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Haulage Company Setup in Denmark: Permits, Registration and Costs

How to set up a haulage company in Denmark: permits, transport manager, CVR and VAT registration, capital requirements, vehicles and the first months of admin.

Af Votra Business28. oktober 2026

To set up a haulage company in Denmark you register a legal entity and a CVR number, get a haulage permit from the Danish Road Traffic Authority (Færdselsstyrelsen) with an approved transport manager attached, document your capital, register for VAT and as an employer, and only then register a vehicle against the permit and carry goods. The order matters, because most delays come from doing these steps in the wrong sequence. This guide walks through each step for both van and truck haulage, with the figures and the official pages behind them.

TL;DR

  • Carrying goods for hire in a vehicle over 3,500 kg requires a haulage permit. For national work in vans between 2,500 and 3,500 kg carrying goods over 11 kg per item, you need a national van permit.
  • You must appoint an approved transport manager who has a real connection to the company and has passed the qualification requirements.
  • Register the company and obtain a CVR number first, then apply for the permit, register for VAT at least 8 days before you start, and register as an employer if you will have staff.
  • Budget for capital documentation, vehicles, insurance and recurring admin (bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, driver documents), not just the permit fee.

Table of Contents

What kind of business this guide covers

A haulage company (in Danish, a vognmandsforretning) transports goods by road for other people’s account, for payment. That is different from own-account transport, where a business moves its own goods in its own vehicles as a side activity. The rules in this article apply to the first group: you are paid to carry someone else’s goods.

In practice Danish haulage splits into two entry routes:

  • Van haulage, with vehicles between 2,500 and 3,500 kg total weight. Entry costs are lower and the qualification is lighter, which is why many new owner-drivers start here.
  • Truck haulage, with vehicles and combinations over 3,500 kg. This needs a full haulage permit, a larger capital requirement and a more demanding transport manager qualification.

Taxi and bus operations follow separate rules and separate permits, and are not covered here.

Step 1: Decide on the form and register the company

Before any permit application, the business has to exist. You register it with the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) and receive a CVR number. According to the official Danish guidance for establishing a business, registration runs through the self-service solutions on Virk.dk, and the same portal handles VAT and employer registration.

The choice that matters most for a haulier is sole proprietorship (enkeltmandsvirksomhed) versus a limited company (ApS). A sole proprietorship is quick and cheap, but you are personally liable. Haulage involves heavy vehicles, customer cargo and tight margins, so many founders choose an ApS to separate private assets from business risk. An ApS also makes it easier to document equity later, which the permit authority asks for.

The permit authority also looks at the people behind the company. The applicant’s good repute (vandel) is assessed, and the authority can take into account criminal offenses, bankruptcies in other transport companies and unpaid public debt, according to the Færdselsstyrelsen requirements for a Community licence. Sort out any outstanding debt with the tax authorities before you apply, not after.

If you want help forming the company correctly from day one, Votra Business handles company formation for transport startups.

Step 1: Decide on the form and register the company — overview diagram

Step 2: Appoint a transport manager

This is the requirement people underestimate. Every haulage company needs an approved transport manager who actually and continuously runs the company’s transport operations. The manager must have a real connection to the company and meet the requirements on professional qualifications and good repute, according to Færdselsstyrelsen’s page on the Community licence.

If you are the owner and plan to drive, you can be the transport manager yourself, provided you qualify. If not, you can employ one, but the contract must define the manager’s tasks and responsibilities, and the authority wants to see that the role is carried out in the company’s interest, as the application guidance describes.

For national van work, the same logic applies in a lighter form: the company appoints an approved transport manager who has passed the written van-haulier test and has a real connection to the company, per the national van haulage rules.

How to qualify

The route depends on the vehicle class:

Do this early. The course and exam take time, and you cannot finalize the permit application without a qualified manager.

