IRU calls for EU 30-day payment cap on road transport

The IRU (International Road Transport Union), the world road transport organisation, on 2026-10-08 called on the EU to cap payment terms for road transport services at 30 calendar days, in both business-to-business and public contracts, with no derogations. The demand targets late payments that drain liquidity from a sector where up to 90% of companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or micro-enterprises. If adopted, it would replace today's EU baseline, which still allows 60-day and longer terms between businesses.

What the IRU's 30-day payment terms proposal means for road transport

The IRU announcement presented two position papers, one on depot charging and one on late payments. The late-payment position paper , dated 2026-10-02, asks for a road-transport-specific EU regulation that would apply directly in every member state.

The 30-day clock would start at the verifiable completion of the service, or when an e-invoice is submitted and its receipt confirmed, and any acceptance or verification step would count inside the 30 days rather than pausing them. The rules would cover subcontracting chains and any operation starting or ending in the EU, and existing contracts would get 12 months to align. The IRU also wants late-payment interest to apply automatically, compensation calculated per invoice rather than per contract, an anonymous complaints channel, and enforcement bodies able to publish the names of repeat offenders. "Cash flow is not an administrative detail for a transport operator," said IRU EU Director Raluca Marian.

Why late payment hits hauliers harder

The IRU's position paper, dated 2026-10-02, cites European Commission figures showing that 50% of all invoices in the EU are paid late, that the average delay grew by 15 days between 2022 and 2024, and that around EUR 100 billion of liquidity is locked up in overdue invoices. In transport and storage, 68% of businesses surveyed by the Commission want a firm maximum payment period, compared with 48% in construction, the next most affected sector.

For a haulier, the gap between paying for diesel, tolls and wages and being paid for the load is the real exposure. With diesel prices still elevated this year, a 60-day or 90-day invoice means financing two or three months of operating costs out of thin margins. The IRU adds that up to 20% of road transport contracts are cross-border, which limits how much national rules can protect carriers.

How it compares with the rules today

The EU baseline is Directive 2011/7/EU , which sets a 60-day limit for business-to-business payments unless the parties expressly agree otherwise and the term is not grossly unfair, and 30 days for public authorities, extendable to 60. The Commission's 2023 proposal for a horizontal 30-day cap across all sectors is, in the IRU's words, blocked at the level of the Council. Some countries already go further: French law limits payment for road freight, freight forwarding and brokerage to 30 days from the invoice date, with administrative fines of up to EUR 2 million for companies.

As HGV Ireland points out, the IRU demand is a proposal, not a legal requirement, so nothing changes in contracts yet. Carriers can still shorten their own exposure now by invoicing electronically on the day of delivery and attaching proof of delivery that customers cannot dispute, which a transport management system with live shipment tracking makes routine. Until the EU acts, hauliers are left negotiating 60-day-plus terms on their own.

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