From July 1, 2026, a new phase begins in European road transport regulation. Under EU rules, light commercial vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes engaged in international freight transport will also be required to use a tachograph.
At first glance, this may appear to be a technical compliance update.
In reality, it represents a structural shift in the European van market — affecting transit times, cost structures and supply chain stability.
Important clarification:
The rule applies only to cross-border commercial transport within the EU.
Vehicles operating exclusively in domestic transport remain exempt from tachograph obligations in this weight category.
What Exactly Changes in 2026?
As part of the EU Mobility Package, driving and rest time regulations will extend to light commercial vehicles involved in international transport.
This means that 2.5–3.5 tonne vans operating cross-border will be subject to:
A standard daily driving limit of 9 hours (extendable to 10 hours twice per week)
Weekly and bi-weekly driving limits
Mandatory rest periods
Digital tachograph recording requirements
The previous operational flexibility of the van segment will therefore narrow considerably.
Is This the End of the One-Day 1,000 km Express Run?
One of the main competitive advantages of vans has been high daily mileage combined with flexible deployment. In urgent situations, 1,000 km routes were often executed within a single day.
Let’s look at the math.
For a 1,000 km route:
Realistic average speed: 95–105 km/h
Pure driving time: approximately 10 hours
With a daily legal driving limit of 9 hours (10 hours in exceptional cases), many previously one-day operations will become borderline or shift to two-day transit times.
Possible alternatives include:
Two drivers in one vehicle
Two vehicles dispatched in parallel
Deployment of a larger truck
All three solutions imply higher operational costs.
Does the Van Retain Its Speed Advantage?
Partially, yes.
In many EU countries, vans under 3.5 tonnes may travel at motorway speeds of up to 130 km/h, whereas larger trucks are typically limited to 80–90 km/h.
Over a 1,000 km distance, this can result in a time advantage of two to three hours.
However, daily driving time limitations offset part of this benefit.
Legal limits cannot be accelerated.
Cost Implications: Rising Unit Costs
If a vehicle that previously covered 1,000 km per day is now limited to 700–750 km due to regulatory constraints, while:
Driver wages remain unchanged
Financing costs remain unchanged
Administrative workload increases
Tachograph installation and compliance generate additional expenses
Then the fixed cost per kilometre inevitably rises.
This is not a temporary fluctuation. It is a structural adjustment.
The market has not yet fully priced in this change.
The Real Question: Cost or Stability?
The key issue is not whether express transport becomes more expensive.
The real questions are:
What is the cost of a four-hour production stoppage?
What are the contractual penalties for late delivery?
How much risk does a borderline transit schedule introduce into an SLA-driven supply chain?
In some cases, dual-driver or dual-vehicle solutions may be the only operationally secure option.
Yes, this increases cost.
But the cost of instability is often significantly higher.
A Level Playing Field
The tachograph requirement does not eliminate the van segment.
But it does remove the structural advantage of virtually unrestricted daily mileage in international transport.
After 2026:
The performance gap between vans and larger trucks will narrow
Capacity planning becomes more critical
Transit time commitments require greater precision
Regulatory compliance becomes a strategic factor
Speed alone will no longer be the decisive differentiator.
Structure will.
The INCON-LOGISTIC Ltd. Perspective
Regulatory changes are part of the logistics environment. The question is not whether they occur, but how companies respond.
For INCON-LOGISTIC Ltd., transit planning, capacity structuring and regulatory compliance are not administrative afterthoughts. They are operational fundamentals.
The 2026 tachograph extension is not a reason for alarm.
It is a planning parameter.
The most stable solution is not the one that appears fastest on paper, but the one that remains legally compliant and operationally reliable under real conditions.
That is where we see the difference.