RHA welcomes driver rules relaxation
December 6th 2010 The Road Haulage Association tonight welcomed the Department for Transport’s decision to relax temporarily the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours rules due to the adverse weather.
“The RHA had requested a relaxation for a short period. The decision by the DfT will be appreciated by the haulage community and their customers across the economy, supermarkets, hospitals, farmers and general business,” said director of policy Jack Semple.
“The decision, which is allowed for under EU rules, is an appropriate and proportionate response to the serious disruption caused to the UK supply chain by this week’s severe weather,” he said.
This temporary relaxation applies immediately and will run until 23:59 on 7 December 2010. The Department will review the relaxation in the light of weather conditions early next week.
This does not affect other relaxations which have already been granted, to specific transport sectors for longer periods.
For those drivers and work in question, the EU drivers’ hours rules will be temporarily relaxed as follows:
- Replace the EU daily driving limit of 9 hours with one of 10 hours
- Reduce the daily rest requirements from 11 to 9 hours.
- Lift the weekly (56 hours) and fortnightly driving limit (90 hours).
- Postponing the weekly rest requirement until 23:59 on 7 December 2010, at which stage a driver has to take a normal weekly rest of 45 hours.
- Notwithstanding the postponement of the weekly rest requirement (see preceding bullet point), a driver must take a minimum rest of 24 hours beginning no later than the end of the eleventh day since the end of his last weekly rest period.
- The requirement to take a 45 minute break after 4½ hours driving remains and will continue to be rigorously enforced. More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
