Section 2. Driving times, breaks and rest periods
Article 1 – Scope
1. This Section lays down the rules on driving time, breaks and rest periods for drivers referred to in point (b) of Article ROAD 7 (1) of this Agreement undertaking journeys referred to in Article ROAD.4 [Transport of goods between, through and within the territories of the Parties] of this Agreement.
2. Where a driver undertakes a journey referred to in Article ROAD.4 [Transport of goods between, through and within the territories of the Parties] of this Agreement, the rules in this Section apply to any road transport operation undertaken by that driver between the territories of the Parties and between Member States.
3. This Section applies:
(a) where the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle, including any trailer, or semitrailer, exceeds 3.5 tonnes; or
(b) from 1 July 2026, where the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle, including any trailer, or semi-trailer, exceeds 2.5 tonnes.
4. This Section does not apply to transport by:
(a) vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7.5 tonnes used for:
(i) carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver’s use in the course of the driver’s work, or
(ii) for delivering goods which are produced on a craft basis,
only within a 100 km radius from the base of the undertaking and on the condition that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver’s main activity and transport is not carried out for hire or reward;
(b) vehicles with a maximum authorised speed not exceeding 40km/h;
(c) vehicles owned or hired without a driver by the armed services, civil defence services, fire services, and forces responsible for maintaining public order when the transport is undertaken as a consequence of the tasks assigned to those services and is under their control;
(d) vehicles used in emergencies or rescue operations;
(e) specialised vehicles used for medical purposes;
(f) specialised breakdown vehicles operating within a 100 km radius of their base;
(g) vehicles undergoing road tests for technical development, repair or maintenance purposes, and new or rebuilt vehicles which have not yet been put into service;
(h) vehicles with a maximum permissible mass, including any trailer, or semi-trailer exceeding
2.5 tonnes but not exceeding 3.5 tonnes that are used for the transport of goods, where the transport is not effected for hire or reward, but on the own account of the company or the driver, and where driving does not constitute the main activity of the person driving the vehicle;
(i) commercial vehicles, which have a historic status according to the legislation of the Member State in which they are being driven and which are used for the non-commercial transport of goods.
Article 2 – Definitions
For the purposes of this Section, the following definitions apply:
(a) “transport by road” means any journey made entirely or in part on roads open to the public by a vehicle, whether laden or not;
(b) “break” means any period during which a driver may not carry out any driving or any other work and which is used exclusively for recuperation;
(c) “other work” means all activities which are defined as working time in point (a) of Article 2(1) of Section 3 of Part B except ‘driving’, including any work for the same or another employer, within or outside of the transport sector;
(d) “rest” means any uninterrupted period during which a driver may freely dispose of his or her time;
(e) “daily rest period” means the daily period during which a driver may freely dispose of his or her time and covers a ‘regular daily rest period’ and a ‘reduced daily rest period’:
(i) “regular daily rest period” means any period of rest of at least 11 hours, which may be taken in two periods, the first of which must be an uninterrupted period of at least 3 hours and the second an uninterrupted period of at least nine hours; and
(ii) “reduced daily rest period” means any period of rest of at least nine hours but less than 11 hours;
(f) “weekly rest period” means the weekly period during which a driver may freely dispose of his or her time and covers a ‘regular weekly rest period’ and a ‘reduced weekly rest period’:
(i) “regular weekly rest period” means any period of rest of at least 45 hours; and
(ii) “reduced weekly rest period” means any period of rest of less than 45 hours, which may, subject to the conditions laid down in Article 6(6) and 6(7) of this Section, be shortened to a minimum of 24 consecutive hours;
(g) “a week” means the period of time between 00.00 on Monday and 24.00 on Sunday;
(h) “driving time” means the duration of driving activity recorded:
(i) automatically or semi-automatically by the tachograph as defined in points (e), (f),
(g) and (h) of Article 2 of Section 4 of Part B of this Annex; or
(ii) manually as required by Article 9(2) and 11 of Section 4 of Part B of this Annex;
(i) “daily driving time” means the total accumulated driving time between the end of one daily rest period and the beginning of the following daily rest period or between a daily rest period and a weekly rest period;
(j) “weekly driving time” means the total accumulated driving time during a week;
(k) “maximum permissible mass” means the maximum authorised operating mass of a vehicle when fully laden;
(l) “multi-manning” means the situation where, during each period of driving between any two consecutive daily rest periods, or between a daily rest period and a weekly rest period, there are at least two drivers in the vehicle to do the driving for the first hour of multimanning the presence of another driver or drivers is optional but for the remainder of the period it is compulsory;
(m) “driving period” means the accumulated driving time from when a driver commences driving following a rest period or a break until the driver takes a rest period or a break; the driving period may be continuous or broken.
