Follow drivers' hours and tachograph rules for goods vehicles

Work out which rules apply

The rules you follow depend on the vehicle and the journey, not on the kind of business you run. Two sets matter for goods vehicles.

The assimilated rules (the EU drivers' hours and tachograph rules as they now have effect in UK law) cover most goods vehicles whose maximum permissible weight, including any trailer, is over 3.5 tonnes. They apply to journeys wholly within the UK and to journeys between the UK and the EU. From 1 July 2026 they also cover light goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes used for international goods transport between the UK and the EU, including cabotage. Journeys to, from or through other countries that signed the AETR agreement, such as Norway, Switzerland and Turkey, follow the AETR rules, which are very close to the assimilated rules.

The GB domestic rules cover goods vehicles that fall outside the assimilated rules. That means vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and vehicles covered by an exemption or a UK national derogation. Examples include vehicles that cannot exceed 40km/h, vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes carrying a tradesperson's own tools or materials within 100km of base where driving is not the main job, and zero-emission goods vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes.

A short spell of driving under the assimilated rules puts a driver under them for the whole day, including the daily driving, break and rest rules and the weekly limits.

Assimilated rules: driving, breaks and rest

You can split the 45-minute break into one break of at least 15 minutes followed by one of at least 30 minutes, both within the 4.5 hours. You can also split a daily rest into a first period of at least 3 hours and a second of at least 9 hours, 12 hours in total. A week runs from 00:00 on Monday to 24:00 on Sunday.

GB domestic rules

If a driver works partly under the assimilated rules and partly under the domestic rules in the same day, driving and duty under the assimilated rules count towards the domestic limits. Driving under the domestic rules counts as other work, not as a break or rest. The assimilated rules on breaks and rest apply on any day or week that includes assimilated driving.

Record the hours on a tachograph

A vehicle under the assimilated rules must have a tachograph fitted, and the driver must record all driving, breaks, rest, other work and periods of availability on it. Which type of unit a vehicle may use depends on when it was first registered. A goods vehicle first registered from 24 December 2025 must have a full smart 2 tachograph. Under the domestic rules a driver can record hours on a weekly record sheet instead.

On a digital or smart tachograph each driver must use their own driver card, and must never use someone else's.

You can apply to DVLA online with a photocard driving licence or by post.

While a lost, stolen, damaged or faulty card is being replaced, the driver can drive for up to 15 calendar days, or longer if the vehicle needs it to return to base, by printing the record from the tachograph at the start and end of the working day and marking it with their name and card or licence number.

Operator duties

You also need a company card from DVLA to download data from a vehicle unit.

As an employer you must train your drivers, schedule work so that they can follow the rules, check their records and data regularly, and not pay them by speed of delivery, distance or load carried if that would encourage them to break the rules.

A faulty tachograph must be repaired as soon as possible. If a digital or smart unit cannot be downloaded, the repair centre should give you a certificate of undownloadability, which you must keep for at least 12 months.

Consignors, freight forwarders and driver agencies must also take all reasonable steps to make sure the delivery schedules they agree respect the rules.

If the rules are broken

DVSA examiners can give a verbal warning for a minor first breach, or an offence rectification notice that gives you 21 days to fix a problem that is not a safety risk. They can also issue a prohibition, which stops the vehicle until the problem is put right. Serious breaches can go to court, and DVSA can refer a driver or operator to the Traffic Commissioner, who can act against a vocational or operator licence.

Under the assimilated rules the operator is liable for infringements by its drivers. You have a defence only if you can show the work was organised with full regard to the rules: no payments that encourage breaches, work properly organised, drivers instructed and regular checks made, with all reasonable steps taken to avoid the breach.