Step 3: Understand which permit you need

The law draws the lines by vehicle weight and type of work. Under the consolidated Danish haulage act, businesses established in Denmark need a permit for paid goods transport in vehicles over 3,500 kg, and for national transport in vans over 2,500 kg carrying goods over 11 kg per item.

Situation Permit Key requirement
Paid goods transport, vehicle over 3,500 kg, in Denmark and the EU Community licence (fællesskabstilladelse), valid up to 10 years Transport manager, capital, good repute, operating centre
National paid transport, van 2,500 to 3,500 kg, goods over 11 kg per item National van permit Approved transport manager who has passed the van test
International paid transport in vans over 2,500 kg Community licence for vans Capital, vehicle at the company’s disposal, wage conditions

The truck licence is issued for a period of up to 10 years, after which you apply for renewal, according to Færdselsstyrelsen. A new 10-year national van permit costs 1,100 DKK as of 1 January 2026, per the national van haulage page.

A practical point: the company must hold as many qualifying vehicles as it has certified copies of the licence. Ten copies means the authority expects ten vehicles at your disposal, which you document by being registered as owner or user in the Danish Motor Register, as the supervision rules for international vans explain.

Step 4: Document the financial standing

Step 4: Document the financial standing — overview diagram

The authority wants proof that the company can meet its obligations. In the executive order on road haulage (BEK 2168 of 21 December 2020), an applicant for up to two truck permits must document own cash funds or other assets of at least 150,000 DKK, with 40,000 DKK added for each additional permit. For a national van permit under the same order, the figure is at least 13,500 DKK, with 6,750 DKK per additional permit. Amounts can be revised, so check the current rates on Færdselsstyrelsen’s site before you transfer anything.

How you prove it matters as much as the amount. For a newly formed company that has not yet filed an annual report, the opening balance sheet can be used. Later, the authority accepts:

  • the latest annual report reviewed or audited by a state-authorized or registered auditor;
  • a statement from such an auditor confirming the full requirement is met;
  • a guarantee from an insurer or bank with the wording the authority prescribes.

Capital increases, real estate, locked accounts and similar arrangements do not count, according to the supervision guidance. This is why the way you capitalize your ApS matters: talk to an accountant before the opening balance is drawn up.

Step 5: Register for VAT, employer duties and wages

With a CVR number in hand, handle the tax registrations. The Danish business guidance states that you must register for VAT at least 8 days before business starts. If you have employees, you register as an employer within 8 days of the first salary payment, which covers A-tax, labour market contributions (AM-bidrag) and social contributions such as ATP.

Two points specific to haulage:

  • Vehicle VAT. VAT on business vehicle costs may be deductible in some cases, depending on how the vehicle is used and whether that use is VAT-taxable, according to SKAT’s guidance on vehicle expenses. Get the classification right before you buy, since it changes the real price of the truck or van.
  • Driver wages. Applicants for or holders of a national van permit must follow the relevant collective-agreement provisions on drivers’ wages and working conditions, per the van haulage rules. Build this into your pricing from the first quote.

Step 6: Vehicles, tachographs and driving time

When you choose vehicles, three rule sets apply.

First, technical requirements. The Detailforskrifter for vehicles set the rules for new motor vehicles and trailers, and the 2025 version took effect on 1 January 2026, according to Færdselsstyrelsen.

Second, tachographs in vans. Since 1 July 2026, vans over 2.5 tonnes used internationally for hire or reward, or for own-account transport where driving is the driver’s main activity, need a tachograph and must follow driving and rest-time rules, as Færdselsstyrelsen announced. If you plan to start with an international van route, price that equipment and the follow-up into the plan.

Third, driving and rest time. Drivers carry personal responsibility for following road safety and driving-time rules, while employers are responsible for instruction and for data compliance, according to the official guidance on the rules. In practice that means someone in the company must download, store and review driver data on schedule.

If your drivers will run vans under the driver qualification regime, check that they hold the right credentials. We offer the van driver qualification (VB GU) and the van driver refresher course (VB EU).

