienna to Graz, Graz to Linz, Linz to Salzburg. After that their cabotage room in Austria is used up: a fourth Austrian job is not allowed, and with that same vehicle a four-day cooling-off period applies.
If on day five you want a car driven from Salzburg to Vienna, the very truck that happens to be nearby cannot do it. Not because the driver has no time, but because the rules do not allow it. A good planner factors this in beforehand; a weaker one only finds out when the delivery stalls.
How smart orchestration absorbs the complexity
Keeping track of cabotage rules yourself, per country and per vehicle, is a job in itself. As a car company you do not have to. We match every trip against our network of carriers, so that the truck carrying your car is also one that can do so within the rules and cost-effectively. Our spotfilling algorithm reduces empty kilometres by linking the right trip to the right carrier, across thousands of trips at once. Cabotage is then no longer a blocker, but one of the factors we take into account when matching.
Frequently asked questions
Is cabotage allowed within the EU? Yes, but under conditions. A carrier from another country may carry out domestic jobs, but only following an international delivery and within the set limits.
How many cabotage jobs are permitted? Up to three domestic jobs within seven days of an international delivery. A cooling-off period applies after that.
What is the cooling-off period? After the cabotage jobs, a carrier may not take on a new cabotage job in that country with the same vehicle for four days. The rule is meant to prevent a permanent presence of foreign trucks.
Does a trip with several drop-off addresses count as several cabotage jobs? No. A delivery with several stops on the same trip counts as one cabotage job. It is advisable to record this on a single CMR consignment note listing all drop-off addresses, because some countries otherwise count each consignment note as a separate job.
Does cabotage also apply specifically to car transport? Yes. The cabotage rules apply to road freight transport in general, and car transport falls under them. For you as the customer it mainly shows up in delivery time, available capacity and price on cross-border routes.
What this means for your next cross-border transport
Cabotage is a rule you do not have to know yourself to be affected by it, or to use it to your advantage. We keep track of the rules and match every trip so that capacity and price add up. Book a transport, see how carriers in our network work with us, or contact us to talk through your route.
