Romania’s new law (No. 100/2026) is intended to separate the transport service from the physical handling of cargo. In practical terms, delivering the goods is one service; loading and unloading are another. The rules apply from 24 July.
Drivers can’t be pressured into doing warehouse work
Under the new provisions, consignors, consignees, intermediaries and their representatives will not be allowed to require drivers to carry out loading or unloading operations.
Romanian legal experts also point out that “forcing” should be interpreted broadly and is not limited to a direct order. The ban may also cover situations where a driver is put under pressure—for example, when the release or acceptance of goods is made conditional on unloading, when someone refuses to sign transport documents, when contractual penalties are threatened, or when operational instructions present unloading as the driver’s responsibility.
When unloading by the carrier’s staff is still allowed
The law includes a limited set of exceptions.
Employees of transport companies may carry out unloading only—and only if:
- the transport is specialist in nature,
- the type of carriage requires such an operation,
- the right to perform unloading is explicitly included in the employment contract or an addendum.
Different rules apply to owner-drivers operating on their own account. They may choose to carry out both loading and unloading, provided they give written consent and comply with occupational health and safety requirements.
Contract clauses won’t override the ban
The new rules also target the practice of inserting driver loading/unloading duties into carriage contracts or transport orders.
The law states that clauses requiring carriers to have drivers perform these operations—outside the cases permitted by the act—will be automatically null and void.
According to an analysis published on the legal portal JURIDICE.ro, this means such provisions do not need to be challenged in court: the law removes their legal effect by default.
Fines of up to 20,000 lei
Breaches will be punished with administrative sanctions.
Fines of 5,000–20,000 lei will apply to consignors, consignees or intermediaries who force drivers to load or unload.
Carriers, in turn, face penalties of 10,000–20,000 lei if they include obligations in their contracts that require drivers to carry out these tasks in a way that violates the law.
Enforcement will be handled by Romania’s Labour Inspectorate and ISCTR, the country’s road transport inspection body.
Following the path set by Portugal and Spain
Romania is not the first European country to regulate this issue.
Portugal has had similar rules in place since 2021. As a rule, responsibility for loading and unloading lies with the consignor or consignee, who must use properly trained staff. Drivers may take part only in narrowly defined situations, including removals, certain distribution movements and selected specialist transports. Portuguese law also limits waiting time for loading or unloading to two hours and provides for penalties of up to 15,000 euro.
In Spain, the ban on driver involvement in loading and unloading has applied since September 2022. It generally covers transport performed with vehicles over 7.5 tonnes GVW. For a first breach, companies face a fine of 4,001–6,000 euro; if the ban is broken again within 12 months, the penalty can rise to 18,000 euro. Exceptions include, among others, the transport of live animals, removals, some courier shipments, and transport carried out by tankers and tipper trucks.
Romania’s decision adds weight to a wider European trend: drawing a clearer line between a driver’s role and warehouse operations, while placing responsibility for cargo handling on the parties organising loading and unloading.
