What is logistics? The European Commission definition and road freight

Logistics in freight transport, in the definition the European Commission gave in its Communication COM(2006) 336 of 28 June 2006, “covers the planning, organisation, management, control and execution of freight transport operations in the supply chain”. The term defined is freight transport logistics, in an approach that covers all modes of transport, and the Communication gives its definitions “For the purposes of this Communication”; the Commission restated the definition in its Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan, COM(2007) 607 of 18 October 2007. Both Communications are policy texts of the Commission, not legislation. Spain’s Land Transport Act (LOTT) and Türkiye’s Road Transport Regulation define the logistics business itself: the operador logístico and the lojistik işletmecisi.

Status as of 8 October 2026. Read on that day: the two Commission Communications on EUR-Lex; the consolidated text of Spain’s Ley 16/1987 (LOTT) as last updated in the BOE on 15 April 2026; the consolidated text of Türkiye’s Karayolu Taşıma Yönetmeliği on the Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi, with amendments up to the Resmî Gazete of 16 May 2026, and its original text of 8 January 2018; Türkiye’s Law No. 4925; Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009; Articles 785 and 801 of the Russian Civil Code and Federal Law No. 87-FZ; the Eurostat, UNECE and ITF Glossary for transport statistics (5th edition, 2019); and FIATA’s page on freight forwarding. Spanish, Turkish and Russian legal texts are given in our translation; quotations from them keep the original words, followed by the translation in brackets.

The European Commission’s definition

Section 2 of COM(2006) 336, headed “Defining the scope”, opens with the sentence “Transport is an integral element of the logistics supply chain.” The Commission’s approach, it says, “focuses on logistics in freight transport and covers all modes of transport”, with areas such as pure modal logistics and multimodal logistics. Four terms are then defined: freight transport logistics, co-modality, multimodality and third-party logistics.

The same section separates the roles of industry and the authorities. Developing freight transport logistics “is primarily a business-related activity and a task for industry”; the authorities have a role in “creating the appropriate framework conditions”, and the approach “leaves the internal running of company logistics to the companies themselves”. The Action Plan of 2007 restates the definition in its introduction, where freight transport logistics “focuses on the planning, organisation, management, control and execution of freight transport operations in the supply chain”, and adds that production and distribution networks depend on logistics chains “to organise the transport of raw materials and finished goods across the EU and beyond”.

Two of the four definitions concern the combination of modes. Multimodality “is the carriage of goods by two or more modes of transport, irrespective of the types of freight, within a single transport chain”. Co-modality “means the efficient use of transport modes operating on their own or in multimodal integration in the European transport system to reach an optimal and sustainable utilisation of resources”. Loading units built for transfer between road and rail are described in swap bodies explained.

The Commission also gave figures. In 2006 it wrote that “On average, logistics costs account for 10-15% of the final cost of the finished product”, including “costs such as transportation and warehousing”. In 2007 it wrote that “Estimates put the share of the logistics industry in Europe at close to 14% of GDP”. Both figures date from 2006 and 2007, and both documents add a caveat on the statistics: the 2006 Communication says it is difficult to have a reliable picture of Europe’s logistics market because “relevant statistical information is currently not sufficient”, and the 2007 Action Plan that the statistical information available does “not produce a reliable picture of Europe’s logistics market”.

How official and international texts define logistics and the logistics operator

The EU texts and FIATA define an activity or a set of services; the Spanish and Turkish texts define the undertaking that provides them.

The EU wording names five functions, all applied to freight transport operations. The Spanish definition names three of the same functions as verbs, “organizar, gestionar y controlar” (organise, manage and control), and applies them to four operations: “aprovisionamiento, transporte, almacenaje o distribución” (supply, transport, storage or distribution). The Turkish definition lists services that the operator undertakes, in whole or in part, “kendi gözetim ve denetimi altında” (under its own supervision and control) once it has taken delivery of the goods: “yükleme, boşaltma, depolama, istifleme, paketleme, tasnif, etiketleme, sipariş planlaması, dağıtım, teslimat” (loading, unloading, storage, stacking, packing, sorting, labelling, order planning, distribution, delivery). FIATA’s definition adds ancillary and advisory services, such as customs and fiscal matters, declaring the goods for official purposes and insurance, and includes logistic services with information and communication technology and “de facto total supply chain management”.

The Turkish wording quoted here was introduced by the amending regulation published in the Resmî Gazete of 15 May 2025 (No. 32901). The original text of 8 January 2018 (Resmî Gazete No. 30295) began “Taşımacılık faaliyetinin yanı sıra, bağımsız bir işyerinin kullanım hakkına sahip olarak” (in addition to the carriage activity, having the right to use an independent workplace); the current text begins “Fiili taşımacılık faaliyetinin yanı sıra” (in addition to the actual carriage activity) and no longer mentions the workplace.

