Objective
This Directive provides for specific provisions concerning the hours of work in road transport in order to ensure both the safety of transport and the health and safety of the persons involved.
Definitions
The Directive gives legal definitions on "working time", "period of availability", "workstation", "mobile worker", self employed driver", "night time" and "night work".
Contents
The provisions of the Directive take precedence over the relevant provisions of the basic Directive 2003/88/EC on working time because it contains more specific provisions. It applies to all mobile workers performing road transport activities employed by undertakings established in a Member State as well as to self-employed drivers from 23 March 2009 onwards.
The Directive supplements the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.
The Directive also applies to self-employed drivers and mobile workers who are not mentioned as such in the Regulation.
The average weekly working time in road transport may not exceed 48 hours. It can be extended to 60 hours only if an average of 48 hours per week is not exceeded within a period of four months.
Member States shall ensure that no worker works 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.
Measures are to be adopted that ensure that mobile workers and self-employed drivers who are not subject to Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 have an uninterrupted period of rest at the end of their daily work of at least 11 hours.
Member States shall ensure that daily working time may not exceed eight hours (ten hours only if an average of eight hours a day is not exceeded within two months) for night workers. Records of the workers' working time have to be kept.