Step 7: Register the vehicle and take the first job

Once the company is registered, the permit is granted and the CVR number exists, you register the vehicle’s permit number before you carry goods legally. The sequence stated by Færdselsstyrelsen is to register the company with Erhvervsstyrelsen and get the CVR number before applying; once licensed, you register the vehicle against the permit.

A workable timeline looks like this:

  1. Qualify the transport manager (course and exam).
  2. Form the company and obtain the CVR number.
  3. Capitalize the company and prepare the documentation of funds.
  4. Apply for the permit and wait for the decision.
  5. Register for VAT and, if relevant, as an employer.
  6. Acquire or lease vehicles and register them to the permit.
  7. Set up bookkeeping, invoicing and document monitoring.
  8. Accept the first job.

Do not sign long customer contracts or buy vehicles on credit before step 4 is confirmed. A refused or delayed permit leaves you paying for assets you cannot use.

What to budget beyond the permit

The permit fee is the smallest line. Plan for:

Cost area What it covers
Qualification Haulier course and exam for the transport manager
Capital Documented own funds required for the permit
Vehicles Purchase or lease, technical inspection, tachograph where required
Insurance Vehicle and cargo liability, chosen with a broker for your cargo type
Wages Collective-agreement-compliant driver pay and employer contributions
Administration Bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll, invoicing, debtor follow-up

We publish prices only for the two haulier courses above. We do not publish a price for company setup or the Business plans, so ask us for a quote through the Business page.

Our perspective: where new hauliers get stuck

We train hauliers and we run the back office for transport companies, so we see both ends of the same problem. The qualification gets most of the attention, but the businesses that struggle in year one rarely fail the exam. They fail on admin: an invoice sent three weeks late, VAT paid in a rush, a driver whose certificate expired without anyone noticing.

Three habits separate the stable starters from the rest. They treat the transport manager as a real role with real hours, not a name on a form. They keep their equity documentation clean from the first day, so a supervisory request is a ten-minute task. And they set up a fixed rhythm for invoicing, debtor follow-up and document deadlines before the second truck, not after.

If you are an owner-driver, your hours are your product. Every hour spent on a spreadsheet is an hour the vehicle is parked. That is the honest case for handing administration to someone who does it for transport companies daily.

— Jamal Mahjoub

From permit to running business: where we can help

We run two separate companies under the Votra brand. Votra Danmark ApS provides the training: the haulier courses for van and truck, the van driver qualifications and taxi training. Votra Business ApS acts as an external operations and finance department for transport companies: company formation, bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, invoicing, debtor follow-up, fleet administration and monitoring of driver documents and deadlines.

If you are at the start, the natural path is to qualify through the right haulier course, then have the company set up and the first months of bookkeeping handled in one place. See Virksomhedsopstart for company formation or the Business plans for ongoing administration.

If your plan is taxi rather than freight, the route is different; read about taxi driver training in Denmark, where Danish is required.

FAQ

Do I need a permit to start a haulage company in Denmark?

Yes, if you carry goods for payment in a vehicle over 3,500 kg, or in a national van over 2,500 kg with goods over 11 kg per item. The permit is applied for after the company is registered and a qualified transport manager is in place.

Can I be my own transport manager?

Yes, if you meet the qualification, good repute and connection requirements. Otherwise you appoint someone else, and that person must have a real and continuous role in running the company’s transport.

How much capital do I need?

It depends on permit type and number of vehicles. Under the executive order, the figure for up to two truck permits is at least 150,000 DKK, and for a national van permit at least 13,500 DKK, so check the current rates with Færdselsstyrelsen before you apply.

When do I register for VAT?

At least 8 days before business starts. If you hire staff, you also register as an employer within 8 days of the first salary payment.

Can I start with one van and expand later?

Yes. Many hauliers begin with a van and a national van permit and move to trucks later. Each step has its own permit, capital and qualification requirements, so plan the next level before you outgrow the first.

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