EU driving and rest time rules explained

In short

• Daily driving time: at most 9 hours, or 10 hours not more than 2 times a week.
• Weekly driving time: at most 56 hours, and at most 90 hours in two consecutive weeks.
• Breaks: 45 minutes after 4.5 hours of driving, or 15 minutes and then 30 minutes.
• Daily rest period: 11 hours, or 9 hours not more than 3 times between two weekly rest periods.
• Weekly rest period: 45 hours, or at least 24 hours when reduced, with the reduction compensated later.

Each rule is explained below, with the article of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 it comes from.

Daily driving time

• The daily driving time must not exceed 9 hours (Article 6(1)).
• It may be extended to at most 10 hours not more than 2 times during the week (Article 6(1)).
• Daily driving time is the driving between the end of one daily rest period and the beginning of the next (Article 4(k)). It is not counted from midnight to midnight, so a shift that runs past midnight counts as one.

Weekly driving time

• The weekly driving time must not exceed 56 hours (Article 6(2)).
• The total driving time in any two consecutive weeks must not exceed 90 hours (Article 6(3)). A week close to the weekly limit therefore leaves less for the week before and the week after.
• A week is the period between 00.00 on Monday and 24.00 on Sunday (Article 4(i)).

Breaks

• After 4.5 hours of driving, a driver must take an uninterrupted break of at least 45 minutes, unless they take a rest period (Article 7).
• The break may be split: a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes (Article 7). The order matters: the shorter part comes first.
• Once the full break has been taken, the driving count starts again.

Daily rest period

• A regular daily rest period is at least 11 hours. It may be taken in two parts: the first at least 3 hours and the second at least 9 hours (Article 4(g)).
• A reduced daily rest period is at least 9 hours but less than 11 hours (Article 4(g)).
• A new daily rest period must be taken within 24 hours of the end of the previous daily or weekly rest period (Article 8(2)).
• At most 3 reduced daily rest periods are allowed between two weekly rest periods (Article 8(4)).

Weekly rest period

• A regular weekly rest period is at least 45 hours. A reduced weekly rest period is at least 24 hours (Article 4(h)).
• A weekly rest period must start no later than at the end of 6 24-hour periods from the end of the previous one (Article 8(6)).
• In any two consecutive weeks, a driver takes at least two regular weekly rest periods, or one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly rest period (Article 8(6)).
• A driver in international transport of goods may take two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods outside the Member State of establishment, provided that in any 4 consecutive weeks they take at least 4 weekly rest periods, of which at least 2 are regular weekly rest periods (Article 8(6)).
• A reduction must be compensated by an equivalent rest taken en bloc before the end of the third week following the week in question (Article 8(6b)).

Where the weekly rest is taken

These rules come from the Mobility Package, which amended the regulation.

• A regular weekly rest period, and any weekly rest period of more than 45 hours taken as compensation, must not be taken in a vehicle. It must be taken in suitable accommodation, paid for by the employer (Article 8(8)).
• The transport undertaking organises the work so that drivers can return to the employer's operational centre or to their place of residence within each period of four consecutive weeks, to spend a regular weekly rest period or a compensating weekly rest period there (Article 8(8a)).

Responsibility

• The transport undertaking organises the drivers' work so that they can comply with the rules, and makes regular checks (Article 10(2)).
• Checking downloads regularly is how an undertaking finds a problem before a roadside check or an audit does. See Downloading driver cards and Downloading vehicle units.

What a download shows

• A download records driving, other work, availability and rest with their times, so the driving, break and rest rules can be measured from it.
• It does not show where a rest was taken, so the rules on where the weekly rest is taken cannot be checked from the data.
• A ferry or train crossing, an out-of-scope period or a national exemption can change whether a rule applies. These cannot be established from downloads alone.
• This guide explains the rules; it is not legal advice.

How TachoTrace checks these rules

On Standard and Pro, TachoTrace measures each driver's recorded activity against these rules. Each finding shows what was measured, the limit used, by how much it is over or short, and every record behind it. See Driving and rest findings.