The route sheet on the driver's mobile: how and when to carry it

Yes, the driver can carry the route sheet on their mobile. The Spanish resolution that regulates the electronic route sheet (hoja de ruta, known as DeCA) allows the driver's copy to be an electronic copy that can be shown on a mobile device or a copy printed on paper, and in both cases it must carry the QR code. That copy is always handed over before the service actually starts.

Here is when and how it is handed over, what the driver shows at a roadside check, why correcting it by hand does not count, what to do if the service changes and how the driver sees it in the Bus Center portal.

On the mobile or on paper, but with a QR

Both forms are valid, and in both the QR is what matters. The resolution says (our own translation) that a copy must be handed to the driver to carry on board the vehicle in either of these forms: an electronic copy that can be shown on a mobile device, or a copy printed on paper. In both formats, the copy must contain the QR code.

In addition, the driver may have the QR code as a separate file. It is useful as a backup: if the PDF will not open, the QR still leads to the download address.

Choosing one or the other is up to each company. The mobile saves printing and makes it easy to swap the version if something is modified; paper does not depend on the battery. Carrying both at once is a prudent option.

When it has to be handed over

Before the service starts. The resolution puts it this way (our own translation): once the route sheet has been generated, and always before the service actually starts, a copy must be handed to the driver. And the sheet itself has to be generated before the service actually starts, with the date and time of creation recorded.

In practice, this means the route sheet is issued in the office before departure; the driver does not write it on the road. What the sheet has to contain is explained in the electronic route sheet.

What the driver shows at a check

When the transport inspectorate or the road transport enforcement officers ask for the route sheet at a check, the driver presents the sheet with the QR code or, failing that, just the QR code. The officer downloads the PDF from that address: the resolution requires the download to be direct, with no password.

That is why the QR is the important part. If the driver's phone has a flat battery and they carry neither a printed copy nor the QR separately, they have nothing to show. A backup copy in the cab is a simple precaution.

It is also worth having the driver open the link before leaving. The officer downloads the PDF from the same address the QR carries, so if the driver opens it from their mobile without logging in anywhere, they know the document is there.

No handwritten notes

With the electronic sheet, the driver no longer corrects anything on the move. The resolution says (our own translation) that, if a printed copy is carried, handwritten notes on it will not be taken into account, and that the only valid way to modify the route sheet is the one set out in its section five.

If on the road they find that a detail is no longer true, such as another driver or another stop, the thing to do is tell the office, since it is the office that modifies the sheet.

If something changes, the new version has to reach the driver

When the sheet is modified, the driver must have the correct version. The resolution allows two methods for modifying it and in both asks for the same thing (our own translation): the modified PDF or the new PDF must be delivered to the driver.

If a new PDF is generated, it has a new address and a different QR, so the earlier printed copy is no longer any use. We explain the two methods in how to modify a route sheet that has already been issued.

In Bus Center, when a new version is issued the program warns that the URL and the QR have changed and that the driver must carry the new version. If the driver opens it from their portal, they see the current issued sheet.

The route sheet in the Bus Center driver portal

The Bus Center driver portal is a web page that opens on the mobile, with nothing to install, and that can be placed on the home screen like an app. The driver logs in with their email and password and sees only their own information.

In each service they see the route sheet (DeCA) for their service, with the same link as the one in the QR or, if the service is exempt, the exemption with its reason. Alongside it they have their next service with time, origin, destination and coach, and a button to open the route on the map. They start and finish the service from the mobile, and the actual time is logged. More on what the portal does in the app for bus drivers and in the portal section (in Spanish) of the home page.

What the portal does not do: it is not an app from the app stores, it does not track the driver by GPS and it does not send the route sheet to any authority. Their location is requested only when reporting an incident, and they can say no.

Sources consulted

Checked on 11 October 2026. We link to the original source so that you can consult the current text.

• Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026, de la Dirección General de Transporte por Carretera y Ferrocarril, por la que se establecen las características que deben reunir los sistemas y los documentos electrónicos de control administrativo exigidos en los transportes por carretera (texto consolidado). BOE.