• KNOWLEDGE HUB
Drivers' hours rules govern how long a driver may be at the wheel, and the breaks and rest they must take, before fatigue becomes a safety and compliance risk.
For most HGV and PSV work in Great Britain and the EU these limits come from Regulation (EC) 561/2006 - daily and weekly driving caps, the 45‑minute break, and daily and weekly rest.
These guides break each rule down with worked examples, the mistakes operators most often make, and how the tachograph evidences it all.
• QUICK ANSWERS
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.
Yes - always. The two sets of rules (drivers' hours and working time) apply at the same time, and you must follow whichever is more restrictive at any given moment.
Sometimes a break is triggered by the working time rules before the drivers' hours rules, and sometimes the other way round.
You need a solid grasp of both to stay compliant.
It doesn’t.
The same EU/GB driving, break and rest rules apply to any vehicle over 3.5 tonnes used for hire or reward, whether it’s carrying one household’s full move or a shared groupage load.
It does.
Time spent physically erecting scaffolding is duty time and has to be logged against the daily and weekly limits, even on days where the driving portion itself qualified for an exemption.