Article 3 – Requirement for drivers’ mates
The minimum age for drivers’ mates shall be 18 years. However, each Party and, in the case of the Union, a Member State may reduce the minimum age for drivers’ mates to 16 years, provided that the reduction is for the purposes of vocational training and there is compliance with the limits imposed by the United Kingdom and, for the Union, the Member State’s national rules on employment matters.
Article 4 – Driving times
1. The daily driving time shall not exceed nine hours.
However, the daily driving time may be extended to at most 10 hours not more than twice during the week.
2. The weekly driving time shall not exceed 56 hours and shall not result in the maximum weekly working time of 60 hours being exceeded.
3. The total accumulated driving time during any two consecutive weeks shall not exceed 90 hours.
4. Daily and weekly driving times shall include all driving time on the territory of the Parties.
5. A driver shall record as other work any time spent as described in point (c) of Article 2 of this Section as well as any time spent driving a vehicle used for commercial operations where a driver is not required to record driving time, and shall record any periods of availability, as defined in point (2) of Article 2 of Section 3 of Part B, in accordance with point (b)(iii) of Article 6(5) of Section 4 of Part B. This record shall be entered either manually on a record sheet or printout or by use of manual input facilities on recording equipment.
Article 5 – Breaks
After a driving period of four and a half hours a driver shall take an uninterrupted break of not less than 45 minutes, unless the driver takes a rest period.
That break may be replaced by a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes each distributed over the period in such a way as to comply with the provisions of the first paragraph.
A driver engaged in multi-manning may take a break of 45 minutes in a vehicle driven by another driver provided that the driver taking the break is not involved in assisting the driver driving the vehicle.
Article 6 – Rests
1. A driver shall take daily and weekly rest periods.
2. Within each period of 24 hours after the end of the previous daily rest period or weekly rest period a driver shall have taken a new daily rest period.
If the portion of the daily rest period which falls within that 24-hour period is at least nine hours but less than 11 hours, then the daily rest period in question shall be regarded as a reduced daily rest period.
3. A daily rest period may be extended to make a regular weekly rest period or a reduced weekly rest period.
4. A driver may have at most three reduced daily rest periods between any two weekly rest periods.
5. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, within 30 hours of the end of a daily or weekly rest period, a driver engaged in multi-manning must have taken a new daily rest period of at least nine hours.
6. In any two consecutive weeks a driver shall take at least:
(a) two regular weekly rest periods; or
(b) one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly rest period of at least 24 hours.
A weekly rest period shall start no later than at the end of six 24-hour periods from the end of the previous weekly rest period.
7. By way of derogation from paragraph 6, a driver engaged in international transport of goods may, outside the territory of the Party of the road haulage operator or, for drivers of EU road haulage operators, outside the territory of the Member State of the road haulage operator, take two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods provided that the driver in any four consecutive weeks takes at least four weekly rest periods, of which at least two shall be regular weekly rest periods.
For the purpose of this paragraph, a driver shall be considered to be engaged in international transport where the driver starts the two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods outside the territory of the Party of the road haulage operator and drivers’ place of residence or, for the Union, outside the territory of the Member State of the road haulage operator and the country of the drivers’ place of residence.
Any reduction in weekly rest period shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest taken en bloc before the end of the third week following the week in question.
