Driving times, breaks and rest periods in Europe

[blabberbeak]

Hello fellow truckers!

 

In this post I write about driving times, breaks and rest periods in Europe for drivers of road transport companies.

Off we go!

 

What is driving time?

Driving time is the time during which the vehicle is actually steered.

Note that standing times, e.g. being stuck in traffic jams (greetings from the C-D road! ) or waiting at traffic lights are also regarded as driving time.

 

Daily driving time (which is the driving time between two rest periods) mustn't exceed 9 hours.

After 4.5 hours of driving time a minimum break of 45 minutes must be taken.

 

 

 

What is a break?

A break is an interruption of driving time, in which a driver may not engage in any other activity related to his work.
However, breaks are allowed to be taken inside the vehicle.

 

A minimum break of 45 minutes must be taken after 4.5 hours driving time.

The break can be split into a 15 minutes break and a 30 minutes break within the 4.5 hours driving time.

 

Time to stretch your legs and get some (healthy) food!

 

 

What is a rest period?

A rest period is the time in which a driver rests (ba dum tss! ).

More precisely, it's the time in which a driver doesn't do any work and isn't on standby.

 

The daily rest period is at least 11 hours and must be taken within a 24 hours cycle.

Rest periods are allowed to be taken inside the vehicle if it has a sleeping cabin.

 

 

 

Confused?

Because a picture says more than a thousand words, I put the above regulations together in a diagram.
 

 

 

More information can be found here:

https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-modes/road/mobility-package-i/driving-rest-times_en

 

I hope you find this information helpful.
I'm looking forward to your comments below.
 

[Shadel]

Thanks for your research and information. 

 

[[BEARS] Respect]

Interesting information, thank you. 
 

But now an interesting question for the gaming community - how often do you take game breaks?
 

I stop every 600-900 km to rest. I pour tea or coffee and move on.
 

[blabberbeak]

1 minute ago, [BEARS] Respect said:

Interesting information, thank you. 
 

But now an interesting question for the gaming community - how often do you take game breaks?
 

I stop every 600-900 km to rest. I pour tea or coffee and move on.
 

 

That's the spirit - learning and teaching by interaction!

 

The above regulations are based on time and not kilometers, because depending on the trafific situation one might not make much progress in the given time period. Nevertheless, the body will get tired the same. It's therefore a question of road safety.

 

In Euro Truck Simulator 2, I do my best to follow the above regulations.

More precisely, after driving 4.5 hours (game time) I find a rest stop and have a (real) break of 45 minutes (game time).

Only then I continue to drive for another 4.5 hours for a total of 9 hours daily driving time.

 

 

[Bradd]

I personally don't take breaks when playing truck sim but i might actually give it a go for a couple weeks and see. It will make it more realistic but i will be stressing when i have to stop for a rest lol.
 

[Rukia Brujin]

26 minutes ago, Bradd said:

I personally don't take breaks when playing truck sim but i might actually give it a go for a couple weeks and see. It will make it more realistic but i will be stressing when i have to stop for a rest lol.
 

I think that for over a thousand tasks, when I reach the 800KM position, I stop, take a break, and start again in 5 minutes!

[AYMΛN]

2 hours ago, [BEARS] Respect said:

Interesting information, thank you. 
 

But now an interesting question for the gaming community - how often do you take game breaks?
 

I stop every 600-900 km to rest. I pour tea or coffee and move on.
 

i take rest every 1000 KM just playing wotr

[The Kobra]

I like to be able to see such different information on the forum, thank you for informing.

[[BEARS] Respect]

4 hours ago, blabberbeak said:

 

That's the spirit - learning and teaching by interaction!

 

The above regulations are based on time and not kilometers, because depending on the trafific situation one might not make much progress in the given time period. Nevertheless, the body will get tired the same. It's therefore a question of road safety.

 

In Euro Truck Simulator 2, I do my best to follow the above regulations.

More precisely, after driving 4.5 hours (game time) I find a rest stop and have a (real) break of 45 minutes (game time).

Only then I continue to drive for another 4.5 hours for a total of 9 hours daily driving time.

 

 

That's awesome!
That's why I listed the values from and to. It also depends on whether I take part in the event or not. I don't have a lot of free flights. Also, part of my time is spent on preparation (pre-trip inspection VTС.World) for the event and time for statistics after the event, summing up the week before tax write-offs, whether I can do the tuning of my truck or not. I calculate game time, rest time, and in rest time counting of real results.

[[CQF] Qian Xia]

Thanks for your sharing, I learned new knowledge again

[Granite]

Is it notable that they have this pretty much reversed in the game? You drive 11 hours and rest 9 hours.

