Paper CMR vs e-CMR: time, costs, invoicing

Before you start: about the figures in this article

The times below are estimates for a typical shipment. They depend on the company, the route, the number of parties and how the document gets back to the office. Treat them as a starting point for your own measurements, not as a promise.

Issuing the note

Paper: an estimated 10–15 minutes. Every box is filled in by hand, from scratch, across several copies at once. Sender, consignee and vehicle details are copied from the transport order, and illegible handwriting on the carbon copy comes back later as a question from the customer.

e-CMR: an estimated 2–3 minutes. Business partners, vehicles and templates are saved, so for each subsequent note you usually only add the goods, date and place. The first note takes longer, because that is when you save the data you will reuse later.

Even without an account you can speed up this step: the CMR generator guides you through every box and produces a clear PDF ready to print.

The parties' signatures

The CMR note is signed by the sender, the carrier and the consignee (boxes 22, 23 and 24). On paper, each party must sign the same printout in person, so a signature is only possible where the document physically is.

With e-CMR, signatures are collected remotely. In eCMR One, each party receives a link by email or as a copied link in a messaging app, opens it in their phone's browser and signs with a finger, with no app and no account. Sending the link by SMS is coming soon. We cover the details in our guide Signing a CMR without an app.

Getting the document back to the office

Paper: an estimated 1–3 weeks. The original signed by the consignee comes back with the driver at the end of the trip, or by post. On the way it can get lost, wet or stuck in the cab until the next return to base.

e-CMR: immediately. The signature is added to the shipment the moment it is given. The office sees that the goods have been received without calling the driver or waiting for an envelope.

Invoicing on the day of unloading

In many transport orders, the payment term runs from the date the client receives proof of delivery, usually the CMR note signed by the consignee. With paper, this means the 1–3 weeks spent waiting for the original are added to the contractual payment term.

When the consignee's signature is in the document right after unloading, you can send the invoice with proof of delivery the same day. Whether your client accepts electronic proof of delivery instead of the original depends on your agreement with them, so it is worth settling this before the first shipment.

• Check your transport orders to see which document the payment term runs from.
• Ask your regular customers whether they accept a PDF of the signed consignment note.
• Record their agreement in your terms of cooperation.

Roadside checks

A paper note sits in the cab and is often crumpled, incomplete or stained. With e-CMR, the transport data is on a single phone screen. In eCMR One, the driver shows a QR code that opens the transport data without access to the company account.

From 9 July 2027, authorities in the EU will have to accept data made available electronically via certified eFTI platforms. Read more in our guide eFTI from 2027.

Data quality and corrections

A paper note is created as several copies at once. A correction made on the original does not always come through on the carbon copy, so the copies differ from one another. When something needs to change after leaving the loading point, the driver adds a note in pen, and the office only finds out once the documents are back.

With e-CMR, the data comes from a single database: the same business partner always has the same address and VAT number, and the vehicle registration stays the same from one note to the next. All parties see one document, not their own copies.

Archiving and finding documents

Paper CMRs have to be stored, labelled and found again when a customer files a claim or the accounts team asks for proof of delivery. With a few dozen shipments a month, binders quickly fill the shelves, and finding a single note can take longer than issuing it.

In the app, you can find a shipment by business partner, date or document number, and download the signed PDF at any time.

Document handling costs

The cost of a paper CMR is more than the pad. Every company has different rates, so instead of quoting figures we list the items worth calculating for your own business:

• CMR pads and printing,
• sending originals by post or courier,
• office time spent entering data and chasing missing documents,
• binders and archive space,
• late payments caused by documents that have not come back yet.

With e-CMR, there is no printing or posting of originals: the documents and PDF are in the app. What remains is the cost of the tool itself and the time needed to onboard drivers and business partners.

What changes for drivers and the office

Switching to e-CMR is mainly a change of habits, not of hardware. The driver needs a phone with a browser, not a new app: they sign from a link, just like the other parties. The office stops retyping data from paper and sends signature requests instead.

Business partners need the most attention. Let the sender and consignee know before the first shipment that they will receive a link instead of a printout. Ask your client whether they accept electronic proof of delivery.

When paper is still needed

An electronic note will not always replace paper completely straight away. Your client may require a stamped original, and a business partner may not yet be ready to sign from a link. In that case, you can print the CMR-layout PDF from the app or the generator and sign it the traditional way, then move to a fully electronic workflow one customer at a time.

Summary in figures (estimates)

• Issuing the note: paper 10–15 min, e-CMR 2–3 min.
• Signatures: paper only on site, e-CMR remotely by link.
• Document in the office: paper 1–3 weeks, e-CMR immediately.
• Invoice: paper once the documents are back, e-CMR on the day of unloading, if the client accepts electronic proof of delivery.

All times are estimates for a typical shipment and depend on the company and the route.

Where to start

You don't have to change the whole business at once. Start with one route or one regular customer: issue a note in the CMR generator, and when you want to collect signatures remotely and keep your documents in one place, create an eCMR One account.