Where two reduced weekly rest periods have been taken consecutively in accordance with the third subparagraph, the next weekly rest period shall be preceded by a rest period taken as compensation for those two reduced weekly rest periods.
8. Any rest taken as compensation for a reduced weekly rest period shall be attached to another rest period of at least nine hours.
9. The regular weekly rest periods and any weekly rest period of more than 45 hours taken in compensation for previous reduced weekly rest periods shall not be taken in a vehicle. They shall be taken in suitable gender-friendly accommodation with adequate sleeping and sanitary facilities.
Any costs for accommodation outside the vehicle shall be covered by the employer.
10. Transport undertakings shall organise the work of drivers in such a way that the drivers are able to return to the employer’s operational centre where the driver is normally based and where the driver’s weekly rest period begins, in the United Kingdom and, in the case of the Union, the Member State of the employer’s establishment, or to return to the drivers’ place of residence, within each period of four consecutive weeks, in order to spend at least one regular weekly rest period or a weekly rest period of more than 45 hours taken in compensation for reduced weekly rest period.
However, where the driver has taken two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods in accordance with paragraph 7, the transport undertaking shall organise the work of the driver in such a way that the driver is able to return before the start of the regular weekly rest period of more than 45 hours taken in compensation.
The undertaking shall document how it fulfils that obligation and shall keep the documentation at its premises in order to present it at the request of control authorities.
11. A weekly rest period that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week, but not in both.
12. By way of derogation, where a driver accompanies a vehicle which is transported by ferry or train and takes a regular daily rest period or a reduced weekly rest period, that period may be interrupted not more than twice by other activities not exceeding one hour in total. During that regular daily rest or reduced weekly rest period the driver shall have access to a sleeper cabin, bunk or couchette at their disposal.
With regard to regular weekly rest periods, that derogation shall only apply to ferry or train journeys where:
(a) the journey is scheduled for 8 hours or more; and
(b) the driver has access to a sleeper cabin in the ferry or on the train.
13. Any time spent travelling to a location to take charge of a vehicle falling within the scope of this Section, or to return from that location, when the vehicle is neither at the driver’s home nor at the employer’s operational centre where the driver is normally based, shall not be counted as a rest or break unless the driver is on a ferry or train and has access to a sleeper cabin, bunk or couchette.
14. Any time spent by a driver driving a vehicle which falls outside the scope of this Section to or from a vehicle which falls within the scope of this Section, which is not at the driver’s home or at the employer’s operational centre where the driver is normally based, shall count as other work.
Article 7 – Liability of road haulage operators
1. A road haulage operator of a Party shall not give drivers it employs or who are put at its disposal any payment, even in the form of a bonus or wage supplement, related to distances travelled, the speed of delivery and/or the amount of goods carried if that payment is of such a kind as to endanger road safety and/or encourages infringement of this Section.
2. A road haulage operator of a Party shall organise road transport operations and properly instruct crew members so that they are able to comply with the provisions of this Section.
3. A road haulage operator of a Party shall be liable for infringements committed by drivers of the operator, even if the infringement was committed on the territory of the other Party.
Without prejudice to the right of the Parties to hold road haulage operators fully liable, the Parties may make this liability conditional on the operator’s infringement of paragraphs 1 and 2. The Parties may consider any evidence that the road haulage operator cannot reasonably be held responsible for the infringement committed.
4. Road haulage operators, consignors, freight forwarders, principal contractors, subcontractors and driver employment agencies shall ensure that contractually agreed transport time schedules respect this Section.
5. A road haulage operator which uses vehicles that are fitted with recording equipment complying with points (f), (g) or (h) of Article 2 of Section 4 of Part B and that fall within the scope of this Section, shall:
(i) ensure that all data are downloaded from the vehicle unit and driver card as regularly as is stipulated by the Party and that relevant data are downloaded more frequently so as to ensure that all data concerning activities undertaken by or for that road haulage operator are downloaded; and
(ii) ensure that all data downloaded from both the vehicle unit and driver card are kept for at least 12 months following recording and, should an inspecting officer request it, such data are accessible, either directly or remotely, from the premises of the road haulage operator.
