It has only recently become possible to use electronic consignment notes on German roads in the same way as their paper predecessors. Since 2008, there has been an additional protocol, similar to the original CMR protocol that all CMR member states have agreed to, but for the electronic version, which each individual country needs to agree to again. This additional protocol entered into force in Germany in April 2022, and forms the legal basis for using digital consignment notes in the country. The sooner the individual member states agree to the additional protocol, the sooner they can use the electronic consignment notes. At the moment, there is a looming danger of a “tariff jungle,” where more and more service providers are offering their own solutions for electronic consignment notes. “The problem is that, when there are hundreds of these eCMR service providers and I have customers in the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, for example, with each country having its own eCMR service provider, I need to work with all of them just to track the shipments,” explains Patrick Becker. “That’s why we’re using an open source solution for the eCMR, which is very different from other e-consignment notes. Because we make all the source code completely public, any business can adapt it as needed while still communicating and exchanging data with the various bodies because they’re all working on the same basis and using the same international standards,” says Becker.