EU Driving Hours and Rest Rules for Truck Drivers: What the Law Says

If you drive a truck anywhere in the EU, one regulation governs how long you can drive and how much rest you must take. It is Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. It applies to you whether your employer is in Poland, Germany or Romania, and whether you are an EU citizen or not. Roadside inspectors check it and your tachograph records it.

Drivers are sometimes told by an employer that "the rules are different here" or "everyone does 12 hours". They are not, and they do not. This guide sets out what the regulation says, with the article number for each rule so you can check it yourself.

Who the rules cover

The regulation applies to the carriage of goods by road in vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum permissible mass, including any trailer (Article 2(1)(a)). From 1 July 2026 it also covers goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes when they are used in international transport or cabotage (Article 2(1)(aa)). It applies to journeys within the EU and to journeys between the EU, Switzerland and the EEA countries, whatever country the vehicle is registered in (Article 2(2)). For journeys that run partly outside those areas, the AETR agreement applies instead for the whole journey if the vehicle is registered in the EU or in an AETR country; for a vehicle registered elsewhere, AETR replaces the regulation only for the part of the journey in the EU or in AETR countries (Article 2(3)).

How long you can drive

• Daily driving time: 9 hours. You may extend it to 10 hours, but not more than twice in a week (Article 6(1)).
• Weekly driving time: 56 hours (Article 6(2)).
• Any two consecutive weeks: 90 hours in total (Article 6(3)).

A week runs from 00.00 on Monday to 24.00 on Sunday (Article 4(i)). Driving time in a non-EU country counts towards these limits too (Article 6(4)). Time you spend on other work, or driving a vehicle used commercially outside the regulation's scope, must be recorded as other work (Article 6(5)).

Breaks

After 4 hours and 30 minutes of driving you must take an uninterrupted break of at least 45 minutes, unless you start a rest period instead. You may split the break into one of at least 15 minutes followed by one of at least 30 minutes, in that order, spread over the driving period (Article 7). A break means no driving and no other work. It is time used only to recover (Article 4(d)).

Daily rest

Within each period of 24 hours after the end of your previous daily or weekly rest, you must have taken a new daily rest (Article 8(2)).

• A regular daily rest is at least 11 hours. You may take it in two parts: the first at least 3 hours unbroken, the second at least 9 hours unbroken (Article 4(g)).
• A reduced daily rest is at least 9 hours but less than 11 (Article 4(g)). You may take at most three reduced daily rests between two weekly rests (Article 8(4)).

If you work as a two-driver crew, you must have taken a new daily rest of at least 9 hours within 30 hours of the end of the previous daily or weekly rest (Article 8(5)).

Weekly rest

• A regular weekly rest is at least 45 hours. A reduced weekly rest is shorter than 45 hours and may be cut to a minimum of 24 consecutive hours (Article 4(h)).
• In any two consecutive weeks you must take either two regular weekly rests, or one regular and one reduced rest of at least 24 hours (Article 8(6)).
• A weekly rest must begin no later than the end of six 24-hour periods after the end of your previous weekly rest (Article 8(6)).
• Any reduction must be paid back. You take the missing hours as one block of rest before the end of the third week after the week in question (Article 8(6b)), attached to another rest period of at least 9 hours (Article 8(7)).

There is one exception for international goods transport. You may take two reduced weekly rests in a row if both of them start outside the country where your employer is established and outside the country where you live, and if in any four consecutive weeks you take at least four weekly rests, at least two of them regular (Article 8(6)). If you use it, the compensation for both reduced rests must be taken before your next weekly rest (Article 8(6b)).

You may not spend the regular weekly rest in the cab

Since Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 amended the rules in 2020, a regular weekly rest, and any compensation rest of more than 45 hours, may not be taken in the vehicle. It must be taken in suitable gender-friendly accommodation with adequate sleeping and sanitary facilities. Any cost of accommodation outside the vehicle is covered by the employer (Article 8(8)).