For the purposes of this paragraph “downloaded” shall be interpreted in accordance with the definition laid down in point (h) of Article 2(2) of Section 2 of Part C.
The maximum period within which the relevant data shall be downloaded under point (i) of this paragraph shall be 90 days for data from the vehicle unit and 28 days for data from the driver card.
Article 8 – Exceptions
1. Provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised and to enable the vehicle to reach a suitable stopping place, the driver may depart from Articles 4 to 6 to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, of the vehicle or its load. The driver shall indicate the reason for such departure
manually on the record sheet of the recording equipment or on a printout from the recording equipment or in the duty roster, at the latest on arrival at the suitable stopping place.
2. Provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised, in exceptional circumstances, the driver may also depart from Article 4(1) and (2) and from Article 6(2) by exceeding the daily and weekly driving time by up to one hour in order to reach the employer’s operational centre or the driver’s place of residence to take a weekly rest period.
Under the same conditions, the driver may exceed the daily and weekly driving time by up to two hours, provided that an uninterrupted break of 30 minutes was taken immediately prior to the additional driving in order to reach the employer’s operational centre or the driver’s place of residence for taking a regular weekly rest period.
The driver shall indicate the reason for such departure manually on the record sheet of the recording equipment, or on a printout from the recording equipment or in the duty roster, at the latest on arrival at the destination or the suitable stopping place.
Any period of extension shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest taken en bloc with any rest period, by the end of the third week following the week in question.
3. Provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised, each Party and, in the case of the Union, a Member State may grant exceptions from Articles 3 to 6 and make such exceptions subject to individual conditions on its own territory or, with the agreement of the other Party, on the territory of the other Party, applicable to transport by the following:
(a) vehicles owned or hired, without a driver, by public authorities to undertake transport by road which do not compete with private road haulage operators;
(b) vehicles used or hired, without a driver, by agricultural, horticultural, forestry, farming or fishery undertakings for carrying goods as part of their own entrepreneurial activity within a radius of up to 100 km from the base of the undertaking;
(c) agricultural tractors and forestry tractors used for agricultural or forestry activities, within a radius of up to 100 km from the base of the undertaking which owns, hires or leases the vehicle;
(d) vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7,5 tonnes used by universal service providers to deliver items as part of the universal service. Those vehicles shall be used only within a 100 km radius from the base of the undertaking, and on condition that driving the vehicles does not constitute the driver’s main activity;
(e) vehicles operating exclusively on islands not exceeding 2 300 square kilometres in area which are not linked to the rest of the national territory by a bridge, ford or tunnel open for use by motor vehicles;
(f) vehicles used for the transport of goods within a 100 km radius from the base of the undertaking and propelled by means of natural or liquefied gas or electricity, the maximum permissible mass of which, including the mass of a trailer or semi-trailer, does not exceed 7,5 tonnes;
(g) vehicles used in connection with sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity maintenance services, road maintenance and control, door-to-door household refuse
collection and disposal, telegraph and telephone services, radio and television broadcasting, and the detection of radio or television transmitters or receivers;
(h) specialised vehicles transporting circus and funfair equipment;
(i) specially fitted mobile project vehicles, the primary purpose of which is use as an educational facility when stationary;
(j) vehicles used for milk collection from farms and/or for the return to farms of milk containers or milk products intended for animal feed;
(k) specialised vehicles transporting money and/or valuables;
(l) vehicles used for carrying animal waste or carcasses which are not intended for human consumption;
(m) vehicles used exclusively on roads inside hub facilities such as ports, interports and railway terminals;
(n) vehicles used for the transport of live animals from farms to local markets and vice versa or from markets to local slaughterhouses within a radius of up to 100 km;
(o) vehicles or combinations of vehicles carrying construction machinery for a construction undertaking, up to a radius of 100 km from the base of the undertaking, provided that driving the vehicles does not constitute the driver’s main activity; and
(p) vehicles used for the delivery of ready-mixed concrete.
