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Here at Barrington Freight, we offer international road haulage and as you may expect, there are certain licences, permits and other passes that we need to be able to get your goods from A to B. For drivers from the UK, the gov.uk website has plenty of information and guidance, but we’ve decided to sum it up in our brief guide to international road haulage licences.

Please note: All of the below count for all vehicles with a gross weight of 3.5 tonnes or above.

Standard International Operator’s Licence

This licence is the standard licence that all hauliers and delivery drivers will need within the UK or when overseas. If you’re transporting dangerous goods, you’ll also need an International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road training certificate alongside your Standard International Operator’s Licence, though it’s important to check shipping restrictions for your destination country too. To apply, all you need is to be ‘professional competent’ or have hired someone who is, and hold a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).

Community Licence                                        

Community Licences are required for any haulier looking to make international journeys for hire or reward with the EU. These drivers will need both a Community Licence and a Standard International Operator’s Licence. This essentially gives you the opportunity to use a single permit for all trips between EU member states, and also allow cabotage (more on that later!) These are also open for use in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Bilateral Road Haulage Permits

These permits are for use in non-EU countries that the UK has agreements with, which are: Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, the Russian Federation, Tunisia and Ukraine. You can get this permit in single or multiple-journey form, with a single journey covering the outward and return trip, and multiple journeys only covering Morocco and for 15 return journeys only.

European Conference of Ministers of Transport Multilateral Road Haulage Permits

For journeys between the member countries of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (EMCT), hauliers have the opportunity to get a permit through this organisation. These permits can only be used between the member states of these countries and there are 43 to choose from. You can see these on the official government website. These permits are valid for a year, and allow an unlimited number of journeys but only between these states, and not for passing through. This permit can be transferred between vehicles but is only valid for one at a time.

ECMT International Removal Permits

For companies that are removing goods between or across ECMT member states, this permit is the right choice. They are for use for removal vehicles, and for laden or empty transit journeys. Like the above, they are valid for one year and can only be used on one vehicle at a time.

Own Account Traffic

Hauliers carrying goods for their own business, not through hire or for reward, are exempt from Community Licence but need to carry an Own Account Document in some cases. This permit must be carried for any journeys to Belarus, Morocco, Russia, Tunisia and Turkey, but not through Austria, Ukraine or Georgia. For the full list of requirements, visit the gov.uk website.

Delivering goods from the UK to EU countries and beyond requires the right permits and licences, but with careful research into which is relevant, driving through these countries isn’t as complicated as you may think. Here at Barrington Freight, we have all of the correct licences and permissions for our drivers, so why not take a look at our road haulage services to see where we’ll deliver to? If you’d like more information, please feel free to get in touch, or fill in our online form for a direct quote.

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Barrington Freight Ltd,
Bowden House,
Luckyn Lane, Basildon,
Essex SS14 3AX