45-minute break rules for truck drivers: when to take it and how to split it
After 4 hours 30 of driving a 45-minute break is due. It can only be split as 15 then 30 minutes: worked cases and common mistakes under Regulation 561/2006.
Rules
Drivers’ hours, tachographs, ADR, cabotage, CMR and fines, with the article of law.
ADR 1000 points rule: the 1.1.3.6 small load exemption, with worked examples
How the ADR 1.1.3.6 small load exemption is calculated: transport categories, factors 50, 20, 3 and 1, what counts in kg or litres, three mixed loads.
ADR small load exemption 1.1.3.6: what you still need on board and what you don’t
Below the 1.1.3.6 threshold you still need a transport document with the calculated value, a 2 kg extinguisher and 1.3 training. No orange plates or ADR certificate.
Attestation of activities form: is it still required?
The EU attestation of activities form is no longer mandatory: Art. 34 of Regulation 165/2014 rules it out. When it can still help and how to fill it in.
Driving hours fines in Europe compared: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, UK
Fines for excess driving, short rest, missed breaks, no driver card and tachograph tampering in five countries, side by side with the EU scale of Reg. 2016/403.
EU driving hours rules for truck drivers (Regulation 561/2006), with examples
Daily, weekly and fortnightly driving limits, the 45-minute break, daily and weekly rest under EU Regulation 561/2006, with a full week worked out hour by hour.
Lost, stolen or faulty driver card: what to do under EU rules
Tachograph driver card lost, stolen or damaged: who to report it to, replacement within 7 days, driving up to 15 days with printouts. Regulation 165/2014.
Reduced weekly rest: how to calculate the compensation
Reduced weekly rest of 24 to 45 hours: how many hours to pay back, by which date and how, under Article 8 of Regulation 561/2006. Worked example with fixed dates.
Smart tachograph version 2: which vehicles need it and by when
New trucks from 21 August 2023, retrofit for vehicles working abroad, vans over 2.5 t from 1 July 2026: the EU deadlines for the smart tachograph V2.
Tachograph download frequency: 28 days, 90 days and 12 months
Driver card every 28 days, vehicle unit every 90, downloaded data kept for at least 12 months, 56 days of records on board: the EU tachograph download rules.
Rules by country
Laws and duties that apply in one country only. We keep them here, apart from the main list.
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