EU driving hours rules for truck drivers (Regulation 561/2006), with examples

Under Regulation (EC) 561/2006 a driver may drive 9 hours per daily driving period, 10 hours twice a week, 56 hours in a week and 90 hours in any two consecutive weeks. After 4 hours 30 of driving a break of 45 minutes is due. Regular daily rest is 11 hours, regular weekly rest 45 hours.

These are EU rules. They read the same in every member state. A state can only set stricter limits for transport wholly within its territory (Article 11) and grant the derogations listed in Article 13. Below you will find each one with the article to quote at a roadside check, then a real week worked out in numbers.

Who the rules cover

Goods vehicles with a maximum permissible mass over 3.5 tonnes, trailers and semi-trailers included (Article 2(1)(a)). Passenger vehicles built to carry more than nine people including the driver.

From 1 July 2026 vehicles over 2.5 t doing international transport or cabotage of goods are in scope too (Article 2(1)(aa)). If you run a heavy van across a border, this now applies to you, subject to the exemptions below.

Exemptions are in Article 3. The ones goods operators meet most often: vehicles up to 7.5 t carrying the driver’s own work equipment within 100 km of the base, where driving is not the main activity and the transport is not for hire or reward; own-account vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 t on the same condition; vehicles limited to 40 km/h. Member states can add national derogations under Article 13.

The regulation covers journeys inside the EU and between the EU, Switzerland and the EEA, whatever the country of registration. Journeys that leave that area fall under AETR (Article 2(3)).

The limits at a glance

Rule	Limit	Article
Daily driving	9 hours	Art. 6(1)
Extended daily driving	10 hours, at most twice in the week	Art. 6(1)
Weekly driving	56 hours	Art. 6(2)
Two consecutive weeks	90 hours	Art. 6(3)
Break	45 minutes after 4 h 30 of driving	Art. 7
Regular daily rest	11 hours, or 3 + 9 hours	Art. 4(g)
Reduced daily rest	9 to under 11 hours, at most 3 between two weekly rests	Art. 4(g), 8(4)
Regular weekly rest	45 hours	Art. 4(h)
Reduced weekly rest	24 to under 45 hours, to be compensated	Art. 4(h), 8(6b)
Start of weekly rest	within 6 periods of 24 hours of the previous one	Art. 8(6)

The week runs from 00:00 on Monday to 24:00 on Sunday (Article 4(i)). Driving in third countries counts too (Article 6(4)).

The limit people forget is the 90 hours. A driver who closes one week at 56 hours has only 34 left for the next, even if every single day stays under 9.

The break after four and a half hours

After 4 hours 30 of driving the driver stops for at least 45 consecutive minutes, unless a rest period starts (Article 7). During the break there is no driving and no other work. Loading, unloading and paperwork are other work.

The break can be split in two, in one order only: at least 15 minutes first, then at least 30. Thirty followed by fifteen does not count as a split break. Worked cases and common mistakes are in our guide to the 45-minute break.

Daily rest

Regular daily rest is at least 11 hours in one go. It can be split into two blocks, the first at least 3 hours and the second at least 9, which makes at least 12 hours in total. Reduced daily rest runs from 9 to under 11 hours, and a driver may take no more than three between two weekly rests (Article 8(4)).

Watch the window. The new daily rest has to be taken within 24 hours of the end of the previous rest (Article 8(2)). If only 9 or 10 hours of rest fit inside those 24 hours, the rest is reduced.

With two drivers on board, a rest of at least 9 hours within 30 hours is enough (Article 8(5)).

Weekly rest across two weeks

In any two consecutive weeks a driver takes two regular weekly rests of 45 hours, or one regular and one reduced of at least 24 hours (Article 8(6)). The weekly rest starts no later than the end of six 24-hour periods from the end of the previous one.

The reduction is made up in one block by the end of the third week that follows, attached to another rest of at least 9 hours. The dated calculation is in our article on reduced weekly rest and compensation.

Two rules matter for drivers working abroad. Regular weekly rest, and any rest over 45 hours taken as compensation, cannot be spent in the cab: it has to be in suitable accommodation paid for by the employer (Article 8(8)). The operator plans work so the driver can return to the operating centre or home for a regular weekly rest at least once every four consecutive weeks, and keeps the records for inspectors (Article 8(8a)).

A week worked out in numbers

Week from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 November 2026. Driving: Monday 9 hours, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 9, Thursday 10, Friday 9.

Two extensions to 10 hours, Tuesday and Thursday. That is the maximum.

The week totals 9 + 10 + 9 + 10 + 9 = 47 hours, under the 56-hour limit. For the 90-hour rule, the week of 9 to 15 November could have had at most 90 − 47 = 43 hours, and the same cap applies to the week of 23 to 29 November.

Tuesday in detail:

Time	Activity	Count
05:00-09:30	Driving	4 h 30
09:30-10:15	Break	45 min
10:15-14:45	Driving	4 h 30, total 9 h
14:45-15:30	Break	45 min
15:30-16:30	Driving	1 h, total 10 h
16:30-17:30	Other work	1 h
17:30-04:30 Wednesday	Daily rest	11 h, regular

Rest ends at 04:30 on Wednesday, inside the 24 hours that began at 05:00 on Tuesday. All compliant.

On Friday work ends at 15:00. The driver starts again on Monday 23 November at 05:00. The weekly rest is 9 hours on Friday, 24 on Saturday, 24 on Sunday and 5 on Monday: 62 hours, so regular. The previous weekly rest ended on Monday 16 at 05:00, which means this one had to start by Sunday 22 at 05:00. It started on Friday at 15:00. Within the limit.

Our driving time calculator runs the same check day by day.

When you can go over

Article 12 allows three departures, each to be explained by hand on the record sheet, the printout or the duty roster, at the latest on arrival.

• To reach a suitable stopping place, as far as needed for the safety of people, vehicle or load.
• In exceptional circumstances, up to 1 hour beyond the daily and weekly driving limits to reach the operating centre or home for a weekly rest.
• Under the same conditions, up to 2 hours to reach the operating centre or home for a regular weekly rest, with a 30-minute break taken right before the extra driving.

Every extra hour is compensated with equivalent rest, in one block, by the end of the third week that follows. The 1-hour and 2-hour departures touch the daily and weekly limits and the 24-hour window. The 90-hour cap over two weeks still stands.

Mistakes that show up at a check

Counting the day from midnight. The window starts at the end of the last rest.

Forgetting last week. The 90 hours apply to every pair of consecutive weeks.

Logging travel to collect a vehicle away from base as rest. Under Article 9(2) it is neither rest nor a break, unless on a ferry or train with a sleeper berth.

Paying bonuses per kilometre or per drop that push drivers to rush. Article 10 bans them where they endanger road safety or encourage infringements, and the operator is liable for its drivers’ infringements even when committed in another country.

What to do in practice

Plan the week from the 90 hours down, not from the 9 hours up. Keep a tally of reduced daily rests since the last weekly rest. When a week closes with a reduced weekly rest, write down the compensation deadline straight away. In the traffic office, download driver cards and vehicle units regularly: the data must be kept for at least 12 months (Article 10(5)).

What this article does not cover. National derogations under Article 13 and which countries use them. Working time under Directive 2002/15/EC, referred to in Article 6(2) and not dealt with here. Special rules for occasional passenger services and the 12-day derogation. Penalties, which are set nationally. We read the consolidated text of 31.12.2024 on the EU Publications Office site: the Official Journal version is the authentic one. General information, not legal advice.