Drivers’ hours and tachographs: buses and coaches

From:: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Published: 24 September 2015
Updated:: 2 September 2022, see all updates

Contents

Rules on drivers’ hours and tachographs for passenger vehicles in Great Britain and abroad.

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Guidance for Northern Ireland

This guide (sometimes known as the ‘PSV375’) gives general guidance about drivers’ and tachograph rules for passenger carrying vehicles.

It reflects the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s current enforcement policy. It does not reflect the interpretation of the law in other countries.

Check the legislation in annex 1 and get legal advice to check your legal position.

There’s different guidance about drivers’ hours and tachographs for drivers of vehicles used for the carriage of goods..

Introduction
Overview of which drivers' hours and tachograph rules for passenger carrying vehicles apply in different situations.
1. EU and AETR rules on drivers’ hours
How the EU drivers' hours rules for passenger carrying vehicles work.
2. Great Britain domestic rules on drivers’ hours
How the drivers' hours Great Britain domestic rules work for passenger carrying vehicles.
3. Mixed EU/AETR and GB domestic driving
How the drivers' hours rules work when you're driving a passenger carrying vehicle under a mix of the EU and Great Britain rules.
4. Tachograph rules
The rules about the tachograph that must be used by drivers to record EU or AETR drivers' hours in a passenger carrying vehicle.
5. Responsibilities of vehicle operators
Legal responsibilities and liabilities transport business have for their own and their drivers' compliance with the regulations.
6. Enforcement and penalties
The powers and sanctions available to enforce breaches of drivers' hours and tachograph rules.
Annex 1: Legislation
The legislation about drivers' hours rules.
Annex 2: Working time rules
The working time rules that apply to you depend on whether you drive a vehicle in scope of the EU or GB domestic drivers’ hours rules.

Update history

2025-04-22 07:46
Annex 2: Working time rules – EU rules for drivers’ hours have been replaced with assimilated rules for drivers’ hours.Updated definition of “adequate rest”.

2024-06-26 14:43
Great Britain domestic rules on drivers’ hours – Updated section 2.2 Domestic driving limits, to provide clarity on the break requirements in the GB drivers’ hours rules in a working day. The changes clarify that: in a working day of less than 8 hours 30 minutes, drivers need to take a break of 30 minutes at the end of a period of 5 hours 30 minutes of driving, if such a break has not been taken alreadyin a working day of more than 8 hours 30 minutes, the 45 minutes of non-driving time can mean other duties and not just a break. in a day more than 8 hours 30 minutes, drivers need to take a break of 30 minutes at the end of the 8 hour 30 minute period before the driver can continue working

2022-09-02 10:32
Tachograph rules – Section 4.3 Common rulesRecording other work:For a fixed week in which EU-regulated driving takes place, drivers must keep a full record of periods of other work and availability.For a fixed week in no EU-regulated driving takes place, drivers must keep a record of periods of other work and availability. They can record this in blocks.Drivers undertaking international journeys to, from and through the EU should keep full daily records for the previous 28 days, including days and weeks in which no EU-regulated driving took place. This is because enforcement agencies in other countries may have different requirements for how to record activities for the previous 28 days.Rest and other days off:European Commission officials have confirmed that attestation forms for drivers’ hours records are still available and should be accepted in the context of journeys involving EU member states.