Brazil’s Minimum Freight Rules and Law 15,485/2026 (Formerly MP 1,343): How Maplink Cloud Helps You Adapt

On March 19, 2026, Brazil’s federal government issued Provisional Measure (MP) No. 1,343/2026, which tightened enforcement of the minimum freight rate for road cargo transportation. In August, the measure was converted into Law No. 15,485/2026, making the rules permanent.

For companies that rely on road logistics in Brazil, the change calls for close attention and the right technology to stay compliant. In this article, we explain what changed and how Maplink Cloud’s Platform APIs can form the foundation of your compliance.

What changed with MP 1,343/2026 and Law 15,485/2026?

The minimum freight rate has been mandatory in Brazil since Law No. 13,703/2018. What’s new is enforcement, which is now virtually automatic:

• Mandatory CIOT: since May 24, 2026, under ANTT Resolution No. 6,078/2026, every paid road freight operation must generate a Transport Operation Identification Code (CIOT) recording the freight paid to the carrier and any subcontractor, along with the applicable minimum rate.
• Automatic blocking: if the declared amount is below the minimum, ANTT, Brazil’s National Land Transportation Agency, blocks the CIOT, and the trip can’t start.
• Tougher penalties: fines for contracting below the minimum can reach R$1 million for repeat offenses, and the carrier’s registration (RNTRC) can be suspended. The rules cover the entire chain, including brokers and platforms that advertise loads below the minimum.
• Payment terms: the law sets a maximum of 30 business days to pay freight and a minimum 70% advance for owner-operators.

In practice, calculating the minimum correctly before every trip is no longer just good practice; it’s a condition for the operation to happen at all. Companies without a reliable, auditable calculation basis risk blocked trips, fines, and financial exposure.

How Maplink Cloud can help

1. Freight API: compliant minimum freight calculation

The Freight API calculates ANTT’s minimum road freight rate based on:

• operation type (pickup, distribution, transfer);
• cargo type (dry bulk, agricultural products, construction materials, and more);
• number of vehicle axles;
• actual distance traveled;
• empty return trips.

The API also lets you add other operating costs, such as taxes, margin, and fixed fees, to reach a final price. These items are not part of the legal minimum, which is based only on ANTT’s criteria.

That way, your company calculates the minimum freight rate automatically and makes sure every operation meets the requirements for generating a CIOT.

2. Trip API: actual distance, not estimates

The minimum freight calculation depends on the actual route distance, not straight-line estimates. The Trip API calculates precise routes based on:

• vehicle profile (tractor-trailer, light truck, tandem-axle truck, and so on);
• calculation mode: shortest distance or fastest time;
• tolls along the route, in the same request.

That makes the distance used in the calculation auditable and based on real map data.

3. Toll API: tolls included in the real cost

The Toll API calculates tolls along the route by vehicle type and follows the methodology of Brazil’s mandatory toll voucher (vale-pedágio obrigatório). It gives you visibility into operating costs and helps you advance the toll voucher in the correct amount.

4. Distance Matrix API: operations at scale

For carriers and shippers with many origins and destinations, the Distance Matrix API calculates distances and travel times between every pair of points at once, which is essential for getting freight right on every leg of large-scale operations.

5. Planning API: lowest-cost route planning

The Planning API solves the vehicle routing problem (VRP), assigning deliveries across your fleet in an optimized way. Under the new law, making sure every route’s freight is calculated correctly, and within the legal minimum, becomes part of daily logistics planning.

One integrated platform, from calculation to delivery

All of these APIs work together. The complete flow looks like this:

1. Geocode API: converts pickup and delivery addresses into coordinates.
2. Trip API: calculates the actual route distance for the right vehicle.
3. Toll API: calculates tolls along the route.
4. Freight API: calculates the minimum freight rate from actual distance and parameters.
5. Planning API: optimizes load and vehicle assignment.
6. Tracking API: monitors operations in real time.

Everything runs via API and integrates with your TMS, ERP, or in-house system, backed by Maplink Cloud Managed Services.

Get started

With the CIOT now automatically blocking freight below the minimum, compliance is no longer optional. Integrating with the Platform APIs is quick, and full documentation is available at developers.maplink.global.

Maplink Cloud has spent more than 25 years bringing together geolocation, cloud, and data intelligence for companies across Latin America. As a Premier Partner for Google Cloud and Google Maps Platform, with a Cloud & AI First approach, we help your company operate efficiently and in compliance.

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