Posted: July 2021
As the United Kingdom settles into life outside the EU, rules and regulations for many have now become somewhat of a grey area. This includes driver hours for HGVs operating in Great Britain and on the continent.
For HGV fleet managers, including those operating passenger-carrying vehicles, there are rules you must follow relating to how many hours your drivers can be behind the wheel as well as how often they should be taking breaks. Depending on which countries you travel in, there are three sets of rules that could apply to a driver’s journey.
Here, we outline the different rules and what they mean, and discuss how remote fleet management services are proving to be beneficial to fleet operators who are having to ensure they abide by a variety of regulations.
Rules will vary depending on the type of vehicle being driven and the country the driver is operating in.
The following rules apply to drivers operating in EU countries.
AETR – The European Agreement Concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport – rules are now the same as the EU rules for drivers’ hours.
GB domestic rules apply to vehicles operating in Great Britain and affect most passenger-carrying vehicles and goods vehicles that don’t have to follow the EU rules. The rules for goods vehicles are slightly different to those for passenger-carrying vehicles. For drivers working for a company, duty time refers to any time spent working on the company’s behalf. If you are a self-employed driver, then duty time is the time you spend driving for work or doing other work related to the vehicle or its load.
Drivers must not drive for more than 10 hours per day on a public road or off-road if not during duty time.
Off-road driving counts as duty time if it’s for:
Drivers must not be on duty for more than 11 hours in any working day. This limit does not apply on any working day when you do not drive.
Driver hours must be recorded on a weekly record sheet or a tachograph.
GB rules for goods vehicles do not need to be followed if:
Passenger-carrying vehicle rules for Great Britain
GB rules for passenger-carrying vehicles do not need to be followed if:
If a driver operates a vehicle for more than four hours for up to two days a week, then they will not need to follow the rules. However, they will need to:
Managing a fleet of road-going vehicles is a complex and challenging process. Keeping up to date with ever-changing regulations, staying in control of fuel costs and insurance premiums, and maintaining safety are all demanding and time-consuming tasks.
Fortunately, here at Brigade we have the solution to effectively and efficiently manage your multi-national fleet. Brigade’s MDR with BRIDGE enables fleet managers to live track vehicles, providing numerous benefits for operators.
This includes location tracking so that managers can find their fleet anytime and anywhere, geo-fencing capabilities so managers can identify when vehicles are entering or leaving specific areas and trigger warnings that instantly notify fleet managers of incidents. For drivers, they can also send an instant notification in the event of an emergency. All these features greatly improve the fleet management experience and improve safety both on and off the road.
As well as supporting fleet management, fitting vehicle CCTV provides a range of other benefits. These include improving driver training, providing proof against insurance claims, providing protection for drivers who may have been wrongly accused as to the cause of an incident, providing irrefutable evidence in the case of accidents and legal proceedings, and encouraging driver best practice, resulting in less vehicle damage and fewer accidents. Additionally, vehicle CCTV also helps to deter vandalism and offers peace of mind for passengers and drivers.
For further information about Brigade and our safety products, please get in touch.