drivtime was created to summarize the following regulations regarding the calculation of driving time and rest periods in the road transport sector.
Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/1054, lays down rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers of lorries, coaches and buses in order to improve working conditions and road safety. Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/1054, sets out requirements concerning the construction, installation, use, testing and control of tachographs that must be fitted in the vehicles that fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.
Regulation (EC) No 561/2006:
applies to the carriage by road of goods, by vehicles with a total mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes and to the transport by road of passengers, by vehicles that are adapted to carry more than 9 people (including the driver); as of 1 July 2026, applies to the carriage by road of goods in international transport or in cabotage operations by vehicles (including any trailer or semi-trailer) with a total mass exceeding 2.5 tonnes; applies, irrespective of the country of registration of the vehicle, to carriage by road in the EU and between EU countries, Switzerland and European Economic Area countries.
Minimum age
- Drivers’ mates and conductors must be at least 18, except in certain circumstances for trainee drivers’ mates for whom the minimum age is 16 (see Article 5 for more details).
Rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods
Detailed rules for these are set out in Articles 6, 7, 8 and 9. They include:
- a maximum amount of daily driving time of 9 hours, that can be extended to 10 hours no more than twice a week;
- a maximum amount of weekly driving time of 56 hours;
- a maximum total accumulated driving time of 90 hours during any 2 consecutive weeks;
- after driving for a period of 4.5 hours, a driver must take an uninterrupted break of not less than 45 minutes, unless he takes a rest period;
- a minimum daily rest of 11 hours, which can be reduced to 9 hours, but no more than three times between any 2 weekly rest periods;
- a regular weekly rest period of minimum 45 hours and a reduced weekly rest period of a minimum of 24 hours.
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