Which rules apply: assimilated (EU), AETR or GB domestic?

The three rule sets at a glance

The table below is the quick version. The sections that follow explain each rule set and the edge cases.

The AETR limits are, in most respects, identical to the assimilated limits. The real differences are in a handful of rest and ferry/train provisions, covered below.

How to work out which rules apply

It comes down to three questions, taken in order:

1. Is it work driving? Genuinely private driving, i.e. not connected with a job or earning a living,  is outside the rules.
2. What is the vehicle? Goods or passengers, and what is the weight or how many passenger seats?
3. Where are you driving? Within GB, between the UK and the EU, or to, through or from another country?

Work through them in that order and the answer usually emerges. The sections below take each rule set in turn.

Is the driving in scope at all?

A couple of things sit outside the drivers' hours rules entirely:

• Private driving that is not in connection with a job or in any way to earn a living.
• Driving wholly off the public road. For example on a quarry, a closed site or private land that never touches a public road. Note the catch: once any part of a journey uses a public road, the off-road portions count too, and must be recorded as “other work” where the vehicle is in scope.

A goods vehicle or combination (including any trailer) at or below 3.5 tonnes used only in GB, and not otherwise caught, falls under the GB domestic rules, not the assimilated rules.

When the assimilated (EU) rules apply

The assimilated rules - Regulation (EC) 561/2006 and Regulation (EU) 165/2014 as they have effect in the UK - are what most operators still call “the EU rules.” The name changed after the UK left the EU; the substance did not.

They apply, unless an exemption or national derogation removes the vehicle, to:

• Goods vehicles where the maximum permissible weight, including any trailer or semi-trailer, exceeds 3.5 tonnes, used wholly within the UK or between the UK and the EU.
• Passenger vehicles constructed or permanently adapted to carry more than nine people including the driver, on the same geographical basis.

It does not matter whether the vehicle is laden. An empty tipper running back to the yard, a curtain-sider going out light, or a flatbed towing an empty plant trailer is still in scope if the combination is over 3.5 tonnes. Temporarily removing seats to drop a minibus below nine seats does not take it out of scope either.

It also does not matter whose goods they are. Own-account work counts just as much as hire or reward: a scaffolder carrying their own boards, a builder moving their own plant, and a waste operator on collections are all in scope if the vehicle is over 3.5 tonnes and used for carrying goods on a public road in the course of work. The question is not who paid for the load. It is whether the vehicle is being used to carry goods for work.

The headline limits under the assimilated rules are:

• Daily driving: 9 hours, extendable to 10 hours no more than twice a week.
• Weekly driving: 56 hours (a fixed week, Monday 00:00 to Sunday 24:00).
• Two-weekly driving: 90 hours in any two consecutive weeks.
• Breaks: at least 45 minutes after no more than 4.5 hours' driving (splittable into 15 then 30 minutes, in that order).
• Daily rest: 11 hours, reducible to 9 hours up to three times between weekly rests.
• Weekly rest: 45 hours, reducible to 24 hours every other week, with compensation.

When the AETR rules apply

AETR, the European Agreement Concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport, applies to international journeys that run to, through or from a country that is an AETR signatory but is not covered by the UK–EU arrangement.

Where AETR applies, it applies to the whole journey, including any EU countries you pass through. But goods and passenger work part company here, and it is a deliberate split, not a quirk:

• Goods vehicles: a journey wholly between the UK and the EU in a UK- or EU-registered vehicle stays under the assimilated rules. AETR only bites once the route touches a non-EU AETR country, for example Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, or the leg of a journey to Iceland, or where the vehicle is registered outside the UK and EU.
• Buses and coaches: AETR applies to all international journeys, including journeys to or through the EU. This changed on 31 December 2024 and was put on a formal legal footing by the Drivers' Hours and Tachographs (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2025. For UK-only coach work, the assimilated rules still apply where the operation is in scope.

Two country points are easy to miss: Switzerland follows Regulation (EC) 561/2006 while on EU territory but AETR while on Swiss territory; and journeys between the UK and Norway, Liechtenstein or Iceland follow AETR throughout. 

