• EU-regulated drivers are subject to special Working Time rules as well as Regulation 561/2006.
• Working Time rules control non-driving work as well as driving.
• The 48-hour average working week and break requirements apply to these drivers.

3.1 What counts as working time

• Driving
• Loading and unloading.
• Cleaning, checking and maintaining the vehicle.
• Job-related training.
• Waiting where the driver cannot freely dispose of their time, e.g. moving forward in a queue.
• Home-to-normal-workplace travel does not count.
• Rest and break periods do not count.
• Periods of Availability do not count.

3.2 Periods of Availability (POA)

• A POA is waiting time known in advance when the driver can use the time with reasonable freedom.
• Example: suitable non-driving time for a crew member in a multi-manned vehicle.
• Waiting in a queue where the driver must keep moving is working time.
• A known waiting period where unloading will not begin and the driver is free to use the time reasonably is POA.

3.3 Working week

• Average working time must not exceed 48 hours per week.
• Normal reference period: 17 weeks (816 hours over 17 weeks according to the material).
• Reference period may be extended to 26 weeks through the specified collective/workforce agreement.
• Maximum working time in any one week: 60 hours.

3.4 Working Time breaks

• More than 6 but not more than 9 hours' work: at least 30 minutes' break.
• More than 9 hours' work: at least 45 minutes' break.
• Breaks may be split into periods of at least 15 minutes.
• Always check Working Time breaks alongside the 4½-hour drivers' hours break requirements.

3.5 Self-employed drivers

• From May 2012, genuinely self-employed drivers became subject to the same Working Time rules as employed drivers.