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NederlandsSpain can fine shippers up to €18,000 for not passing on diesel costs on the invoice
The Spanish Transport Ministry's penalty scale, updated on 5 October, sets fines of €401 to €18,000 for shippers who fail to itemise diesel price changes on the invoice, under Real Decreto-ley 9/2026. Anyone invoicing transport to or from Spain, including cabotage from Portugal, should require that breakdown.
Real Decreto-ley 9/2026, of 14 April (BOE-A-2026-8283), made it compulsory in Spain to automatically revise the price of road freight transport whenever the cost of diesel changes by 5% or more between booking and delivery, and requires that adjustment to be itemised on the invoice, with no option to replace it with another contract clause. The Transport Ministry’s penalty scale, in the version updated on 5 October and reported by Diario de Transporte on 22 October, now fixes the concrete amounts the Transport Inspectorate applies to anyone who fails to comply.
The amounts, by invoice bracket
The decree amends articles 140 and 141 of the Spanish Law on Land Transport Organisation (LOTT) and sets the corresponding fines in article 143.1, according to the text published in the BOE:
- Invoice up to €1,000: €401 to €600.
- Invoice from €1,000 to €1,500: €601 to €800.
- Invoice from €1,501 to €3,000: €801 to €1,000.
- Invoice from €3,001 to €4,000: €1,001 to €2,000.
- Invoice from €4,001 to €6,000: €2,001 to €4,000.
- Invoice over €6,000: €4,001 to €6,000.
- Repeat offence (second of the same type within 12 months): €4,001 to €18,000.
The offence is committed by the shipper or the party liable for payment — not the carrier — and only applies when the carrier can prove it requested the breakdown and was refused. The same scale also lists a €401 fine for a carrier who lacks the DeCA document, hides it, or fails to hand a copy to the driver for roadside checks; this figure does not appear explicitly in the BOE text consulted and is attributed to Diario de Transporte.
Why it matters for drivers leaving Portugal
The obligation applies to any road freight invoice issued under a Spanish contract, including cabotage carried out by Portuguese hauliers in Spain. Anyone invoicing a Spanish shipper should confirm that the diesel price variation is itemised on the invoice, and keep proof of the request if the shipper refuses, in order to rely on the protection of article 38 of Law 15/2009 in case of an inspection.