Leasing without driver of goods transport vehicles for hire or reward

The rules of road haulage for hire or reward allow a haulage company registered in the road hauliers' register and/or in the REN to use vehicles acquired on lease without driver (LSC), to carry out road haulage activities on a national and international scale.

Vehicles leased without a driver may be hired by any undertaking established in the national territory or in another Member State of the European Union (namely, regularly authorised road haulage companies or LSC), provided they are registered or put into circulation in accordance with the legislation of any Member State.

The subleasing of vehicles taken over in LSC, i.e. the leasing of a vehicle taken over in LSC to a third party, is prohibited.

Lorries, lorries, isolated road tractors, trailers and semi-trailers, road trains and articulated vehicles may be leased, irrespective of the mass of the leased vehicle.

Article 84 of the Swiss Civil Code provides for two different possibilities for leasing without a driver:

1) LSC by companies carrying out the activity professionally, in which case it is necessary that:

- the lessor company holds an authorisation (SCIA) for leasing vehicles without drivers;

- the lessee company is registered in the Register of Road Hauliers and in the REN;

- it is noted on the registration certificate / DU that the vehicle is intended for use by third parties - rental without driver.

2) LSC between Italian companies engaged in the activity of road haulage for third parties, in which case it is necessary that

- both companies are registered in the Register of road haulage companies for hire or reward and authorised to carry out the activity. However, if a company has limits arising from its registration in the REN, such as, for example, carrying out the activity of transport with vehicles with a total mass not exceeding 3.5 tonnes, it will not be able to hire vehicles with a total mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes;

- the leased vehicle is registered and put into circulation in Italy for use in the carriage of goods on behalf of third parties and is exclusively owned or leased by the lessor company

- the lease contract has been stipulated in writing and contains the provision only of the making available of the vehicle and not also of other services concluded with the same company (the contract does not have to be registered with the Revenue Office)

- the vehicle is made available exclusively to the leasing company for the entire duration of the contract;

- the leased vehicle is driven exclusively by personnel of the lessee user company;

The Ministry of Transport has set up an application (called REN NOLEGGI) available on the motorist portal to allow registration in the REN of the number plates of vehicles leased for the transport of goods.

Registration makes it possible to verify that the leased vehicle is exclusively at the disposal of the company using it for the entire duration of the rental contract and must also be carried out for short-term LSC contracts.

Therefore, transport companies registered in the REN that intend to use a goods vehicle on lease without a driver, whether with Italian or foreign number plates (only within the EU), are obliged to proceed with registration in the application before use.

For registration in the REN Noleggi application, companies may contact the Civil Motor Vehicle Registration Office with territorial jurisdiction based on the registered office or a professional operator authorised to carry out operations on the Sportello Telematico dell'Automobilista (Motor Vehicle Registration Agency), which will issue a receipt of registration - a receipt that does not constitute documentation to be kept on board and, consequently, it is not necessary to show it to the Police in the event of a roadside check.

The documentation to be kept on board the vehicle is

- rental contract or certified extract of the same contract;

- if it is not the driver who leases the vehicle: the driver's employment contract or certified extract from the same contract.

- Communication forms REN HIRES