If you want to manage a road freight company in Denmark, you need to be an approved transport manager. In practice that means an approved haulier course (or documented supervisory experience that exempts you from it) and a passed written exam. This guide explains who needs the qualification, what it takes, what it costs to get licensed, how unemployed and employed people can get help with training, and how it differs from driver training.
TL;DR
- A freight company that is not personally owned needs at least one approved transport manager who manages its transport activities effectively and continuously.
- The standard route is a haulier course approved by the Danish Road Traffic Authority, completed within the last 10 years, plus a written exam.
- Five years of continuous supervisory work in freight haulage can exempt you from the course, but not from the exam.
- A general logistics or transport certificate is not the same thing as the haulier qualification.
- We offer haulier courses for trucks and vans, and a business team that handles company formation and day-to-day administration afterwards.
Table of Contents
- What a transport manager does in Denmark
- The qualification: course plus written exam
- Truck or van: which haulier course fits you
- What it costs to get licensed
- Funding: job centres, a-kasser and employers
- How manager training differs from driver training
- Our perspective
- From exam to first invoice: a practical sequence
- Courses and business support from Votra
- FAQ
- Sources
What a transport manager does in Denmark
The transport manager is the person the licence rests on. The Danish authorities require that, for a company that is not personally owned, at least one approved transport manager effectively and continuously manages its transport activities. That is a real management role, not a name on a form. It covers planning and supervising transport, keeping drivers and vehicles within the rules, and being the person who actually runs the transport work day to day.
The legal basis is the Danish Freight Transport Act. Section 4 of the Godskørselsloven says a business licensed under §1(2) must have an approved transport manager who:
- is of age and reputable,
- is able actually and continuously to manage the transport work,
- is resident in the EU/EEA, and
- is professionally qualified.
For a personally owned business, the manager must be the owner. So if you are a sole trader starting out with one truck, you are the transport manager and you need the qualification yourself. If you are setting up a limited company, you can either qualify yourself or employ someone who holds the qualification.
Who can be the manager in a company
For companies that are not personally owned, the transport manager must be genuinely employed or be the company’s director, owner or shareholder, and an employment contract is required in the specified cases. This matters if you plan to hire a manager rather than qualify yourself: the arrangement has to be real and documented.
There is also a pay requirement. If the transport manager does not own all the company’s shares, the employment contract must show remuneration of at least DKK 15,000 per month. If the manager is also a driver, pay must follow the relevant collective agreement, plus at least DKK 50,000 a year for the transport manager work. Build these figures into your budget before you decide between qualifying yourself and hiring.
The qualification: course plus written exam
Danish guidance describes the qualification as a freight haulier course and a written exam, not as a generic “transport manager certificate”. For community licence freight businesses, the professional competence requirement is an approved freight haulier course completed within the previous 10 years, or an experience-based exemption from the course, and a written exam. Van businesses have corresponding van-specific rules.
Two routes lead to the same exam:
- Course route. You complete a freight haulier course approved by the Danish Road Traffic Authority within the 10 years before you apply, then pass the written exam.
- Experience route. If you have five years of continuous supervisory employment in freight haulage, you may be exempted from the course, but you must still pass the course’s written exam.
The official page does not state a fixed course duration, so check the schedule with the course provider when you choose a start date. The 10-year window also deserves attention: a certificate from a decade ago may no longer count when you apply for a licence.
A note on changing rules
Danish road transport rules are under continuing simplification. In June 2024 the Ministry of Transport proposed abolishing the qualification course requirement while keeping the written exam. Whatever the current wording, the written exam is the part that stays central, and knowing the material is what carries you through it. Always confirm the current requirement with the Danish Road Traffic Authority before you apply for a licence.
Does a logistics degree or general course count?
No, not by itself. A logistics diploma, a generic transport management course or an online certificate from an international platform can be valuable for your career, but the licensing authority asks for the approved freight haulier course, or the experience exemption, and the written exam. If your goal is to run a Danish haulage company legally, start with the course that matches the licence rules, then add broader studies if you want them.
Truck or van: which haulier course fits you
Danish rules separate heavier freight (the community licence) from van freight (the van licence). Your vehicles decide which path applies.
| Truck haulage | Van haulage | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical business | Lorries and trailers, domestic and international work | Vans in courier, delivery and trade transport |
| Our course | Haulier course for truck | Haulier course for van |
| Danish course page | Vognmand til Lastbil | Vognmand til Varebil |
| Published price | DKK 14,900–16,900, one-off | DKK 6,900–8,900, one-off |
The prices are the ones published on our site. Within each range, the exact amount depends on the course format you select, so open the course page for the current options.
If you are unsure which licence matches your plans, think about the vehicle you will actually operate in the first two years. Many new hauliers start with a single van and move up to trucks later. Qualifying for the vehicle class you will really use keeps cost and study time in proportion.
What it costs to get licensed
The course fee is only one part. Licensing has its own charges. As an example, from 1 January 2024 the fee for processing an application and issuing or renewing a van freight transport licence was DKK 1,700 per issuance. Fee schedules are updated, so confirm the current amount on the authority’s site.
Beyond the course and the licence fee, plan for:
- the transport manager’s salary if you hire rather than qualify yourself (see the minimum figures above),
- insurance and vehicle costs,
- accounting, VAT and payroll set-up from day one.
That last item is where many new owners lose time. We run Votra Business, a separate company on the same site, which acts as an external operations and finance department for haulage firms.
