UK tachograph & O‑licence compliance, explained

No. If you split your 45-minute break, it must be a break of at least 15 minutes first, followed by a break of at least 30 minutes.

The order is fixed: 15 then 30, and both parts must be taken before you reach 4½ hours of driving.

Taking the 30 minutes first and the 15 minutes second doesn't satisfy the rule.

Penalties scale with the seriousness of the breach:

• Up to £2,500 (Level 4 on the standard scale) for drivers' hours breaches.

• Unlimited fines for the most serious tachograph offences, such as failing to fit or use a tachograph. (In England and Wales the old £5,000 cap on these was removed in 2015.)

• Up to 2 years' imprisonment for deliberate falsification of records - and considerably more (up to 10 years) where it's prosecuted as fraud or conspiracy.

On top of any fine, serious breaches can lead to vehicle prohibition, referral to the Traffic Commissioner and operator licence action.

You must be able to show:
• driver’s licence, driver qualification card and digital tachograph card;
• records of driving, other work, availability (POA), breaks and rest;
• manual entries covering out-of-scope work, annual leave and sick leave;
• physical charts and printouts; and
• the current day's records, plus the relevant number of previous days (see below).

How many previous days you need depends on the journey:
• 28 calendar days - for domestic (UK-only) journeys under the assimilated rules, and for AETR journeys to, from or through non-EU countries;
• 56 calendar days - for vehicles and combinations over 3.5 tonnes on international journeys to and from the EU.
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NOTE: From 1st July 2026 this also extends to vehicles and combinations between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes undertaking international hire or reward journeys to and from the EU. Some exemptions apply, see the ‘Exemptions’ article in the ‘Knowledge Hub’, and verify against current regulatory sources before relying on one.

Failure to produce these records is treated as non-compliance with Article 36 of assimilated Regulation (EU) 165/2014 and an offence under Section 99 of the Transport Act 1968, and will trigger enforcement.

Most goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes (including vehicle and trailer combinations) are required to use a tachograph under GB Domestic, EU or AETR regulations, unless a specific exemption applies. From 1 July 2026, the same requirement also applies to vans, light vehicle and trailer combinations and light commercial vehicles over 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes used for cross border international hire-or-reward journeys. Vehicles in the 2.5t-3.5t category operating solely within the UK aren't affected by the regulation update and remain under GB domestic rules.

Driver cards need to be downloaded every 28 days. Vehicle Units (‘VU’) need to be downloaded every 90 days. However, it is recommended to download driver and vehicle unit data frequently to help identify infringements early and maintain compliance.

Operators must retain driver card and vehicle unit (VU) data for a minimum of 12 months as per Regulation (EU) N0 165/2014 Article 33(2) and make it available to DVSA on request. However, where that tachograph data is also your only source of working time records - which it usually is - it must be kept for 24 months to satisfy the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005.

In practice, this means most operators retain all tachograph data for the full 24 months. Many keep it longer still, as it can be valuable evidence in insurance claims, accident investigations or at a Public Inquiry.