Driving
‘Driving time’ is the duration of driving activity recorded either by the tachograph, or manually when it is broken.
Even a short period of driving under EU rules during any day by a driver will mean that they are in scope of the EU rules for the whole of that day and must comply with the daily drive time, break and rest requirements; they will also have to comply with the weekly rest requirement and driving limit.
Breaks and driving limits
Breaks
After a driving period of no more than 4.5 hours, a driver must immediately take a break of at least 45 minutes unless they take a rest period. A break taken in this way must not be interrupted. For example:
A break is any period during which a driver may not carry out any driving or any other work and which is used exclusively for recuperation. A break may be taken in a moving vehicle, provided no other work is undertaken.
Alternatively, a full 45-minute break can be replaced by one break of at least 15 minutes followed by another break of at least 30 minutes. These breaks must be distributed over the 4.5-hour period. Breaks of less than 15 minutes will not contribute towards a qualifying break, but neither will they be counted as duty or driving time. The EU rules will only allow a split-break pattern that shows the second period of break being at least 30 minutes, such as in the following examples:
The following split-break pattern above is illegal because the second break is less than 30 minutes.
A driver ‘wipes the slate clean’ if they take a 45 minute break (or qualifying breaks totalling 45 minutes before or at the end of a 4.5 hour driving period. This means that the next 4.5-hour driving period begins with the completion of that qualifying break, and in assessing break requirements for the new 4.5-hour period, no reference is to be made to driving time accumulated before this point. For example:
Breaks may also be required under the separate Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005. See the page on Working Time within this section.
Daily driving limit
The maximum daily driving time is 9 hours; for example:
The maximum daily driving time can be increased to 10 hours twice a fixed week; for
example:
Daily driving time Daily driving time is either:
Note: Driving time includes any off-road parts of a journey where the rest of that journey is made on the public highway. Journeys taking place entirely off road would be considered as ‘other work’.
So, for example, any time spent driving off road between a parking/rest area and a passenger-loading area prior to travelling out onto a public road would constitute driving time. However, it would be regarded as other work if all the passengers were picked up and dropped off on the same off-road site.
Weekly driving limit
The maximum weekly drive time limit is 56 hours, which applies to a fixed week.
A fixed week starts at 00.00 on Monday and ends at 24.00 on the following Sunday.
The following diagram shows an example of how this might be achieved:
Total weekly hours = (4 x 9) + (2 x 10) = 56.
Two-weekly driving limit
The maximum drive time over any two-weekly period is 90 hours; for example:
The following is an example of how a driver’s duties might be organised in compliance with the rules on weekly and two-weekly drive time limits:
Duty
Duty is all periods of work activities such as driving and other work. It also includes periods of availability (POAs) unless the driver is able to take a break or rest period that complies with EU drivers’ hours rules during the POA. (See also Digital & Smart Tachographs page and Recording Other Work within this section for more information).
POAs do not however count towards a driver’s working time total under The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 (see Working Time Rules within this section for more information).
Breaks and rest periods do not count as duty time.
Time spent working in other employment regardless of the occupation type or volunteering when there is an obligation to undertake duties; cannot count as rest and must be counted as duty. This includes, but is not limited to:
See Ferry, Train & Traveling Time within this section for information on when travelling time counts as duty.
See Emergencies and Unforeseen Events for information on “emergency situations”, within this section.
Source – DVSA