4. Provided that working conditions of drivers and road safety are not thereby jeopardised and that the limits set out in Article 3 of Section 3 of Part B are complied with, a Party, and in the case of the Union, a Member State, may grant temporary exceptions from the application of Articles 4 to 6 of this Section to transport operations carried out in exceptional circumstances, in accordance with the procedure applicable in the Party.
The temporary exceptions shall be duly reasoned and notified immediately to the other Party. The Specialised Committee on Road Transport shall specify the modalities of that notification. Each Party shall immediately publish that information on a public website and shall ensure that its enforcement activities to take into account an exception granted by the other Party.
Section 3. Working time of mobile workers
Article 1 – Scope
1. This Section applies to mobile workers employed by road haulage operators of the Parties, undertaking journeys referred to in Article ROAD.4 [Transport of goods between, through and within the territories of the Parties] of this Agreement.
This Section shall also apply to self-employed drivers.
2. In so far as this Section contains more specific provisions as regards mobile workers performing road transport activities it shall take precedence over the relevant provisions of Article LPF.2.27.
3. This Section shall supplement the provisions of Section 2 of Part B which take precedence over the provisions of this Section.
4. A Party may disapply the application of this Section for mobile workers and self-employed drivers undertaking no more than two return journeys in accordance with Article ROAD.4 [Transport of goods between, through and within the territories of the Parties] of this Agreement in a calendar month.
5. Where a Party disapplies the application of this Section under Paragraph 4, that Party shall notify the other Party.
Article 2 – Definitions
For the purposes of this Section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “working time” means:
(a) in the case of mobile workers: the time from the beginning to the end of work, during which the mobile worker is at his or her workstation, at the disposal of the employer and exercising his or her functions or activities, that is to say:
the time devoted to all road transport activities, in particular, the following:
(i) driving;
(ii) loading and unloading;
(iii) assisting passengers boarding and disembarking from the vehicle;
(iv) cleaning and technical maintenance; and
(v) all other work intended to ensure the safety of the vehicle and its cargo or to fulfil the legal or regulatory obligations directly linked to the specific transport operation under way, including monitoring of loading and unloading, administrative formalities with police, customs, immigration officers etc.,
– the times during which driver cannot dispose freely of his or her time and is required to be at his or her workstation, ready to take up normal work, with certain tasks associated with being on duty, in particular during periods awaiting loading or unloading where their
foreseeable duration is not known in advance, that is to say either before departure or just before the actual start of the period in question, or under the general conditions negotiated between the social partners and/or under the terms of the legislation of the Parties;
(b) in the case of self-employed drivers, the same definition applies to the time from the beginning to the end of work, during which the self-employed driver is at his or her workstation, at the disposal of the client and exercising his or her functions or activities other than general administrative work that is not directly linked to the specific transport operation under way.
The break times referred to in Article 4, the rest times referred to in Article 5 and, without prejudice to the legislation of the Parties or agreements between the social partners providing that such periods should be compensated or limited, the periods of availability referred to in point (2) of this Article, shall be excluded from working time;
(2) “periods of availability” means:
– periods other than those relating to break times and rest times during which the mobile worker is not required to remain at his or her workstation, but must be available to answer any calls to start or resume driving or to carry out other work. In particular such periods of availability shall include periods during which the mobile worker is accompanying a vehicle being transported by ferryboat or by train as well as periods of waiting at frontiers and those due to traffic prohibitions.
– Those periods and their foreseeable duration shall be known in advance by the mobile worker, that is to say either before departure or just before the actual start of the period in question, or under the general conditions negotiated between the social partners and/or under the terms of the legislation of the Parties,
– for mobile workers driving in a team, the time spent sitting next to the driver or on the couchette while the vehicle is in motion;
(3) “workstation” means:
– the location of the main place of business of the road haulage operator for which the person performing mobile road transport activities carries out duties, together with its various subsidiary places of business, regardless of whether they are located in the same place as its head office or main place of business;
– the vehicle which the person performing mobile road transport activities uses when that person carries out duties; and
– any other place in which activities connected with transportation are carried out;
(4) “mobile worker” means, for the purpose of this Section, any worker forming part of the travelling staff, including trainees and apprentices, who is in the service of an undertaking which operates transport services for passengers or goods by road on the territory of the other Party;
(5) “self-employed driver” means anyone whose main occupation is to transport of goods by road for hire or reward, who is entitled to work for himself and who is not tied to an employer by an employment contract or by any other type of working hierarchical relationship, who is free to organise the relevant working activities, whose income depends directly on the profits made and who has the
freedom to, individually or through a cooperation between self-employed drivers, have commercial relations with several customers.
