How to make an electronic DeCA: step by step and a valid template from October 2026

Making a DeCA isn't hard, but it has two parts worth not mixing up: what data it carries and how the file is generated. The first hasn't changed: it's the same eight data items in article 6 of Orden FOM/2861/2012. The second has. From 5 October 2026 the document must be issued in electronic format, and the file must meet the characteristics set out in the Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026.

What you need on hand

Before opening anything, gather the data for a specific shipment. These are the ones in article 6, and these six are always required:

• From the contracting loader: name or company name, tax ID and address (letter a).
• From the actual carrier: name or company name and tax ID (letter b).
• Origin and destination of the shipment (letter c).
• Nature of the goods and their weight, or another type of measurement if the exact weight is hard to determine (letter d).
• Date the transport takes place (letter f).
• Vehicle registration; for an articulated combination, both the tractor's and the trailer's or semi-trailer's (letter g).

Two more only apply sometimes. The special traffic authorisation (letter e) is required when the vehicle operates under one, and remarks or reservations (letter h) only if either party wants them recorded.

How to make a DeCA step by step

1. 1Check that your transport isn't exempt. Article 2.1 excludes transports that don't need an operating title, house removals, moving crashed or broken-down vehicles on special vehicles, and courier services with a small number of parcels a single person can handle.
2. 2Identify who is who. Each shipment has a contracting loader and an actual carrier, and each is responsible for their own data: the loader for the first four (a, b, c and d) and the carrier for e), f) and g).
3. 3Fill in the eight data items for a shipment. One document is made per shipment: in continuous transport contracts there are as many control documents as shipments (article 3.2).
4. 4Generate the file as a native PDF, no more than 5 MB, with a QR code pointing to the document's unique web address.
5. 5Check that address opens without logging in: HTTPS, direct access and immediate PDF download. Open it from your phone without having signed in.
6. 6Hand over the document before the truck sets off. Article 8 requires two copies, one for the contracting loader and one for the actual carrier, who must carry it on board. In practice, each party keeps the PDF or its link, and the driver has it on their phone.
7. 7Keep the document for at least a year, available to the Road Transport Inspectorate (article 9).

Is there an official DeCA template?

No. Article 5 of Orden FOM/2861/2012 declares the document free-form, so there's no official form to download or a template approved by the Administration:

That freedom covers the design — the order of the fields, the look, the name you give it — but not the content: the eight data items are those in article 6, and from 5 October the file must meet the Resolution.

Why a Word or Excel template isn't enough

A template solves the content: where each item goes. But the Resolution doesn't just regulate the document; it also regulates the application that generates it and the address where it's downloaded from. Here's what a template solves and what it doesn't:

This doesn't mean a DIY setup — a template, a server and a QR generator — is impossible. It means everything you'd have to build around the template is precisely what a DeCA application does.

Five common mistakes when making a DeCA

• Scanning the paper. The Resolution requires native generation from structured data: filling in the paper document, photographing it and uploading the PDF is not accepted.
• Leaving a required field blank. The six always required are a, b, c, d, f and g, and article 7 says who's responsible for each.
• Making up a weight. If the exact weight is hard to determine, letter d) allows using another type of measurement, such as packages, pallets or cubic metres, depending on the load.
• Forgetting the trailer's registration. For an articulated combination, letter g) requires both the tractor's and the trailer's or semi-trailer's, and if the vehicle changes mid-transport, that must be recorded.
• Not having it on the driver's phone. The document must be carried on board (article 3.1), and article 7.1 holds both parties responsible if it isn't, unless the loader proves it was issued.

How to do it with El DeCA

El DeCA follows exactly these steps, with the regulation's requirements already applied. Here's the process:

1. 1You register with your name or company name, your email and a password. The free account doesn't ask for a card.
2. 2You save your tax ID and address once. From then on they fill in automatically on every document.
3. 3You fill in the form, ordered by the letters of article 6. A side panel tells you what's missing and whose responsibility it is, and the issue button doesn't activate until the required data is there.
4. 4You click "Issue DeCA". The native PDF is generated with its QR code, archived and made available at its unique download address, no login.
5. 5You get a copy by email and can share the link via WhatsApp or copy it. On paid plans, the document is also emailed to the driver and other addresses.

The free plan includes 15 documents a month, with a native PDF with QR code, a permanent verification address and one year's retention. If a detail changes after issuing, the document is amended without losing the original: the previous version is kept in full, with its PDF and the reason for the change.