Germany: driving hours and tachograph fines, the LASI catalogue explained

In Germany, drivers’ hours fines are worked out case by case from the LASI LV 48 catalogue, the reference rates of the Länder. A driver one to two hours over the 9-hour day pays €30 per started half hour, the company €90. The law caps fines at €5,000 for drivers and €30,000 for companies (FPersG).

This page is for hauliers and planners outside Germany whose drivers cross it. The limits come from Reg. 561/2006, the same everywhere in the EU. German enforcement prices breaches by the half hour or by the hour, and it can fine the driver and the company separately for the same day.

Law and catalogue, two different things

The law sets only the ceiling. FPersG § 8a Abs. 4 allows fines “bis zu dreißigtausend Euro” for the company and “bis zu fünftausend Euro” in other cases, which in practice means the driver. § 8 Abs. 2 does the same for breaches of the tachograph regulation, Reg. 165/2014. The detailed offences sit in FPersG § 8a and in FPersV §§ 21 and 23.

The amounts per case come from somewhere else. LV 48, “Buß- und Verwarnungsgeldkataloge zum Fahrpersonalrecht”, is published by LASI, the committee of the Länder on occupational safety, so that their authorities apply uniform rates. It is not a law. The edition in force on the LASI site is the fourth, dated 13 September 2018.

Two cautions follow.

It predates the 2020 Mobility Package (Reg. 2020/1054). For newer infringements, such as the driver’s return home, the catalogue has no entries. We found no catalogue published by BAG or the federal transport ministry.

Its values assume intent and ordinary circumstances. For negligence, chapter II.2 says they “sollen bis zur Hälfte ermäßigt werden”, should be reduced by up to half. One of its examples uses €15 instead of €30 per half hour.

In the tables, F is the driver (Fahrpersonal) and U the company (Unternehmer).

Driving time, breaks and rest

Breach	Driver (F)	Company (U)	LV 48 item
9-hour daily driving exceeded	up to 60 min: €30 warning fine; over 1 h up to 2 h: €30 per started half hour; over 2 h: €60 per half hour	up to 2 h: €90 per half hour; over 2 h: €180 per half hour	102
10-hour daily driving exceeded	up to 30 min: €30; then €30 per half hour up to 2 h, €60 beyond	€90 / €180 per half hour	103
56-hour weekly driving exceeded	up to 2 h: €30; 58 to 65 h: €30 per hour; over 65 h: €60 per hour	€90 per hour up to 65 h, €180 beyond	104
Break not taken in time	up to 60 min: €30; then €30 per half hour	€90 per half hour	106
Daily rest shortened	up to 1 h: €30; up to 3 h: €30 per hour; over 3 h: €60 per hour	€90 / €180 per hour	108
Regular weekly rest shortened	€30 per hour up to 9 h, €60 beyond	€90 / €180 per hour	111
Regular weekly rest in the cab	counted as 16 hours of missing rest under item 111	same	113

Example, 11 hours at the wheel

A driver drives 11 hours on a day when the limit is 9, because the two 10-hour days of the week are gone. Two hours over.

Item 102 gives four started half hours at €30: €120 for the driver. The catalogue does the same sum in its example 3, “2 Stunden Lenkzeitüberschreitung”, but on the 10-hour day of item 103, and shows €60 for negligence at €15 per half hour. The company, at €90 per half hour, would face €360 on the same count. Both figures for the 9-hour day are our arithmetic on item 102.

Small next to Italy or Spain. The German bill grows with every half hour, though, and past two hours the driver’s rate doubles to €60.

Under EU Reg. 2016/403 (Annex I as replaced by Reg. 2022/694), 11 hours against a 9-hour limit is a very serious infringement.

Weekly rest in the cab, our count

Item 113 treats a regular weekly rest taken in the cab as 16 hours of missing rest, priced with item 111. On our reading of item 111, €30 an hour for the first 9 hours and €60 for each hour after, the driver faces 9 × €30 plus 7 × €60, so €690. The company, at €90 and €180, faces €2,070. This is our arithmetic on the catalogue, not a figure printed in it. The wording of item 111 can also be read as applying the higher rate to all 16 hours once the 9-hour line is crossed, which would give €960 for the driver and €2,880 for the company. The catalogue has no example that settles it.

Tachograph and driver card

Breach	Driver (F)	Company (U)	LV 48 item
Tachograph not used	€250 per 24-hour period	€1,000 per 24-hour period	301
Tachograph not installed		€1,500 per case	301a
Driver card not used	€250 per 24-hour period		313
Tachograph data falsified, hidden or destroyed	€250 per 24-hour period	€1,000 per 24-hour period	324
Manipulation device kept or used in the vehicle	€3,000 per case	€15,000 per case	325

The FPersV wording on manipulation covers a vehicle that “eine Einrichtung hierfür im Fahrzeug bereithält”: having the device on board is enough.

In practice

Count in half hours when your drivers are in Germany. Up to one hour over the 9-hour day, the driver gets a €30 warning fine. Two hours over come to €120 on our count, and past that the rate per half hour doubles. A day without the card costs €250 for every 24-hour period, which adds up fast over a week.

Before relying on any figure here, keep in mind it comes from a 2018 tariff the authorities follow, not from the statute.

Compare Germany with the other countries in driving hours fines in Europe compared, or see Italy, Spain, France and the UK. There is also an interactive table of fines by country. A German-language edition will follow.

What this article does not cover. How fines are combined when there are several breaches or several drivers (LV 48, chapter II). Infringements introduced by the Mobility Package, which the 2018 catalogue does not price. The fining procedure and appeals. General information, not legal advice.