For the purposes of this Section, those drivers who do not satisfy those criteria shall be subject to the same obligations and benefit from the same rights as those provided for mobile workers by this Section;
(6) “person performing mobile road transport activities” means any mobile worker or self- employed driver who performs such activities;
(7) “week” means the period between 00.00 hours on Monday and 24.00 hours on Sunday;
(8) “night time” means a period of at least four hours, as defined by national law, between 00.00 hours and 07.00 hours; and
(9) “night work” means any work performed during night time.
Article 3 – Maximum weekly working time
1. Each Party shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the average weekly working time may not exceed 48 hours. The maximum weekly working time may be extended to 60 hours only if, over four months, an average of 48 hours a week is not exceeded.
2. Each Party shall take the measures necessary to ensure that working time for different employers is the sum of the working hours. The employer shall ask the mobile worker concerned in writing for an account of time worked for another employer. The mobile worker shall provide such information in writing.
Article 4 – Breaks
Each Party shall take the measures necessary to ensure that, without prejudice to the provisions of Section 2 of Part B of this Annex, persons performing mobile road transport activities, in no circumstances work for more than six consecutive hours without a break. Working time shall be interrupted by a break of at least 30 minutes, if working hours total between six and nine hours, and of at least 45 minutes, if working hours total more than nine hours.
Breaks may be subdivided into periods of at least 15 minutes each.
Article 5 – Rest periods
For the purposes of this Section, apprentices and trainees who are in the service of an undertaking which operates transport services for passengers or goods by road journeys on the territory of the other Party shall be covered by the same provisions on rest time as other mobile workers pursuant to Section 2 of Part B of this Annex.
Article 6 – Night work
Each Party shall take the measures necessary to ensure that:
(a) if night work is performed, the daily working time does not exceed ten hours in each 24 period; and
(b) compensation for night work is given in accordance with national legislative measures, collective agreements, agreements between the two sides of industry and/or national practice, on condition that such compensation is not liable to endanger road safety.
Article 7 – Derogations
1. Derogations from Articles 3 and 6 may, for objective or technical reasons or reasons concerning the organisation of work, be adopted by means of collective agreements, agreements between the social partners, or if that is not possible, by laws, regulations or administrative provisions provided that there is consultation of the representatives of the employers and workers concerned and efforts are made to encourage all relevant forms of social dialogue.
2. The option to derogate from Article 3 may not result in the establishment of a reference period exceeding six months, for calculation of the average maximum weekly working time of forty- eight hours.
3. The Specialised Committee on Road Transport shall be informed of the derogations applied by a Party according to paragraph 1.
Article 8 – Information and records
Each Party shall ensure that:
(a) mobile workers are informed of the relevant national requirements, the internal rules of the road haulage operator and agreements between the two sides of industry, in particular collective agreements and any company agreements, reached on the basis of this Section; and
(b) the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities is recorded. Records shall be kept for at least two years after the end of the period covered. Employers shall be responsible for recording the working time of mobile workers. Employers shall upon request provide mobile workers with copies of the records of hours worked.
Article 9 – More favourable provisions
This Section shall not affect the right of each Party to apply or introduce laws, regulations or administrative provisions more favourable to the protection of the health and safety of persons performing mobile road transport activities, or their right to facilitate or permit the application of collective agreements or other agreements concluded between the two sides of industry which are more favourable to the protection of the health and safety of mobile workers. Those rules shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner.
