There is one fact every foreign haulier discovers sooner or later: cabotage is banned in Switzerland. Foreign-registered vehicles may cross the country or serve it bilaterally, but they may not run domestic Swiss transport. The internal market belongs to companies established in Switzerland, holding the federal transport licence. This guide covers the whole route in: the licence conditions under the law as revised on 1 May 2025, the transport manager rules, incorporation with a real seat, hiring drivers, and the true cost of the first truck on the road.
Contents
- Why a Swiss company at all: the cabotage ban
- The FOT transport licence in brief
- The transport manager: employed or mandated
- Legal form, capital and the real-seat requirement
- Applying: documents, timeline, fees
- Hiring drivers: licences, qualification, driving time
- Fleet economics and real costs
- The pitfalls that sink applications
Why a Swiss company at all: the cabotage ban
The overland transport agreement between Switzerland and the European Union opens bilateral runs and transit in both directions, and nothing more. Domestic haulage inside Switzerland with foreign-registered vehicles is prohibited, exactly as Swiss trucks may not chain domestic runs inside an EU country. For a foreign transport group, that leaves one route to the Swiss internal market: a Swiss company, Swiss-registered vehicles, and the Swiss licence issued by the Federal Office of Transport (FOT, known by its French and German initials OFT/BAV).
The 2025 revision raised the stakes on both sides of the contract. Since 1 May 2025, shippers are themselves forbidden from commissioning carriers that breach the licence or cabotage rules, on pain of fines. Serious Swiss clients now check their carriers in the FOT’s public register before awarding work. A compliant Swiss entity is not just a legal requirement: it is the ticket to the order book.
The FOT transport licence in brief
The federal law on road transport companies, in force in its revised version since 1 May 2025, requires a licence for professional passenger transport with vehicles designed for more than eight passengers besides the driver, and for professional goods transport with vehicles whose registered total weight exceeds 2.5 tonnes. One notable exception: vans of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes used exclusively inside Switzerland stay outside the licence regime; the same van crossing the border needs it.
| Condition | What the FOT checks |
|---|---|
| Good repute | Ten years without convictions for serious crime or repeated serious breaches of transport rules, criminal record extract required |
| Financial capacity | Equity and reserves of CHF 9,000 for the first vehicle over 3.5 t and CHF 5,000 per additional vehicle; CHF 1,800 then CHF 900 for a fleet of 2.5-3.5 t vans; bank guarantee accepted, valid five years |
| Professional capacity | The transport manager’s certificate of competence, or the branch examination; Swiss federal diplomas in road transport give an exemption |
| Real and durable seat in Switzerland | New since 1 May 2025: an effective establishment managing the fleet from Switzerland, not a letterbox |
Source: federal law on road transport companies (SR 744.10), status as of 1 May 2025, and FOT licence pages.
The licence is issued for five years, personal and non-transferable, and every vehicle must permanently carry a certified copy. The FOT keeps a register whose public part shows the company name and seat, the licence type, the transport manager’s name and the number of vehicles. Operating without a licence is fined up to CHF 100,000 if intentional, CHF 50,000 if negligent.
The transport manager: employed or mandated
The law defines the transport manager as the natural person who effectively and continuously directs the transport activities. That person carries the good repute and professional capacity conditions, and must be domiciled in Switzerland or have their place of work here. Two set-ups are allowed: a manager employed by the company, or an external manager engaged under a written agreement setting out tasks and responsibilities.
The external route is tightly capped: at most four companies, with a combined fleet of no more than 50 vehicles. The cap exists to kill the fictitious-manager model, a name on paper with no real grip on operations. The FOT re-verifies the conditions at least every five years; if the manager drops out, the company has six months to cure the defect, extendable by three months only in case of death or illness. Solving the manager question comes before incorporating, not after.
My Swiss Company advice
A resident director satisfies company-law requirements when shareholders live abroad; he does not satisfy transport law. The transport manager is a distinct, regulated function with its own caps and its own liability. Plan for both roles separately, and never build the licence on a manager who will not actually run the fleet.
Legal form, capital and the real-seat requirement
The law admits natural persons who act as their own transport manager, but a haulage operation with employees and financed vehicles belongs in a company: a Sàrl/GmbH from CHF 20,000 of capital or an SA/AG from CHF 100,000, half paid in. Our company formation services cover the notary, the commercial register and the social registrations end to end.
Two points decide the file at the notary stage. The corporate purpose must cover professional road transport, since the licence is granted for that activity. And the seat must be real and durable: since 1 May 2025 the law says so expressly, and the FOT checks that the fleet is genuinely managed from Switzerland. A domiciliation address alone will not carry a transport licence; you need operating premises consistent with the fleet you declare. Where shareholders remain abroad, Swiss company law separately requires a resident authorised signatory, which our resident director service provides, distinct from the transport manager role.
Your Swiss transport venture
The company is built around the licence file, not the other way round
Corporate purpose, real seat, the transport manager’s contract or mandate, an opening balance sheet that proves financial capacity: every piece of the FOT file is decided at incorporation. My Swiss Company structures the formation around the licence that follows, from Geneva, Lucerne or Zug.
Scope your project
A Swiss Corporate Services Provider in Geneva, Lucerne and Zug, serving clients in more than 20 countries.
Applying: documents, timeline, fees
The application is filed electronically through the FOT’s secure portal. The standard file contains the official form, the written agreement with the transport manager, criminal record extracts, proof of professional capacity, and proof of financial capacity: annual accounts, or an opening balance sheet for a new company. Bank statements and estimates are not accepted; where equity falls short, a bank guarantee covering the full five-year licence period does the job.