Funding: job centres, a-kasser and employers
You do not always pay out of your own pocket. Support depends on your situation, and the municipality or employer decides in each case.
- If you are unemployed. Unemployed people may take short employment-oriented courses through the regional education pool, provided the municipality approves the course or programme and it meets the applicable conditions. Talk to your case worker at the job centre, or your a-kasse, before you enrol, and bring the course description.
- If you are employed. For employees, compensation for lost wages during vocational training such as AMU courses can be sought through the VEU allowance. Whether a specific course falls under it depends on the course type, so ask the provider and your employer.
- If your company sends staff. Employers can book training for several employees at once. Contact us with the number of people and the qualification involved.
We do not promise funding for any particular course. What we can do is provide a clear course description and the details your job centre or employer needs to assess the application.
How manager training differs from driver training
Readers often mix up the manager qualification with driver qualifications. They are separate.
Professional drivers in Denmark must complete compulsory basic qualification training and refresher training every five years. According to Danish Road Traffic Authority guidance, the basic qualification is 8 weeks for trucks and 3 days for vans. For goods drivers, the course is 296 hours over 8 weeks, or 148 hours over 4 weeks on the intensive route, and it ends with a written test and a practical load-securing test.
For van drivers, the qualification certificate is generally valid for five years, and renewal requires a two-day refresher course without an examination.
The quick comparison:
| Qualification | What it is for | Our page |
|---|---|---|
| Haulier course and exam | Managing a freight transport business | Truck, van |
| Van driver qualification (VB GU) | Driving a van professionally | Van driver qualification |
| Van driver refresher (VB EU) | Renewing the van driver certificate | Van driver refresher course |
| Taxi driver training | Driving a taxi | Taxi driver training in Denmark |
If you plan to both drive and manage, for example as an owner-driver with one van, you may need both a driver qualification and the haulier qualification. Plan the sequence so the certificates are valid at the time of applying for your licence.
Our perspective
Most people who contact us about becoming a haulier ask about the course first. We think the better question is what the first twelve months look like after the exam.
The qualification is the entry ticket. It is built around Danish regulatory requirements, and our courses are offered with online self-study, live exam slots and digital certificates, in several languages. That matters for the many drivers and entrepreneurs in Denmark who run businesses in a second language and cannot take weeks off to sit in a classroom.
But a licence on paper does not run a company. The owners we see struggle in the first year mostly struggle with VAT deadlines, payroll, invoicing, chasing late payers and keeping track of driver documents and expiry dates. That is why our two companies sit under the same brand: Votra Danmark for training and qualifications, Votra Business for company formation, bookkeeping, payroll and administrative fleet management. You choose what you need and when.
Our advice: pick the course that matches the vehicles you will really use, check the exam and licence timing against your start date, and set up your administration before the first invoice goes out, not after.
Jamal Mahjoub
From exam to first invoice: a practical sequence
A sensible order saves months.
- Decide your legal form. A personally owned business means you are the transport manager. A company means you either qualify yourself or employ a qualified manager under the pay and contract rules above.
- Choose truck or van. Match the course to the licence you will apply for.
- Book the course and exam. Check that the course is approved and the certificate will still fall inside the 10-year window when you apply.
- Sort funding early. If you are unemployed, speak to your job centre or a-kasse before enrolling. If you are employed, ask your employer about training support.
- Set up the company. Our Virksomhedsopstart service covers the formation steps, so the company exists when your qualification is ready.
- Put administration in place. Bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and invoicing should work from the first week.
- Apply for the licence. Use the authority’s self-service page and attach the required documents, including any employment contract.
Courses and business support from Votra
We offer officially recognised transport industry courses in Denmark, including haulier courses for truck and van, van driver qualification and refresher courses, taxi driver training, flex traffic (BAB) and evacuation chair training. Online self-study is available for haulier courses, with live exam slots and digital certificates. On the business side, Votra Business offers company formation, bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, invoicing, debtor follow-up, administrative fleet management and monitoring of driver documents and deadlines.
Ready to start? See the haulier course for truck or the haulier course for van, browse all our courses, or look at the Votra Business services if you are setting up a company. Our site is votra.dk.
FAQ
What is the role of a transport manager?
The transport manager effectively and continuously manages a freight company’s transport activities and is the person the licence relies on. For a personally owned business, that person must be the owner. For other companies, it must be a genuinely employed manager or the director, owner or shareholder.
Do I need a degree to become a transport manager in Denmark?
No degree is named in the licensing rules. What the rules require is professional competence: an approved freight haulier course within the last 10 years, or the experience exemption, and a passed written exam. A logistics degree can support your career but does not replace that requirement.
Can five years of experience replace the course?
Five years of continuous supervisory employment in freight haulage may exempt you from the course. You must still pass the written exam. Gather employment documentation early, because the authority will want to see it.
Can the job centre pay for transport manager training?
Possibly. Unemployed people can take short employment-oriented courses through the regional education pool if the municipality approves the course and the conditions are met. Speak to your case worker before enrolling, and bring the course description.
Sources
- How to apply for a community licence or a van licence (Business in Denmark)
- How to apply for a community licence or a van licence (Virk)
- Godskørselsloven § 4
- Forenkling af vejtransporten (Ministry of Transport, 2024)
- New fee order from the Danish Road Traffic Authority
- Den regionale uddannelsespulje (UddannelsesGuiden)
- Økonomi under AMU (UddannelsesGuiden)
- Driver qualification guidance (Danish Road Traffic Authority)
- Varebilsuddannelser (Danish Road Traffic Authority)