Transport, storage and distribution in the legal texts

Storage and distribution. The Turkish Regulation defines two words for places where goods are kept: a depo is a place suitable for keeping goods in open and closed areas, an ambar one suitable for keeping them in a closed area (Article 4(1)(j) and (c)). Spain’s LOTT defines a separate business that combines storage with distribution, the almacenista-distribuidor (Article 123): undertakings that act “como depositarias de mercancías ajenas” (as depositaries of other people’s goods) and also distribute them or manage their distribution on the depositor’s instructions. They may also consolidate or break loads and manage stock. Distribution appears by name in both logistics operator definitions: the Turkish one lists “dağıtım” and “teslimat” (distribution and delivery) as separate services, the Spanish one names “distribución”.

Paperwork and customs. Article 801(1) of the Russian Civil Code allows a freight forwarding contract to include, as additional services, obtaining the documents required for export or import, completing customs and other formalities, checking the quantity and condition of the goods, loading and unloading them, paying duties, fees and other costs borne by the client, storing the goods and receiving them at the destination. FIATA’s definition likewise includes customs and fiscal matters. The customs procedure under which goods move under customs control with duties suspended is described in the T1 transit document and NCTS.

Third-party logistics (3PL)

COM(2006) 336 defines the term from the side of the organisation that uses the providers: “‘Third-party logistics’ means that an organisation uses external logistics providers that supply all or a considerable number of its logistical activities.” The national definitions describe the provider’s side. The Spanish logistics operator works “por cuenta ajena” (for the account of others) on the operations “que precisan sus clientes” (that its customers need), and “podrá utilizar infraestructuras, tecnología y medios propios o ajenos” (may use its own or others’ infrastructure, technology and means). The Turkish one handles “müşterilerine ait her türlü eşyayı” (goods of any kind belonging to its customers).

Carrier, forwarder and logistics operator

The texts below define the roles that sit next to the logistics operator in each legal system: the undertaking that carries goods, and the one that has them carried.

Article 801(2) of the Russian Civil Code applies the forwarding rules also where, under the contract, the forwarder’s duties are performed by the carrier, and Federal Law No. 87-FZ of 30 June 2003 describes forwarding services as services for organising the carriage of goods by any mode of transport and for preparing transport documents, documents for customs purposes and the other documents the carriage needs (Article 1(1)). FIATA’s 2004 text defines freight forwarding and logistic services together, in a single definition.

Spain lists logistics operators, with transport agencies, freight forwarders and storage-distributors, among the “actividades auxiliares y complementarias del transporte” (auxiliary and complementary activities of transport) governed by the LOTT (Article 1.1, point 3.º). Anyone who intends to act as an intermediary in contracting road freight, “ya sea en concepto de agencia de transporte, transitario, almacenista-distribuidor, operador logístico o cualquier otro” (whether as a transport agency, freight forwarder, storage-distributor, logistics operator or anything else), needs an “autorización de operador de transporte” (operator-of-transport authorisation, Article 119(1)). The same paragraph exempts some holders of public goods transport authorisations and carriers’ cooperatives and marketing companies, within the limits it sets. Holders of the authorisation must contract in their own name with both the customer and the carrier (Article 119(3)). Articles 119 to 123 have their present wording from Ley 9/2013 of 4 July, in force since 25 July 2013.

In Türkiye, Article 5(1) of the Regulation requires anyone carrying on “lojistik işletmeciliği” (logistics business) within its scope to obtain the matching yetki belgesi (authorisation certificate) from the Ministry, as it does for carriage, agency, forwarding and the other activities it lists. Article 6(9) provides for the L-type authorisation certificate for those who carry on logistics business commercially: L1 for domestic work, L2 for domestic and/or international work. In the EU, the authorisation of a road haulage operator under Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 is described in road transport operator licence. The document that confirms an international road haulage contract is described in the CMR consignment note.

Measuring road freight

The Glossary for transport statistics, published by Eurostat, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Transport Forum, defines the tonne-kilometre by road as a “unit of measurement of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne by road over one kilometre”, adding that “The distance to be taken into consideration is the distance actually run”. The glossary has no entry for logistics, and the word does not occur in it.

The glossary divides road freight by who it is carried for. Transport for hire or reward is “Carriage for remuneration of persons or goods on behalf of third parties”. Transport on own account is “Transport which is not for hire or reward”, which the glossary describes as “the movement by an enterprise of its own staff or freight without any associated financial transaction”. It also defines road cabotage transport, road transport within a country other than the registration country by a road motor vehicle registered in the reporting country; the EU rules for it are covered in cabotage and posted drivers. Greenhouse gas figures per tonne-kilometre for a road freight service are the subject of the carbon footprint of road freight.