What European social regulations say about driving and rest times

Regulatory changes have reaffirmed the importance of integrating respect for time into everyday tools. These new regulations, stemming from the European Social Regulation (ESR), aim to guarantee road safety, social protection for drivers and fair competition between industry players.

What texts define the European Social Regulation (ESR)?

Several texts regulate the social aspects of road haulage:

• Regulation (EC) no. 561/2006 on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers of vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Its application is now subject to harmonized controls, reinforced by a French decree published in February 2025;
• The French Labor Code, for general provisions not specific to transport operators;
• The French Transport Code;
• The national collective agreement for road transport.

Some of these texts define, among other things, the strict rules applicable to truck drivers in terms of driving time and rest periods.

What is the duty time for drivers?

Article D3312-45 of the French Transport Code lays down the length of service time for road haulage personnel. It describes 3 service times:

• For "long-haul" or "long-distance" drivers: 43 h per week, or 559 h per quarter;
• For other drivers (except courier and CIT drivers): 39 h per week, i.e. 507 h per quarter;
• For courier and CIT drivers: 35 h per week, or 455 h per quarter.
  
  

What is the maximum length of service time?

Article D3312-45 defines an average service time, but there is a ceiling on the duration of service time:

• The maximum daily service time is 12 hours, except for urgent work.
• The maximum weekly working time is defined according to the personnel concerned:
• For "long-haul" drivers: 56 h per week, 689 h per quarter, 918 h per quarter;
• For other drivers: 52 h per week, 650 h per quarter, 866 h per quarter;
• For courier and CIT drivers: 48 h per week, 572 h per quarter, 762 h per quarter.
  
  

How much driving time do drivers have?

Regulation (EC) no. 561/2006 of March 15, 2006 lays down the driving and rest times for drivers of vehicles over 3.5 tons:

• 4h30 of driving followed by 45 minutes of rest (split into a 15 min + 30-min break) ;
• 9 h of driving per day maximum (flexible to 10 h twice a week);
• 56 h of driving per week maximum, and 90 h over two consecutive weeks.

Night work (between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.) may not exceed 10 hours (article L 3312-1 of the French Transport Code).

What is the rest period for drivers?

The normal daily rest period for a truck driver is at least 11 h, but it can be split into two periods (3 h + 9 h).

Three times a week, a reduced rest period can be scheduled, i.e. at least 9 h but less than 11 h.

The normal weekly rest period is 45 h, but it is possible to take a 24 h rest period over two consecutive weeks (subject to an equivalent rest period taken before the end of the third week).

What tools can you use to manage your drivers' duty, driving and rest time obligations?

Knowledge of CSR is essential for managing your company's driver schedules. How can you simplify this task and avoid penalties when inspections are carried out? Here's a range of essential tools to help you stay within the legal framework efficiently:

• Route planning software: this is the basic tool for scheduling drivers. This software automatically keeps you within the legal framework, by having the official regulations on driving and rest times in its database. So no more mistakes or headaches when it comes to optimizing your drivers' working hours.
• On-board computing & mobile application: on-board computing, like a TMS, enables real-time monitoring of driving and rest times, both by operations and by the driver. This enables precise control of driving hours. The added benefit of the mobile application is that you can easily inform your drivers of any schedule changes in real time.
• Tachograph software: extracting data from driver cards is a legal requirement. To read driver card data and check hours driven, you need tachograph software.

Need efficient management software to manage your drivers' driving and rest times? Sinari offers concrete, interconnected solutions to meet your regulatory obligations.

With Sinari Time Management, you can accurately track working hours and anticipate prepayments. Combined with Sinari Telematics, you benefit from real-time monitoring of driving and rest times, directly transmitted from the on-board computer.