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NederlandsIRU calls for a fixed 30-day payment term for road transport, as the EU reform stays blocked
IRU is pushing for a 30-calendar-day cap on paying for any road transport service, with no exceptions and no longer negotiated terms — but the EU proposal that would set that cap has been stuck in the Council since 2024. In Spain, where the legal cap is already 60 days, Fenadismer's observatory shows a 52-day average wait and 38% of clients paying late in August.
On 8 October, IRU published a position calling for a maximum payment term of 30 calendar days for any road freight transport service — with no exceptions, applying to both business-to-business contracts and contracts with public bodies. The organisation also argues that any acceptance or verification procedure for the cargo must fit within those 30 days, and cannot be used to delay payment. According to IRU, the measure mainly protects SMEs and micro-enterprises in the sector, which have less bargaining power and fewer financial reserves to absorb delays — the European Commission estimates that 60% of transport companies do not invest in cleaner solutions because of payment delays.
An EU reform stuck since 2024
The proposal that would set that 30-day limit as the standard maximum term across the European Union was tabled by the European Commission in September 2023. The European Parliament adopted its first-reading position on 23 April 2024, after the internal market committee (IMCO) had adopted it in March that year. Since then, the reform has been blocked, awaiting the Council of the EU’s position: member states disagree over the fixed 30-day limit and over the legal form the rule should take — regulation or directive. In March 2025, employers’ confederations BusinessEurope, EuroCommerce and Eurochambres asked the Commission to withdraw the proposal. There is no agreed date for the reform to move forward.
In Spain, 38% pay past the 60-day legal deadline
While the EU reform stalls, each country keeps its own regime. In Spain, the legal cap is 60 days, backed by a sanctions regime in force since October 2021. Fenadismer’s observatory puts the average wait at 52 days in August 2026 — the lowest figure in the series, after 53 days in April and June, 59 days in December 2025 and 83 days in 2021. Even so, 38% of clients paid past the legal deadline in August: of those, 76% took between 60 and 90 days, and 6% took more than 120 days.
For hauliers running from the Iberian Peninsula into France or elsewhere in Europe, the applicable payment term still depends on the contract and the client’s country — there is, for now, no common EU limit protecting the haulier regardless of where the invoice is issued. IRU’s position is a reminder that pressure on hauliers’ cash flow remains an open issue in Brussels, with no deadline to resolve it.