Three transport companies from Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia have been banned from carrying out cabotage operations in France for one year, starting 1 December 2025. The bans were issued by the prefecture of the Centre–Val de Loire region and published in the official administrative bulletin.
The decisions affect UAB Hoptransa (Lithuania), KPO Trade Invest SRL (Romania) and TN Logistica SK SRO (Slovakia). According to the prefecture, all three companies were involved in repeated breaches of EU cabotage rules and driver-working-time legislation during roadside checks in several parts of France.
Lithuanian haulier committed 35 violations
The case of UAB Hoptransa is the most extensive. Between April 2024 and March 2025, inspectors recorded 35 violations. These included cabotage operations carried out without respecting the mandatory cooling-off period and numerous breaches of EU social rules on driving and rest times.
The prefecture found that the company regularly organised work in a way that did not allow drivers to take their weekly rest at home or in their country of establishment. Several checks showed weekly rest being taken inside the cab, while others revealed tachograph misuse and missing documentation. Some vehicles were also circulating without a valid technical inspection.
Hoptransa had already received a cabotage ban in France in 2023–2024. Because the same types of violations continued, the authorities issued another one-year ban, which is now in force.
Romanian company banned after repeated illegal cabotage
KPO Trade Invest SRL was sanctioned after inspectors found a series of infringements committed between February 2023 and January 2025. Several of these involved illegal cabotage, meaning the vehicle operated national transport in France without first completing a qualifying international delivery.
Other violations included weekly rest taken in the cab, insufficient reduced weekly rest, and incorrect use of the tachograph. One vehicle was also found without the required French “angles morts” blind-spot stickers.
The prefecture stated that these repeated breaches justified a one-year cabotage ban, now active since 1 December.
Slovak haulier broke cooling-off rules and cabotage limits
The Slovak company TN Logistica SK SRO was linked to 14 infringements recorded between March 2024 and March 2025. According to the case file, the company failed to respect the four-day cooling-off period between cabotage cycles and sometimes exceeded the number of cabotage operations allowed within seven days. There were also cases where cabotage was carried out more than three days after the truck entered France empty.
Inspectors also found breaches of EU social legislation, including non-compliant weekly rest and incomplete posting-of-workers documents.
As a result, TN Logistica SK SRO is now prohibited from carrying out cabotage in France for one year.
Why the prefecture acted
In all three cases, the prefecture concluded that the companies had shown a pattern of repeated non-compliance with EU and French rules. According to the decisions, such behaviour creates unfair competition and can put road safety at risk.
Under French law, regional prefects can impose a cabotage ban of up to one year on any foreign operator that commits serious or repeated infringements on French territory. Once issued, the ban applies nationwide.
