All these Driver Rules and Regulations can be a real pain to understand. Sometimes it feels like they're talking in another language, with requirements that can be hard to wrap your head around, no matter how long you've been working with them.
At TachoMagic, we've spent countless hours understanding the Tachograph rules and regulations to help save the people who use our system from getting fines and penalties. Someone had to do the hard, boring work, so we've saved you some time and done it ourselves.
In this article, we clarify some of the most important Driving and Rest tachograph rules for LGV Drivers, so that us actual humans can understand what they mean!
Tachograph Rules - What They Actually Mean
What Is Minimum Daily Rest?
The Daily Minimum rest is simply the minimum amount of time a driver must rest each day.
What Are The Minimum Daily Rest Rules?
1. A Driver must have at least 11 hours of rest every day.
2. Between 2 weekly rest periods, the 11 hour rest can be reduced to 9 hours of rest 3 times. This is called a reduced rest.
Important Note: Any rest enter that is less than 11 hours, but more than 9, is automatically entered as a reduced rest.
3. The rest must be completed within 24 hours of starting the shift.
For example: If you start working at 8am, the rest must be completed before 8am the next day.
What Is Minimum Weekly Rest?
Minimum weekly rest rules dictate the amount of rest a driver must record each week.
In case you hadn't figured it out, rest is pretty important, which is why there are so many rules around it. As all those motorway signs say, "tiredness kills, take a break!"
What Are The Minimum Weekly Rest Rules?
1. Every week, a Driver must have at least 45 hours of unbroken rest - this is known as 'weekly rest'.
2. Once every 2 weeks, the weekly rest can be reduced to 24 hours.
3. If a reduced weekly rest is taken, it must be made up for by the end of the third week, during another period of at least 9 hours rest. This rest must be taken at one go - not in several periods.
For example: If you have a reduced weekly rest of 24 hours, you are in debt by 21 hours. You need to make up this rest during another period of rest, before the end of the third week. So, if you were going to have 9 hours rest one day, you'd have to add the 21-hour debt on the end, bringing your total unbroken rest to 30 hours.
4. Drivers who work 6 days in a row must take the weekly rest after the 6th day. These 6 days start counting after the previous weekly rest ends.
What Is The Tachograph Break Rule?
The tachograph rules for breaks state that there must be at least 45 minutes of break for every 4.5 hours spent driving.
The 45 minutes doesn't have to be taken at once. It can be either 45 minutes, or a 15-minute break and a 30-minute break - often known as a "split break".
What Are The Maximum Driving Hours?
1. Drivers may spend a maximum of 9 hours per day driving.
2. Twice a week, this can be increased to 10 hours per day.
What Is The Weekly Maximum Driving Hours?
In a week, a LGV Driver cannot drive more than 56 hours.
In a 2-week period, the driving limit is 90 hours.
Where Do These Rules Apply?
The rules that we've explained above only apply in EU countries, which are:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
Why Do EU Rules Still Apply In The UK?
For once, it looks like the Government have done something that makes sense!
With Drivers' coming from and to the UK via EU countries, it would create a real headache if there were two different sets of rules. So, it was decided that the UK should adopt these EU rules - hooray! I think we can all breath a sigh of relief for not having to learn any more rules.
TachoMagic Automatically Highlights Infringements
Having tachograph rules made simple is great to get a basic understanding of the rules, but it's even more important to know when they're being broken!
Our system takes the information from the Driver's tachograph and translates it into easy-to-understand information, and clearly highlights any infringements.
This allows O-Licence Operators and Managers to address any issues as soon as they occur, to ensure LGV Drivers don't overwork themselves, or become subjected to any fines and/or penalties.
For as little as 10 minutes a week, you can download all the driver and vehicle data, and quickly see if anyone isn't meeting the requirements. This means for just 10 minutes a week, you can avoid nasty fines by making sure everyone is able to follow the tachograph rules.
You can read more about how our tachograph analysis software works, and helps save you countless hours on analysing by reading our Automatic Remote Tachograph Downloads page.
Never having to manually download a tachograph or spend hours searching through reports may seem like a dream, but with us, it's a reality!
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