U-ETDS (Ulaştırma Elektronik Takip ve Denetim Sistemi, Transport Electronic Tracking and Supervision System) is the electronic system through which the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (Ulaştırma ve Altyapı Bakanlığı) collects trip, vehicle, driver, passenger and cargo data from authorised operators. In freight transport, holders of C3, K1, K3, L1, L2, N1 and N2 authorisation certificates, and C1 and K2 holders when carrying dangerous goods, must report before the transport starts.
What data does U-ETDS record?
The legal basis of the system is the Road Transport Regulation (KTY, Karayolu Taşıma Yönetmeliği) published in Official Gazette No. 30295 of 8 January 2018. The Regulation defines U-ETDS as the system in which data determined by the Ministry about operators acting under the Law and the Regulation are kept and, where necessary, shared with other public institutions. The main data submitted for freight transport are:
- Name or trade name of the shipper and consignee, Turkish ID or tax ID number, for foreigners nationality and passport number, and address
- Information in the consignment note (excluding the freight charge): place of loading and unloading, type and quantity of the cargo
- The vehicle's licence plate and details of the assigned driver
Who is required to report?
KTY Art. 40/6 was rewritten by the amendment of 15 May 2025. Under the current text, the obligated parties are:
| Authorisation certificate | Activity | U-ETDS cargo reporting |
|---|---|---|
| K1 | Domestic commercial freight transport | Before the transport starts |
| K3, C3 | Commercial removals (household goods) transport | Before the transport starts |
| L1, L2 | Logistics operations | Before the transport starts |
| N1, N2 | Freight depot operations | Before the transport starts |
| C1, K2 | Own-account transport | Only when carrying dangerous goods |
C2 (commercial international freight transport) and R1/R2 (freight forwarding/transport organiser) certificates are not on the current 40/6 list. However, holders of these certificates must also record shipper and consignee information completely and correctly under Art. 40/5; otherwise 5 warning points are imposed. Since the Ministry may issue separate rules on the application of the paragraph, announcements should be followed.
When and how is the report made?
- The trip is planned: Plate, driver, shipper-consignee and cargo information are finalised before loading.
- The record is submitted: Either manually through the Ministry's U-ETDS web interface or via web service integration, i.e. automatically from the company's transport management software. The logic of integration is explained in the API integration in logistics entry.
- Driver information is fixed: Under Art. 32/4, added on 15 May 2025, driver information must be entered by the latest moment at which the reporting obligation begins and, except in force majeure, must not be changed or cancelled. The same driver cannot be assigned to two separate trips in the same time slot.
- The transport starts: The cargo report must have been completed by this moment.
Since much of the data sent to U-ETDS also appears in electronic documents such as the e-waybill (e-irsaliye) and the e-CMR, keeping the source data in a single system reduces errors.
What happens if no report is made?
Sanctions work through "warning" points (KTY Art. 69/8). In freight transport, if no data is submitted at all, 20 warnings are given per trip; if cargo information is missing, 10; if driver information is missing, 10; and 1 warning is applied for each missing or incorrect field (maximum 10 per transport). Not entering driver information at all is 10 warnings, changing it afterwards 5, and assigning the same driver to overlapping trips 30. Warnings can be removed by paying the fee in Annex 1; if unremoved warnings reach 500 and are not reduced within 15 days, the activity under the authorisation certificate is temporarily suspended (Art. 70/3).
Common mistakes
- Entering the report after the vehicle has departed
- Reporting a plate that is not registered on the vehicle certificate
- Entering the consignee's tax number or address incompletely
- Recording a last-minute driver change in the system without force majeure
How does Voltim Global support this?
Voltim Global operates under the Transport Organiser (Taşıma İşleri Organizatörü) authorisation certificate No. IST.U-NET.TİO.33.10568 issued by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (valid until 27.03.2031). In international road transport shipments, finalising plate, driver and consignee information before loading is the main safeguard against reporting errors.