With a complete file, the grant takes two to six weeks. The fees are modest against the size of the project: CHF 500 for the grant, CHF 300 for a renewal or modification, CHF 50 for a simple change of name or address. In this trade the administrative cost is marginal; the barrier lies in the substantive conditions and in day-to-day operations.
Hiring drivers: licences, qualification, driving time
The employer layer weighs more than the licence, and no English-language guide covers it. Drivers need the right licence category, C or CE for heavy goods, D for passengers, plus the professional driver qualification maintained by five days of continuing training per five-year period. Checking the qualification card and its expiry belongs in every hiring checklist.
Daily operations run under the Swiss driving and rest time ordinance: at most 9 hours of driving per day, twice 10 hours a week, a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours at the wheel, strict daily and weekly rest, all recorded by the mandatory digital tachograph. These rules loop back into the licence itself: repeated serious breaches of driving and rest times undermine the company’s good repute and can cost the licence. Route planning and driver payroll, with hours, supplements and allowances tracked per vehicle, form the transport company’s heaviest administrative workload; that is what our administration services for Swiss companies take over.
Fleet economics and real costs
The financial capacity amounts, CHF 9,000 for the first heavy vehicle and CHF 5,000 for each additional one, are a legal floor, not a budget. The real entry cost is the vehicle, its insurance and its operation. One Swiss particularity deserves its own line in any business plan: the performance-related heavy vehicle charge (LSVA), levied per kilometre driven in Switzerland on vehicles above 3.5 tonnes, scaled by weight and emission class. On intensive domestic operations it becomes one of the largest cost items, which is why the choice of vehicles is also a tax decision.
Add the incorporation costs of roughly CHF 1,800 for a standard company, the CHF 500 FOT fee, the external transport manager’s fee of CHF 400 to 900 per month where relevant, insurance, maintenance and driver wages, and the model becomes honest. Undercapitalised entries fail not at the FOT counter but in month six, when the first repair bill meets the first quiet weeks.
The pitfalls that sink applications
The fictitious manager leads the list: an external manager beyond the four-company or 50-vehicle caps, or one with no real influence on operations, exposes the company to withdrawal of the licence without compensation. The letterbox seat follows, a domiciliation with no actual fleet management from Switzerland, now expressly insufficient. Starting to drive before the grant risks fines up to CHF 100,000 and durably poisons the file. And weak financial proof, bank statements instead of accounts or an opening balance sheet, delays every timeline.
Finally, compliance does not end at the grant: the FOT re-verifies at least every five years, shippers check the public register, and driving-time breaches erode good repute. As with starting an electrical business, the rule of the trade is the same: compliance is not a file you close, it is an organisation.
FAQ: starting a transport company in Switzerland
Can my foreign transport company operate inside Switzerland?
Only bilaterally and in transit. Domestic Swiss haulage with foreign-registered vehicles is cabotage and it is banned, in both directions of the Swiss-EU relationship. Serving the Swiss internal market requires a company established in Switzerland, with Swiss-registered vehicles and the FOT licence. Since 1 May 2025, shippers who commission non-compliant carriers are themselves liable to fines.
When is the Swiss transport licence required?
For professional passenger transport with vehicles designed for more than eight passengers besides the driver, and for professional goods transport above 2.5 tonnes of registered total weight. Vans of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes used exclusively inside Switzerland are exempt; the same vehicles in international traffic need the licence. It is issued for five years, is personal and non-transferable.
What are the four licence conditions?
Good repute over the last ten years; financial capacity of CHF 9,000 in equity and reserves for the first vehicle over 3.5 tonnes and CHF 5,000 per additional vehicle, or a five-year bank guarantee; the professional capacity of the transport manager, by certificate or examination; and, since 1 May 2025, a real and durable seat in Switzerland.
Who can act as transport manager?
A natural person who effectively and continuously directs the transport activities, domiciled or working in Switzerland, of good repute and holding the certificate of professional capacity. The manager can be an employee or an external mandate holder under a written agreement; an external manager may serve at most four companies with a combined fleet of 50 vehicles.
How long does the licence take and what does it cost?
Two to six weeks with a complete file, filed through the FOT’s electronic portal. The grant costs CHF 500, renewals and modifications CHF 300, a change of name or address CHF 50. The substantive costs sit elsewhere: proof of financial capacity, vehicles, insurance, the heavy vehicle charge and driver payroll.
What happens if the transport manager leaves?
The FOT gives the company six months to restore compliance, extendable by three months only where the manager died or fell ill. Without a new qualified manager in time, the licence is withdrawn without compensation. The succession plan for this role belongs in the company’s risk register from day one.
Sources
- Federal law on road transport companies (SR 744.10), status as of 1 May 2025
- Federal Office of Transport, Road transport
- Federal Office of Transport, Road transport licence
- Federal Office of Transport, Licence FAQ
- Federal Office of Transport, Public register of licensed companies
- Ordinance on driving and rest time for professional drivers (SR 822.221)
Conclusion
Starting a transport company in Switzerland runs in a fixed order: the transport manager first, the company with its real seat second, the FOT licence next, then a disciplined operation, driving times, tachograph, driver payroll, the heavy vehicle charge. The cabotage ban is what makes the effort worthwhile: it reserves the domestic market for those who establish themselves properly.
My Swiss Company SA is a Swiss Corporate Services Provider in Geneva, Lucerne and Zug, serving clients in more than 20 countries on company formation and ongoing administration. We structure the incorporation around the licence file, then run the accounting, VAT and a payroll where every driving hour counts. To scope your project, talk to us.
