Most HGV driving in the UK falls under the assimilated EU drivers’ hours rules (aligned with AETR for international journeys). The numbers have been stable for years, but DVSA roadside data shows they are still the rules drivers break most.
Double-manned vehicles change the daily rest requirement to 9 hours in 30, and time on a ferry or train can count toward rest only with a bunk or couchette.
Most infringements come from poor planning: tight delivery windows, unexpected queues, and no margin. Build buffer into routes, and use tachograph software to spot drivers drifting toward their limits before DVSA does.
The assimilated rules cover most goods vehicles or combinations above 3.5 tonnes on business journeys. International work may be subject to AETR or the equivalent assimilated requirements, depending on the route and vehicle. Some operations are exempt and fall under GB domestic rules, which have different driving, duty and record-keeping provisions. The exemption must fit the actual vehicle and journey, not simply the operator’s industry. If a driver works under both regimes, the DVSA mixed-driving guidance matters; domestic driving is treated as other work under the assimilated rules, not casually added to assimilated driving time.
This post is a working overview of the assimilated and AETR rules, not a determination for every specialist vehicle. The full goods-vehicle guide contains the detailed exemptions, definitions and examples needed for a difficult rota.
A driving day is not midnight to midnight. Daily driving is accumulated between the end of one qualifying daily or weekly rest and the start of the next. That is why a late-running shift crossing midnight cannot simply reset the nine-hour clock at 00:00. The fixed week used for weekly and two-weekly driving limits runs from midnight Monday to midnight Sunday. Those are two different clocks; a scheduler must track both.
For example, a driver who clocks eight hours of driving before midnight and another two after midnight, without qualifying rest in between, has driven ten hours in the same driving day. That is only legal if one of the two permitted 10-hour extensions for the fixed week is available. The change of date on the phone does not start a new daily period.
The maximum is 56 hours in a fixed week and 90 hours across any two consecutive fixed weeks. A driver who uses 56 hours this week has at most 34 assimilated driving hours available next week within the two-weekly ceiling. This is a rolling pair of adjacent weeks, not a fortnightly counter that resets every second Monday. It requires looking backwards before assigning an extra run.
After at most 4.5 hours of driving, take a continuous 45-minute break or begin a qualifying rest. A split break is allowed, but it must be at least 15 minutes followed by at least 30 minutes during the 4.5-hour driving period. Reversing them does not meet the rule, and several short 10-minute stops do not add up to the qualifying 45. Once the qualifying break is complete, the next 4.5-hour driving period begins afresh.
A driver must not perform other work during a break. Being at a customer site for 45 minutes does not automatically count: loading, paperwork or securing the load makes it work. A break can be taken in a moving vehicle if the driver is not driving or doing other work, a point particularly relevant to multi-manning. The separate working-time rules can require additional breaks even on a day when the driving break pattern looks compliant.
Regular daily rest is at least 11 continuous hours. Alternatively, it can be split into at least three hours and then at least nine hours, making a minimum of 12. A reduced daily rest is at least nine continuous hours and can be used at most three times between two weekly rests. Unlike a reduced weekly rest, a reduced daily rest does not require later compensation.
The rest must fit within each 24-hour period beginning at the end of the last daily or weekly rest. A planner who sees an 11-hour gap on the rota but ignores where the previous rest ended can still produce an infringement. Rest means the driver can dispose of their own time. Work for another employer, or required training, cannot be relabelled as rest.
A driver must start weekly rest no later than six consecutive 24-hour periods after the previous weekly rest ended. In any two consecutive fixed weeks the pattern must include two regular 45-hour weekly rests, or one regular and one reduced weekly rest of at least 24 hours. When a weekly rest is reduced, pay back the reduction in a single block attached to another rest of at least nine hours by the end of the third week following the reduction. Record the reduction and the planned compensation clearly: “we will make it up later” is not an audit trail.
A full 45-hour regular weekly rest must not be taken in the vehicle; a reduced weekly rest may be taken in a stationary vehicle with suitable sleeping facilities. International tramping therefore needs accommodation planning as well as routing and parking planning. Drivers also need a realistic route back to home or the operator’s operational centre under the relevant rules.
The operator must organise work so drivers can comply. Download tachograph data regularly, analyse it, discuss infringements with drivers and change an impossible route rather than repeatedly recording the same breach. A customer delivery window is not a defence for routine over-driving. Give planners a dashboard showing daily, weekly and two-weekly driving totals, plus remaining rest and compensation. Reconcile the plan to the recorded reality after every difficult run.
The figures here were checked against DVSA’s current drivers’ hours guidance in September 2026. Before relying on an exception or unusual international pattern, read that guide’s detailed section rather than stretching the summary here.