Road haulage companies must pay promptly for diesel, vehicle leasing, repairs, insurance and drivers' wages, yet they may have to wait two or three months to receive payment from customers. Such delays, which also affect international transport, can threaten their survival. To tackle the problem, the IRU is calling on the European Union to introduce a dedicated regulation requiring payment for road transport services within 30 days. In its paper dated 2 October 2026, the organisation proposes a maximum period of 30 calendar days for settling transport invoices. The limit would allow no exceptions and would apply to both business-to-business transactions and public contracts. The paper stresses that small and medium-sized enterprises, including microenterprises with fewer than ten employees, account for up to 90% of operators. Their limited bargaining power leaves them particularly exposed to unfair contractual practices.
The proposed regulation would cover road transport contracts, including subcontracted haulage, for operations beginning or ending in the EU, provided at least one party is a professional road transport operator. Consumer transactions would be excluded. For international transport, the rules could refer to Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I) and transport documents such as the CMR consignment note. The 30-day period would begin at an objectively verifiable point, either when the service is completed or when an electronic invoice is sent and receipt confirmed, unless the contract specifies a different starting point. Acceptance or verification procedures would be included within the payment period and could not be used to extend it. Companies would remain free to agree shorter payment terms, while Member States could retain national limits of less than 30 days. Existing contracts would have 12 months to comply.
In the event of late payment, interest should accrue automatically, without the creditor having to make an explicit request, until the outstanding principal has been paid. Interest rates and any compensation for recovery costs should be harmonised across the EU, taking inflation into account, as already provided for under Directive 2011/7/EU, and calculated for each invoice rather than each contract. Every Member State would be required to designate an enforcement authority empowered to launch investigations on its own initiative or following complaints, and to impose administrative measures and penalties. Companies would be able to lodge anonymous complaints, while an EU mechanism would be established to resolve cross-border disputes. Authorities could also publish the names of companies and customers responsible for repeated and persistent infringements. The IRU also calls for voluntary, low-cost mediation systems for small businesses. Member States could introduce stricter rules for domestic transport, notifying the European Commission so that they could be published on a centralised portal. The IRU insists on one condition: implementation must not create new reporting, registration or record-keeping obligations, and authorities should rely on information already held in public registers.
The proposal draws on data collected by the European Commission in its impact assessment of Directive 2011/7/EU. Transport and storage are the sectors where the problem is regarded as most urgent: 68% of respondents support a binding maximum payment period for invoices, compared with 48% in construction, the second-highest sector. Across the economy, half of all invoices are paid late, and the average delay increased by 15 days between 2022 and 2024. Late payments tie up €100 billion in liquidity and cost businesses an average of ten hours a week in chasing outstanding invoices. They are also responsible for one in four business failures, while 60% of companies say they have forgone investment in innovation. Some 49% of European businesses accept longer payment terms than they would like to avoid damaging relationships with customers. In road freight transport, the IRU notes, unfair practices arise both during negotiations, when excessively long payment terms are imposed, and during contract execution, when deadlines are extended unilaterally. Operators further down the subcontracting chain often refrain from enforcing their rights for fear of losing customers.
A directive on late payments has been in force for 15 years, but the IRU argues that it has failed to bring about a shift towards timely payments for small businesses operating within complex subcontracting chains. The regulation proposed by the Commission in 2023, covering all sectors, remains stalled in the Council of the EU, while support in the European Parliament appears to be weakening. As a possible model, the IRU points to Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain, which it considers structurally similar to road haulage. After almost six years of implementation, that directive has produced divergent national transpositions, fragmented penalty systems, limited enforcement of cross-border contracts and shortcomings in anonymous complaint procedures. Cross-border contracts account for around 20% of business in the agricultural and food supply chain, a proportion comparable to that in road freight transport. According to the IRU, the international nature of the sector is precisely what limits the effectiveness of strong national legislation.
Among the national practices that could be adopted more widely, the paper cites the direct action mechanism provided for under Article L132-8 of the French Code de commerce (Commercial Code). This allows a carrier that has not been paid by its contracting party to seek payment directly from the consignor or consignee named on the consignment note. The IRU argues that this mechanism would protect subcontracted carriers and encourage shippers, freight forwarders and other operators to ensure timely payments throughout the chain. The other example comes from Italy: Law 105/2025 and its implementing circular of November 2025 allow companies and trade associations to report recurring late-payment practices to the Albo nazionale degli autotrasportatori (National Register of Road Hauliers). The register can forward complaints to the Autorità garante della concorrenza e del mercato (Italian Competition Authority) for assessment and possible investigation.
Pietro Rossoni
