The Mobility Package is the bundle of three EU regulations enacted between 2020 and 2025 (Regulations EU 2020/1054, 2020/1055 and 2020/1056) that rewrote the rules of international road freight transport in Europe: driver driving and rest times, cabotage market access, transnational posting, second-generation digital tachograph. For European forwarders in 2026 the Mobility Package is no longer "new": it's the default operating frame, and ignoring its constraints costs fines, border delays and carrier suspensions.
The three pillars of the Mobility Package
The package articulates in three families of rules that work together.
Driver driving times and posting. Regular and reduced driving weeks, mandatory weekly rest in driver's country of residence every 4 weeks, ban on full weekly rest in cab, transnational posting rules for drivers traveling abroad.
Market access. Cabotage limited to 3 operations in 7 days from the international delivery, "cooling-off period" of 4 days before repeating cabotage in the same country, and — the change that weighs most on the route planner — the periodic vehicle return to the carrier's country of establishment every 8 weeks.
Smart Tachograph 2. Second-generation digital tachograph mandatory for international transport from 21 August 2025: automatically records border crossings via satellite GPS, tracks loading and unloading, enables remote authority checks.
What changes when planning an international shipment
For a forwarder operating EU lanes, the Mobility Package introduces concrete constraints on how a vehicle gets assigned to a load.
Preventive cabotage budget check. Before proposing a series of deliveries in a country other than the carrier's home country, the forwarder must know how many cabotage operations that vehicle has performed in the previous 7 days. Above 3, the truck is "blocked" in that country until the 4-day cooling-off expires.
Return-to-base planning. The "every 8 weeks the vehicle returns to the country of establishment" constraint forces inserting a planned empty return into long routes. For Central-Eastern European carriers working heavily in Germany, France or Benelux, this is a cost item that needs to be negotiated in the rate.
Weekly rest out of cab. The driver can no longer take long weekend rest on the highway. The forwarder effectively pays for accommodation (or includes it in the rate). Planning also changes: the 45h weekly rest must be in adequate facilities.
Cross-border check via Smart 2. The tachograph records every border crossing. A country's authorities see in real time who entered and how long they've been there. Post-invoice disputes ("there is no record that carrier X was in Italy on day Y") are far more traceable.
Cost and tariff impact
This is not abstract "compliance": the Mobility Package is already passed through to market rates. Three concrete items.
Structured rest. Driver accommodation for the 45h weekly rest, in adequate facilities, is a recurring cost item the carrier puts in the quote for long lanes. The forwarder pays it in the rate.
Vehicle return home. The 8-week maximum between returns to base becomes a planning constraint that reduces flexibility. The most impacted corridors are Poland/Romania/Bulgaria → DACH and Benelux: vehicle commuting has a structural cost that is transferred to the end customer.
Tighter cabotage = less local supply. On secondary lanes historically served by aggressive foreign cabotage carriers, supply has shrunk since 2022. Local carriers gained pricing power. For the forwarder this means more sourcing work to cover lanes that used to be "easy".
What large consignees should monitor
For the consignee using the forwarder as integrated service, the Mobility Package is "transparent": pay the rate, the carrier complies. But two elements become contractual.
Border traceability. The consignee with CSRD exposure or internal compliance needs requests historical border crossings per lane. Smart 2 enables this natively: the consignee can request it as invoice attachment.
CO2 reporting. International shipments with structural empty returns weigh differently on the consignee's carbon footprint. Some large consignees ask the forwarder to avoid carriers that often fall into return-home cycles, or to favor exclusive networks that share empty backhauls among participants.
Smart Tachograph 2 — what to check in the carrier network
For a forwarder onboarding new carriers, Smart 2 check is part of today's KYC.
- Vehicle registered after August 2025 — Smart 2 mandatory by default
- Vehicle registered between June 2019 and August 2025 — retrofit mandatory according to scaled timeline (see European Commission site for each country)
- Vehicle registered before June 2019 — not usable for international cross-border, can stay for domestic
- Driver card Smart 2-enabled — separate check on driver, not vehicle
- Updated software/firmware — Smart 2 has periodic updates published
FAQ
Does the Mobility Package apply to domestic transport too?
Largely no: the package regulations govern international transport and cross-border cabotage. Driver driving and rest times apply everywhere (with flexibility margins for short-range domestic). Smart Tachograph 2 is mandatory for cross-border; domestic can continue with Smart 1 or earlier digital tachograph.
What happens if the carrier exceeds 3 cabotage operations in 7 days?
Administrative penalty to the carrier (varies by member state) and potentially to the consignee or forwarder if they have demonstrable contractual responsibility. The vehicle is stopped and must leave the country or wait for cooling-off. The diligent forwarder verifies the carrier's residual cabotage budget before assigning a series of cabotage deliveries.
Vehicle return home is every how many weeks?
Maximum 8 weeks between returns to the carrier's country of establishment. The rule applies to the vehicle, not the driver (separate rule: return to residence every 4 weeks). Exceptions: certain specialized transport categories have specific derogations to verify case-by-case.
Smart Tachograph 2 mandatory from 21 August 2025 — does it apply to old vehicles too?
Vehicles registered after 21 August 2025: Smart 2 from factory. Older vehicles doing international cross-border: retrofit mandatory according to a scaled calendar published by the European Commission (dates vary based on previous tachograph class). Vehicles for domestic only are not affected.
How does an AI dispatcher monitor Mobility Package compliance?
The AI dispatcher queries carrier registers (residual cabotage, weeks since last return home, driver driving hours) before proposing an assignment. If the assignment would violate a constraint, the AI discards the match and looks for an alternative. At Truckscanner, Leo reads this data as part of the system prompt and applies the rule in real time.
Want to understand how to manage international shipment planning under the Mobility Package without burdening your traffic team? Request a private demo on the forwarders page or read the article on exclusive carrier networks.