A coach driver is not allowed to drive longer than 4 ½ hour straight, then has to take a break. A break of journey is regulated as “a period during which the driver must not carry out any driving activities or any other work and which is solely to be used for relaxation…”.

These breaks have to take at least 45 minutes and the driver is not even allowed to e.g. make coffee for his guests.

In a multi-driver crew (see below), the break of journey can take place in the front passenger seat. But the same counts: No work.

The described break may be split, in which the first half has to take at least 15 minutes and the other half at least 30 minutes. The 30-minute break has to take place no later than 4 ½ hours. When exactly the 15-minute break takes place doesn’t matter, as long as it’s before the 30-minute break. Theoretically, the driver could take his first break after 10 minutes. The second part then has to take place after 4 ½ hours at the most.

A violation of the drive and break times can result in considerable fines!

It is also important to point out that once the 45-minute break has taken place, a new driving block begins and the driver can again drive for 4 ½ hours.

One bus driver may not drive more than 9 hours a day although twice a week, the travel time can be increased to 10 hours. The term ‘week’ is defined as “… the period between 00.00 on Monday and 24.00 on Sunday…”.
The maximum weekly travel time is restricted to 56 hours. In two consecutive weeks, the maximum travel time is 90 hours.

Over a period of two weeks, a driver must take two weekly rest periods. This weekly rest period must take place no later than 6 working days into the two-week period  (see exception below).

To get normal (“regular”) weekly rest periods, a daily rest period is extended to 45 hours. Every second weekly rest period may be reduced to up to 24 hours however the difference must be made up in the following three weeks.

A day of driving is roughly equivalent of a rest period of about 32 to 36 hours, so it must be made up in about 9-13 hours. Two days off work correspond to a rest period of about 56-60 hours. Within these days off, they can be made up within 11-15 hours. Weekly alternating patterns of one, then two days off a week can thus allow a good balance.

Before EU regulation 561 came into effect, drivers were allowed to work for up to 12 consecutive days and had to subsequently add two rest days.

Apparently, the associations were asleep during the hearings, because since regulation 561, this was suddenly not the case anymore.  Foreign travel that went longer than six days now had to include an entire rest day or the driver had to be replaced. Therefore, the organisations were up in arms against the new regime of weekly rest periods  – with success.

Since December 4, 2011, drivers that are used in cross-border-travel, are now allowed to work 12 consecutive days, if the following conditions are met:

• the journey must go abroad for at least 24 hours
• the driver must have a minimum 45-hour rest period before driving
• the driver has to take two weekly rest periods after the journey (one of which may be shortened)

From January 1, 2014, the following additional requirements apply to the application of the exception regulation:

• the bus must be equipped with a digital tachograph
• for night time travel (between 22:00 – 06:00), the allowable continuous driving time for the driver can be no more than 3 hours (does not apply to multi-driver crews)

If the driver gets caught in e.g. a traffic jam and thus exceeds his tolerable driving- or shift time, he cannot simply leave the bus on the highway. In this case, the driver may continue until he reaches a suitable stopping place; if this is necessary to guarantee the safety of the passengers and security of the vehicle; as long as the overall safety is not compromised.

Immediately after reaching the stopping place, the driver must write a handwritten reason for the deviation from the rules on the record sheet or on a printout of the recording sheet