If an employer tells you to spend your 45 hours in the cab at a service area, or to pay for a hotel yourself, that is a breach of Article 8(8). It is worth checking how an employer handles weekly rest before you sign a contract. Our contract checklist for drivers lists the questions to ask.

The return-home rule

Your employer must organise your work so that you can return, within each period of four consecutive weeks, either to your employer's operational centre where you are normally based and where your weekly rest begins, in the country where your employer is established, or to your home, to take at least one regular weekly rest or a compensation rest of more than 45 hours (Article 8(8a)). If you have taken two consecutive reduced weekly rests under the international exception, you must be able to return before the start of the long compensation rest. The employer has to document how it meets this duty and keep the record for inspectors (Article 8(8a)).

Ferries and trains

If you travel with the vehicle on a ferry or train and take a regular daily rest or a reduced weekly rest, the rest may be interrupted up to twice by other activities, for no more than one hour in total, and you must have access to a sleeper cabin, bunk or couchette. For a regular weekly rest the same applies only when the crossing is scheduled to last 8 hours or more and you have a sleeper cabin (Article 9(1)).

Time spent travelling to take charge of a vehicle that is not at your home or at your employer's operational centre, or travelling back from it, does not count as rest or break, unless you are on a ferry or train with access to a sleeper cabin, bunk or couchette (Article 9(2)).

When you may go over the limits

You may depart from the driving and rest rules to reach a suitable stopping place when that is needed for the safety of people, the vehicle or the load, provided road safety is not put at risk. You must note the reason by hand on the tachograph printout or record sheet no later than when you arrive at that stopping place (Article 12).

In exceptional circumstances, and again only if road safety is not put at risk, you may also exceed the daily and weekly driving limits by up to one hour to reach your employer's operational centre or your home for a weekly rest. You may exceed them by up to two hours to reach either place for a regular weekly rest, but only if you took an unbroken 30-minute break immediately before the extra driving. In both cases, record the reason by hand no later than when you arrive, and take an equivalent block of rest, attached to another rest period, by the end of the third week after the week in question (Article 12).

What your employer may not do

An employer may not pay you a bonus or supplement tied to distance, speed of delivery or the amount of goods carried if that payment endangers road safety or encourages you to break the regulation (Article 10(1)). The employer must organise your work so that you can comply, instruct you properly and carry out regular checks (Article 10(2)).

A quick reference

Rule	Limit	Art.
Daily driving	9 h, 10 h twice a week	6(1)
Weekly driving	56 h	6(2)
Two-week driving	90 h	6(3)
Break	45 min after 4 h 30 min (or 15 + 30)	7
Regular daily rest	11 h (or 3 h + 9 h)	4(g)
Reduced daily rest	9 h, at most 3 between weekly rests	4(g), 8(4)
Regular weekly rest	45 h, not in the vehicle	4(h), 8(8)
Reduced weekly rest	24 h minimum, compensated within 3 weeks	4(h), 8(6b)
Return home	at least once every 4 weeks	8(8a)

What to do next

Read a job offer with these numbers in mind. Ask where you will take your weekly rest, who books and pays the accommodation, and how the return-home rule is planned. An employer with a clear answer is usually an employer that follows the rest of the regulation too. When you are ready, compare employers on our truck driver jobs page, and check our guide to Code 95 if you are still qualifying.

This guide is information, not legal advice. For your own situation, check the current text of the regulation or ask your national transport inspectorate, a trade union or a lawyer.

Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport. Consolidated text of 31 December 2024, EUR-Lex, CELEX 02006R0561-20241231. Articles 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12. Accessed 9 October 2026.
• Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020, which amended the rules on weekly rest, the return-home duty and the Article 12 exceptions (marked M3 in the consolidated text above).
• Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 on tachographs in road transport, EUR-Lex, for the recording duties referred to above.