The Transport Manager and the CPC: The Exam Is in Polish — Now What?
The fourth of the four licence conditions is professional competence: the company must have a transport manager holding the certificate of professional competence (certyfikat kompetencji zawodowych, CPC).
In practice this reduces to one question for a foreign founder: will that person be you, or someone you appoint?
Who issues it
In Poland only one body may issue the CPC: the Motor Transport Institute (Instytut Transportu Samochodowego, ITS) in Warsaw. Exams are held in several cities across the year, with the calendar published by ITS.
The exam and what it costs
The exam has two parts: a written test and a case study. The application must be submitted in writing at least 14 days before the exam date you are asking for. Results follow in roughly 14 days, by email or on the ITS website.
Official cost: 500 PLN for the exam plus 300 PLN to issue the certificate — 800 PLN in total.
The real issue for foreign founders
The exam is conducted in Polish. For a founder who does not live in Poland and does not speak Polish, sitting it personally is usually not realistic.
That leaves two routes:
- Appoint someone who already holds the certificate as transport manager — the common solution.
- Present an equivalent qualification recognised in the EU — a certificate obtained in another member state may be accepted.
The second option is regularly overlooked by operators who already run transport in Europe: if you hold a valid competence qualification from another EU country, you may not need to start from scratch.
What the transport manager actually does
This is a responsibility, not a title on paper. The manager is responsible for genuinely and continuously managing the transport activity, and good repute is assessed separately for the company and for the manager. If the manager loses good repute, the licence is directly affected.
Related
The licence process: The Polish transport licence
The full setup route: Setting up a haulage company in Poland
What Meyis does
We set up whichever route fits: assessing whether your existing EU qualification is recognised, solving the certified transport manager requirement, and making the appointment legally sound.
Frequently asked questions
- Who issues the CPC in Poland?
- Only the Motor Transport Institute (ITS) in Warsaw. Exams are held in several cities across the year.
- What does the exam cost?
- Officially 500 PLN for the exam and 300 PLN to issue the certificate — 800 PLN in total.
- What does the exam consist of?
- Two parts: a written test and a case study. The application must be submitted at least 14 days before the requested exam date, and results follow in roughly 14 days.
- Can I get the certificate if I do not speak Polish?
- The exam is held in Polish, so sitting it personally is difficult. The usual solution is appointing someone who already holds the certificate, and an equivalent qualification from another EU country may be recognised instead.
- Must the transport manager be a shareholder?
- No. It can be one of the shareholders or an appointed outsider. What matters is that they genuinely and continuously manage the transport activity and meet the good repute requirement.