Where AETR differs from the assimilated rules

In most respects the limits are identical. The practical differences to watch on AETR journeys are:

• The craft-goods exemption does not apply.
• The international derogations allowing two consecutive reduced weekly rests, and the requirement to return to base every four weeks, do not apply.
• On a ferry or train crossing, AETR currently only lets you interrupt a regular daily rest, not a weekly rest.
• The rule requiring a regular weekly rest to be taken in suitable accommodation (not the vehicle) does not apply.
• The concession to drive on to reach your operating centre or home after an unforeseen event does not apply.
• The 56-day roadside record requirement (see below) does not apply. AETR keeps the 28-day position.

When the GB domestic rules apply

The GB domestic rules, in the Transport Act 1968 as amended, cover most vehicles that are exempt from the assimilated rules but are still driven for work in England, Scotland or Wales. (Northern Ireland has its own separate rules).

Typical examples include:

• A goods vehicle or combination at or below 3.5 tonnes used only in GB.
• A larger vehicle covered by a specific exemption or national derogation, for instance certain vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes used non-commercially, or by a tradesperson carrying their own materials and equipment within a 100 km radius where driving is not their main job.
• A small minibus on short, local or non-commercial work (see the passenger thresholds below).

Some driving is outside the GB domestic rules altogether: vehicles used by the Armed Forces, the police or the fire brigade; vehicles always driven off the public road; and genuinely private driving.

The GB domestic limits

For goods vehicles the figures are simpler than the assimilated rules, but they still bite:

• Daily driving: a maximum of 10 hours (on-road and off-road driving both count).
• Daily duty: a maximum of 11 hours. This does not apply on any working day when the driver does no driving.
• The 4-hour relief: a driver who drives no more than 4 hours on each day of the week is exempt from the daily duty limit for that whole week.

The GB domestic rules set no fixed break or rest figures of their own, but you must still ensure drivers get “adequate rest” under the Working Time Regulations 1998. A written weekly record sheet (or a tachograph) is required for goods vehicles needing an operator's licence on any day driving exceeds 4 hours.

Passenger vehicles: seats and service distance

For buses, coaches and minibuses the dividing line is the number of passenger seats and the type and distance of the service. In broad terms:

• 8 or fewer passenger seats, used for a business: no drivers' hours rules apply (working time rules may still).
• 9 or more passenger seats: the assimilated rules usually apply.
• 9 to 16 passenger seats used exclusively for non-commercial purposes: exempt from the assimilated/AETR rules. GB domestic instead. 
• Regular services of 50 km or less: GB domestic rules apply, even to larger vehicles.

International coach work is different again: since 31 December 2024, all international bus and coach journeys run under AETR, not the assimilated rules, including journeys to or through the EU. UK-only work in scope stays under the assimilated rules. This is one of the easiest areas to get wrong: a school run under GB domestic rules in the morning and a private-hire excursion under the assimilated rules in the afternoon can put one driver under two regimes in a single day.

Mixing rules in the same day or week

It is common, and legal, for a driver to work under more than one regime in a day or week. When they do, three principles apply:

• Driving under the assimilated or AETR rules counts towards the GB domestic driving and duty limits.
• Driving or duty under the GB domestic rules counts as “other work” for the assimilated/AETR rules. It is not rest or a break.
• On any day a driver does any work in scope of the assimilated or AETR rules, they must take the daily rest (and, where it falls due, the weekly rest) those rules require.

The safe assumption: if any part of the day is in scope of the assimilated or AETR rules, run the whole day to those rules. They are the stricter set, and applying them throughout keeps you compliant under both.

When a tachograph is required, and how far back records must go

A tachograph is required whenever the vehicle and journey are in scope of the assimilated or AETR rules, unless a specific tachograph exception applies. The classification comes first; the record method follows. A fitted tachograph does not make a journey an assimilated journey, and not using a fitted tachograph does not make an in-scope journey a domestic one.

