Professional drivers are in breach of EU weekly rest rules if they take their 45-hour rest in a vehicle’s cab, according to European Court of Justice advocate general Evgeni Tanchev.
The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), which lobbied for the law regarding weekly rest to be clarified by the EU, has called for future working time regulations to specify the conditions that operators should provide for their drivers to take their 45-hour weekly rest, such as a hotel with individual sanitary facilities and access to hot meals.
In 2015 the ETF wrote to EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc, claiming that allowing drivers to take their weekly rest in a truck cab was in breach of EU rules. It said long rest breaks in the truck’s cab placed compliant road transport operators in a “disadvantaged situation”, and exposed drivers to poor living conditions.
France introduced a €30,000 (£25,449) fine in 2014 for any operator found in breach of weekly rest rules, including allowing drivers to take their 45-hour break in their cabs.