 

You can't acummulate more than 56 driving hours a week and 90 hours on two consecutive weeks.

After 6 days of driving, you have to take weekly rest, which should be 45 hours, and should not be taken in the cabin, typically these are taken at home after the driver has returned back to their "base", or at a suitable accomodation if away from home. You gotta take that shower at least once a weak, right?

Also, there are exception when driving times can be extended and rest periods reduced, including weekly rest periods, but typically must be compensated for in the next week.

 

[Foobrother]

Another interesting info on this topic. Most of the truck drivers will know about it already.

Over the last 5-10year, you might have noticed a lot more vans like these (usually registered in Poland) on European roads:

 

That's because these vehicles don't fall under the trucks category and drivers don't have to rest and can drive non-stop with these vehicles  

Some companies prefer to be delivered by three of these instead of a normal truck in order to get their delivery faster.

[Granite]

@Foobrother This vehicle is Renault Master, 3,5t GVW variant - this one is FWD, indicated by that it doesn't have twin rear wheels as only RWD models have them. There is also 4,5 GVW variant, which all have twin wheels and are in fact considered light trucks, so you need C1 category driving license for that.

You are right, this particular vehicle is not a truck, you need only regular B license, but I am not convinced these actually do not need to comply with the same standards when used as light commercial vehicles for transporting goods, and as such are not exempt from weight inspections, and cause they are known to often carry ilegal loads, threy are often prime targets.

It takes a lot more than 3 of these to substitute for one full size 40t GVW truck. This can take maximum legal load of somewhere between 1500 and 1600 kg, depending on model and size, while a truck can take 25-26t loads.
It's also not ralistic to drive any vehicle non-stop, that thing on top of the cabin is actually a really uncomfortable sleeper, why would they need it?

 

[Foobrother]

49 minutes ago, Granite said:

@Foobrother This vehicle is Renault Master, 3,5t GVW variant - this one is FWD, indicated by that it doesn't have twin rear wheels as only RWD models have them. There is also 4,5 GVW variant, which all have twin wheels and are in fact considered light trucks, so you need C1 category driving license for that.

You are right, this particular vehicle is not a truck, you need only regular B license, but I am not convinced these actually do not need to comply with the same standards when used as light commercial vehicles for transporting goods, and as such are not exempt from weight inspections, and cause they are known to often carry ilegal loads, threy are often prime targets.

It takes a lot more than 3 of these to substitute for one full size 40t GVW truck. This can take maximum legal load of somewhere between 1500 and 1600 kg, depending on model and size, while a truck can take 25-26t loads.
It's also not ralistic to drive any vehicle non-stop, that thing on top of the cabin is actually a really uncomfortable sleeper, why would they need it?

 

Oh yes they still have to follow weight restrictions and other freight rules. You seem to know much more than me on that subject but I was only referring to resting time as it's the topic on this thread. 

[blabberbeak]

17 hours ago, Granite said:

Is it notable that they have this pretty much reversed in the game? You drive 11 hours and rest 9 hours.

 

You can't acummulate more than 56 driving hours a week and 90 hours on two consecutive weeks.

After 6 days of driving, you have to take weekly rest, which should be 45 hours, and should not be taken in the cabin, typically these are taken at home after the driver has returned back to their "base", or at a suitable accomodation if away from home. You gotta take that shower at least once a weak, right?

Also, there are exception when driving times can be extended and rest periods reduced, including weekly rest periods, but typically must be compensated for in the next week.

 

 

Thanks for metioning this, I planned to create a new topic about it.

[Guest Fummelprinz]

Any Kind of Commercial Road Haulage is falling under European and National Working and Road Laws/Restrictions, regardless which Vehicle is used! Those Boxtrucks also need to use a Manual written (by Driver) Logbook about their Hauled Cargos, Travel Distances and Working Times of the Driver. In Germany we called this Logbook: Book of Lies!

Because, as long the Driver is writing "plausible" Entrys, no Official Control can proof to 100% the Truth of it!

So, those Boxtrucks were often used to Bypass the Working and Transportation Laws at the cost of Safety and the Life of the Drivers to make Money. They are also often overloaded!

[Granite]

@Fummelprinz  Today, they only need to be equiped with tachograph, when used with trailer that pushes them over 3,5t (and can turn it off without trailer), but I hear they will be required to have tachographs since 1st July 2026 when used for international transport regardless of gross weight. Vans used for local deliveries, parcel service, etc. will still be exception.

 

[Tommy]

The vehicle can be driven for a maximum of 9 hours a day. This period can be increased to 10 hours twice in a week. In this case, your total driving time per week cannot be more than 56 hours.

[DatSpeed]

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DatSpeed

TruckersMP Game Moderator + Community Moderator

 

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