How many days of records a driver must be able to produce at the roadside depends on the operation:

• UK-only work in scope of the assimilated rules: the current day plus the previous 28 calendar days.
• International goods journeys between the UK and EU: the current day plus 56 days, since 31 December 2024.
• International bus and coach work (AETR): the 28-day position still applies. AETR does not carry the 56-day requirement.

Under the GB domestic rules, drivers of goods vehicles needing an operator's licence keep a written weekly record sheet (or use a tachograph) on any day driving exceeds 4 hours; there is no roadside record requirement for passenger work under GB domestic rules. 

What's changing from 1 July 2026: vans over 2.5 tonnes

From 1 July 2026, goods vehicles with a gross weight over 2.5 tonnes (including any trailer) used on international journeys for hire and reward must be fitted with a smart tachograph 2 and must follow the assimilated drivers' hours rules. This brings many vans and light commercial vehicles into scope of tachograph and drivers' hours rules for the first time. 

What does not change:

• UK-only operations: vans of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes operating only within the UK stay under the GB domestic rules and still need no tachograph.
• Own-account international work: international journeys run for the driver's or company's own account, where driving is not the driver's main activity, do not trigger the requirement.

The change is brought in by Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 (The Tachograph Regulation), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 (part of Mobility Package I) . If you run vans into the EU or the Republic of Ireland for hire and reward, treat this as a live planning item: tachograph fitting, driver cards and scheduling around the assimilated limits all take lead time.

Common mistakes that cause infringements

In real operations, most drivers' hours problems come from getting the classification wrong at the planning stage, not from one bad driver. A few recurring traps:

• “It's empty, so it's out of scope.” Wrong in most cases. A vehicle does not need to be laden, or carrying passengers, to be in scope. Empty running that forms part of the work counts.
• “It's our own goods, so we're exempt.” No. Own-account carriage of goods over 3.5 tonnes is in scope just like hire or reward.
• “The vehicle has a tachograph, so the assimilated rules apply.” Not necessarily. A fitted tachograph does not decide the rule set; the journey and vehicle do.
• “We have an exemption, so there are no hours rules.” Usually wrong. Exemption from the assimilated rules normally drops the operation into GB domestic rules with their own driving, duty and record limits, not into no rules at all.
• “Domestic driving is a break from EU/AETR driving.” No. GB domestic driving counts as “other work” for the assimilated/AETR rules; it is never a break, daily rest or weekly rest.
• “AETR is just the old name for EU rules.” No. AETR is a separate international agreement, aligned on the core limits, but with real differences, and now the rule set for all international coach work.

Getting the rule set right is the foundation. Every limit, break and rest period flows from it, and the wrong starting point quietly produces infringements across a whole fleet. Where journeys, vehicles and drivers mix, that judgement is exactly what tachograph analysis is for. At Tacho Agent, we check the data and identify the infringements in it, so you can see that the right rules were applied to every shift. For the limits themselves in full, start with reading our guide.

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External references

• Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles - Introduction (DVSA, GOV.UK)
• Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles - 1. Assimilated and AETR rules on drivers' hours (DVSA, GOV.UK)
• Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles - 2. Great Britain domestic rules on drivers' hours (DVSA, GOV.UK)
• Drivers' hours and tachographs: goods vehicles - 4. Tachograph rules (DVSA, GOV.UK)
• Drivers' hours and tachographs: buses and coaches - Introduction (DVSA, GOV.UK)
• Drivers' hours and tachographs: buses and coaches - 2. Great Britain domestic rules on drivers' hours (DVSA, GOV.UK)
• Drivers' hours (GOV.UK overview and 'check which rules apply' tool)
• Approved tachograph centre special notice 02-26 (DVSA, GOV.UK) - 1 July 2026 changes for vehicles over 2.5 tonnes
• The Drivers' Hours and Tachographs (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2025 (legislation.gov.uk) - AETR for international passenger journeys; 56-day goods records
• Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 (assimilated law, legislation.gov.uk) 
• Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 on tachographs (assimilated law, legislation.gov.uk) 
• Transport Act 1968 (legislation.gov.uk) 
• Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 as regards minimum requirements on maximum daily and weekly driving times, minimum breaks and daily and weekly rest periods and Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 as regards positioning by means of tachographs (c. 1054)