Driver attestation for third-country drivers: documenting EU road haulage

The driver attestation documents that a particular third-country driver is lawfully used by a road haulage operator. In cross-border EU road haulage it supplements the Community licence and remains linked to the person named in the document.

The practical question is therefore one of correct allocation. The holder of the Community licence applies for a separate attestation for each affected driver. The original must be carried in the vehicle and shown to an authorised inspector on request.

This article explains Articles 3 and 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009. It focuses on the application, use, business copy, inspections and return of the attestation. A driver attestation is not a driving licence, driver card or certificate of professional competence.

Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 places cross-border road haulage under the Community licence. If the driver is a third-country national, the driver attestation is added. It therefore concerns the status of the person who actually drives the vehicle on the particular transport.

Article 5(1) also requires the operator to hold a Community licence. In the establishment Member State the driver must either be lawfully employed or be lawfully placed at the operator's disposal. The driver must be neither a Member State national nor a long-term resident within the meaning of Directive 2003/109/EC.

These conditions must be checked for each driver. A Community licence does not replace the personal attestation. The cross-border carriage of goods topic page helps place the licence, route and transport records in context.

The holder of the Community licence applies to the competent authority of the operator's establishment Member State. The application concerns the individual driver. The authority uses the document to confirm that the named person is employed or lawfully placed at the operator's disposal under Article 5(1).

The driver attestation must follow the model in Annex III. It bears the seal of the issuing authority, a signature and a serial number. It also includes at least two security features from Annex I. A freely drafted company letter should therefore not be used as a substitute.

For the application file, the operator should bring together the driver identity, the legal basis for employment or provision and the connection with the Community licence. The forms and additional evidence required by the competent authority depend on the establishment Member State.

The attestation names the driver and confirms that person's employment or operating conditions. It is therefore personal to the named driver. The operator makes it available to that driver when the driver operates a vehicle in traffic under a Community licence issued to the operator.

Article 5(6) treats the driver attestation as the property of the operator. The driver receives it for the particular use. The allocation must remain clear: an attestation for another driver does not fit merely because both people work for the same operator.

When a driver is replaced, dispatch should check before departure that the original in the vehicle belongs to the person actually driving. The link to the operator and its Community licence should also remain visible in the transport file. The consignment note and documentation page supports the organisation of the remaining transport records.

The original driver attestation must be carried in the vehicle when the named driver operates a vehicle in traffic under the operator's Community licence. The driver must show the original to an authorised inspector on request. A digital note or an unallocated company letter does not perform this function.

A certified copy of the driver attestation issued by the competent authority of the establishment Member State must be kept at the operator's business premises. The original and the business copy therefore have different places of safekeeping. The copy belongs in the company file. The original travels with the driver in the vehicle.

For internal control, it is useful to allocate the driver, serial number, vehicle, period of validity and business filing location. The transport file should also show the Community licence on which the assignment is based. This makes roadside checks and later questions easier to handle.

The issuing Member State sets the period of validity. It may not exceed five years. A document that is still within its stated period is sufficient only while the conditions under which it was issued continue to apply.

The competent authorities of the establishment Member State regularly check whether those conditions remain fulfilled. Article 6(2) requires annual checks of at least 20 percent of the valid driver attestations issued in that Member State. Incorrect information or the loss of a condition can lead to refusal, non-renewal or withdrawal under Article 7.

If the employment or lawful provision of the driver changes so that the issuing conditions are no longer met, the operator must return the attestation without delay to the issuing authority. The date of the change and the return should be recorded internally.

The driver attestation answers a specific Union-law question: is the named third-country driver lawfully used by the operator under the conditions of Article 5? It therefore addresses the individual operating status in road haulage.

A driving licence concerns the entitlement to drive the relevant vehicle category. A driver card belongs to the tachograph system and records driving and working time. A certificate of professional competence concerns professional qualification. Each document has its own function and may be required in addition to the attestation depending on the transport and driver.

The documents should therefore be organised by function during an inspection. The driver attestation must not be presented as a substitute for a missing driving licence, driver card or professional qualification. A valid driving licence does not itself create a driver attestation under Article 5.

Before assigning the driver, dispatch should check four points: the driver's name, third-country or long-term-resident status, lawful employment or provision and the link to the Community licence. Only then can the operator decide which driver attestation must be available in the vehicle.

The original, identity documents and the other required driving and transport papers should be placed in a clear inspection order. The certified copy should be easy to find at the business premises. Changes involving the driver, employer, provision arrangement or validity must reach the person responsible for the attestation.

For cross-border journeys, the consignment note, transport order and evidence of the carriage should also match. The guidance on freight invoices and records helps document the transport service. The article Consignee: acceptance and reservations on delivery is also available for the delivery perspective.

Start with a list of all drivers who perform cross-border road haulage. For each person record nationality, residence status, employment or provision arrangement and intended assignment. This shows for whom an Article 5 driver attestation may be relevant.

Then review the document chain: application, issued attestation, serial number, validity period, original in the vehicle and certified copy at the business. One filing exercise is not enough if the legal or factual conditions of the driver assignment change.

An inspection response should address the particular person and the particular assignment. The attestation is evidence for that driver. It does not replace the general review of the Community licence or the other records required for road haulage.