Fragmented data exchange remains one of the biggest obstacles to digital freight transport. The Open Logistics Foundation believes it can change that. Its new eDeliveryNote project, led by Markant, aims to develop an open-source data model, standardized APIs and interoperable interfaces that enable existing logistics systems to exchange delivery note data using a common open standard. The initiative brings together logistics companies, shippers, consignors and software providers to help shape that standard.
Universal Business Language (UBL) and eDeliveryNote are not the same
Open Logistics Foundation will develop an “open, consensus-based data model for the digital delivery note” together with standardized APIs and interoperable interfaces.
The goal of UBL is to ensure that different ERP, procurement, and accounting systems can exchange business documents in a consistent, interoperable format without requiring custom integrations. The Foundation is not claiming UBL is inadequate. Instead, it is addressing a different problem: UBL primarily specifies the document schema. The Open Logistics Foundation aims to provide the implementation framework needed to make those standards easier to adopt across existing logistics systems.
The objective is not to develop another product or platform, but to provide reusable open-source components that integrate with existing systems.
Spain provides a practical example
Dr. David Saive (Legal Product Owner) and Carina Tüllmann (CCO) from Open Logistics Foundation explain the impact of the Spanish regulation and what this means in practice.
From 05OCT2026, Spain will require a digital Documento de Control Administrativo (DCA) for commercial road freight transport. What was meant to have an effect for domestic transports and cabotage control only, will, in practice, also be relevant to much of the transit traffic passing through the country.
A deciding factor is how the DCA is made available during an inspection. The Spanish approach is ‘view-by-request’: no structured interfaces with the authorities, but rather a document-based approach where an unstructured document must be provided on request.
“Spain is actually a prime example of why the argument works the other way around. The regulatory landscape there shifted significantly: what was originally known as the DCA has since been updated and is now referred to as the DeCA. This precisely illustrates the core challenge. National transport compliance requirements can change quickly and with considerable complexity,” Tüllmann adds.
Rather than developing country-specific solutions, the Open Logistics Foundation aims to build reusable components that can be adapted as regulations evolve across Europe.
Why governments are driving digital transport documents
The answer goes beyond “because the law requires it”. Transport documents establish who is responsible for the goods at each stage of the supply chain, helping to avoid disputes over liability. The systems are designed to give governments visibility into the movement of goods, not business efficiency.
A single shipment may generate related information which is repeated across multiple documents, such as delivery note, customs declaration, invoice or proof of delivery. More importantly, the opportunity is not simply to digitize each document, but to create one trusted source of logistics data.
From document-centric logistics to data-centric logistics
Real innovation isn’t replacing paper with PDFs; it’s about treating documents as different views of the same underlying data. If initiatives like eDeliveryNote succeed, the competitive advantage won’t come from producing digital documents – it will come from maintaining a high-quality, interoperable data model that can satisfy both business operations and regulatory requirements. That is a much broader transformation than digitizing a delivery note.
A common pattern
Several European countries have introduced national digital transport reporting or control systems, although they differ in scope and purpose. Interestingly, most national systems are sector-specific rather than applying to every shipment.
High-value goods most exposed to VAT fraud, together with excise items such as fuel, alcohol, or tobacco and pharmaceuticals, are the primary targets. Today, companies operating across Europe may have to comply with country-specific reporting systems. This fragmentation is the problem that organizations like the Open Logistics Foundation are trying to address.
The real trend
The eFTI Regulation is the EU framework for exchanging legally required freight transport information electronically between businesses and public authorities.
From 09JUL2027, authorities in EU Member States must accept freight information electronically when a business provides it through a certified eFTI platform. Importantly, eFTI primarily obliges public authorities, not companies.
eFTI is not a new consignment note
eFTI is the legal and technical framework through which regulatory transport information is made available to authorities. eFTI could become the common regulatory layer above national systems.
“The point is not to create isolated national solutions, but to position digitally in a way that allows for low-effort, targeted adaptation to local requirements. That is the strategic approach, and it scales,” adds Tüllmann.
eCMR and eDeliveryNote remain the business layer
The electronic consignment note (eCMR), used in cross-border road freight transport, may contain much of the same information, but it serves a different purpose. The eCMR records the transport contract and the parties’ responsibilities. eFTI regulates how statutory freight information is communicated to authorities.
The strategic question is whether data created for eCMR, eDeliveryNote and national reporting systems such as Spain’s DeCA, Poland’s SENT, Hungary’s EKÁER and Romania’s RO e-Transport can be mapped to the common eFTI dataset instead of being recreated for every regulatory requirement.
If the Open Logistics Foundation’s vision succeeds, companies could create logistics data once and reuse it across business processes and national reporting systems. eFTI would then provide the common regulatory framework for making the required information available to authorities across Europe.
