Question 1

How many hours can I drive in a day?

Accepted Answer

Up to 9 hours a day. You can extend this to 10 hours, but only twice in a fixed week (Monday 00:00 to Sunday 24:00). Driving beyond 10 hours in a day is never permitted under the assimilated EU rules.

Question 2

How much can I drive in a week and over two weeks?

Accepted Answer

A maximum of 56 hours' driving in a single fixed week, and no more than 90 hours across any two consecutive fixed weeks. So a 56-hour week must be followed by a week of no more than 34 hours' driving.

Question 3

When do I have to take a 45-minute break?

Accepted Answer

After no more than 4 hours 30 minutes of driving you must take a break of at least 45 minutes. Completing it resets your driving time so you can begin accumulating another 4h30.

Question 4

Can I split the 45-minute break?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but only in this order: a first break of at least 15 minutes, then a second of at least 30 minutes. The order matters — a 30-minute break followed by a 15-minute break does not satisfy the rule, and your driving time keeps counting as if you hadn't taken a valid break.

Question 5

How many times can I reduce my daily rest?

Accepted Answer

A regular daily rest is at least 11 hours. You may reduce it to at least 9 hours (a reduced daily rest) no more than three times between any two weekly rest periods. The count resets after each weekly rest.

Question 6

What is a split daily rest?

Accepted Answer

You can take your daily rest in two parts within a 24-hour period: a first part of at least 3 hours followed by a second of at least 9 hours (at least 12 hours in total). Taken this way it counts as a regular daily rest and does not use up one of your reduced-rest allowances.

Question 7

How often do I need a weekly rest?

Accepted Answer

A new weekly rest must begin no later than the end of six consecutive 24-hour periods — 144 hours — from the end of your last weekly rest. A regular weekly rest is at least 45 hours; it can be reduced to at least 24 hours, but over any two consecutive weeks you must take at least two weekly rests, one of which is a full 45 hours.

Question 8

Do I have to pay back a reduced weekly rest?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Any reduction below 45 hours must be compensated by an equivalent block of rest, taken in one go and attached to another rest period of at least 9 hours, before the end of the third week following the week in which you reduced.

Question 9

How are the working-time rules different from drivers' hours?

Accepted Answer

The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 sit alongside the drivers' hours rules. They cap working time (driving plus other work) at an average of 48 hours a week over a 17-week reference period, an absolute 60 hours in any single week, and require separate breaks: 30 minutes if you work 6–9 hours, 45 minutes if you work more than 9 hours.

Question 10

When do I need a working-time break?

Accepted Answer

If your daily working time — driving plus any other work — goes over 6 hours, you're entitled to a break: at least 30 minutes if you work 6–9 hours in total, or 45 minutes if you work more than 9 hours. It can be taken as one block or split into parts of at least 15 minutes each, in any order.

Question 11

How is a working-time break different from the driving break?

Accepted Answer

They're two separate legal limits, and you must meet both. The driving break (45 minutes after 4h30 of driving) only counts driving time, and a split must follow the strict order of 15 minutes then 30 minutes. The working-time break covers driving and other work together, is based on your total hours worked rather than a rolling driving clock, and can be split into any number of ≥15-minute blocks in any order. It's possible to satisfy one of these rules while breaching the other.

Question 12

What counts as a period of availability (POA)?

Accepted Answer

POA is waiting time whose duration you know in advance — for example, accompanying a vehicle on a ferry or waiting at a loading bay. POA is not working time, but it is not a break or rest either. This calculator treats it as neutral: it neither adds to your working time nor counts toward your breaks or rest.

Question 13

What are the night-work limits?

Accepted Answer

If any of your working time falls in the night period (00:00 to 04:00 for goods vehicles), your working time is limited to 10 hours in that 24-hour period, unless a workforce or collective agreement is in place to lift it.

Question 14

Is this calculator the legal record of my hours?

Accepted Answer

No. It is an advisory planning tool only. Your tachograph is the legal record of your driving, breaks and rest, and you must always follow it and your operator's instructions. This tool does not cover GB domestic rules, multi-manning, ferry/train derogations or emergency relaxations.

UK drivers' hours calculator

The rules, in plain English

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