Professional Drivers' Rights in England, Wales and Scotland

Who this guide is for

People who drive for work in England, Wales or Scotland: lorry (HGV) drivers, bus and coach drivers, and van and delivery drivers. It covers employed and agency drivers, and self-employed drivers where the rules say so.

What this guide does not cover

• Driving in Northern Ireland: see the Northern Ireland guide (Professional Drivers' Rights in Northern Ireland).
• Whether you are an employee, a worker or self-employed, for example on a delivery app: use the worker or self-employed checker (Am I a Worker or Self-Employed in England, Wales or Scotland?) and the gig economy guide (Gig Economy Rights: Platforms, Workers & the Law in 2026).
• Your general rights at work, such as holiday pay, sick pay and dismissal: use the employee rights checker (Your Rights as an Employee in England, Wales and Scotland).
• Pay for travel time and the minimum wage: use the minimum wage guide (The Minimum Wage in the UK).
• Driving licences, medical rules and DVLA decisions: see Can I Appeal a DVLA Decision in England or Wales? or Can I Appeal a DVLA Decision in Scotland?.
• Operator licences and running a transport business. Ask DVSA or the Traffic Commissioner.
• The full list of vehicles and journeys that are exempt from the drivers' hours rules. Check GOV.UK or ask DVSA.

What the rules depend on

1. What are you driving? A goods vehicle or combination over 3.5 tonnes, a van at or under 3.5 tonnes, or a bus, coach or minibus, and how many passenger seats it has.
2. What is the journey? For buses and coaches: a regular service on a route of 50km or less, or a longer route, tour or private hire.
3. Where do you drive? Only in Great Britain, or to, from or through an EU or AETR country.
4. Are you an employee or worker, or genuinely self-employed? Some limits cover self-employed drivers, some do not.
5. Is it about your hours, your vehicle or your pay? Hours and tachographs: DVSA. Safety: your employer, then DVSA or HSE. Pay and holiday: Acas and the employment tribunal.

"Which drivers' hours rules apply to me?"

Lorries: the assimilated rules apply if your vehicle or vehicle combination is more than 3.5 tonnes and you drive in the UK, or to, from or through an EU country. Some vehicles are exempt when driven in the UK. AETR rules apply to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes driven to, through or from a country that follows the AETR rules.

GB domestic rules apply in England, Wales and Scotland to most goods vehicles that are exempt from the assimilated rules, and to vans and other goods vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or under.

Buses and coaches: GB domestic rules apply to a regular service on a route of 50km or less. On a regular service over 50km, or a tour, excursion or private hire, the assimilated or AETR rules apply if the vehicle has 9 or more passenger seats. A regular service is one that follows a route with stopping points for passengers at set intervals.

No drivers' hours rules apply to police, fire service and armed forces vehicles.

"How long can I drive?"

Assimilated rules (vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, and buses and coaches on longer routes):

• 9 hours' driving a day. This can be extended to 10 hours twice a week.
• 56 hours' driving a week, and 90 hours in any 2 weeks in a row.
• A break or breaks totalling at least 45 minutes after no more than 4 hours 30 minutes of driving.
• At least 11 hours' rest every day. You can reduce this to 9 hours 3 times between any 2 weekly rest periods.
• An unbroken weekly rest of 45 hours. You can reduce this to 24 hours every other week.

GB domestic rules for goods vehicles:

• No more than 10 hours' driving in a working day.
• No more than 11 hours on duty in a working day. This does not apply on a day you do not drive, or for a whole week in which you drive no more than 4 hours each day.

GB domestic rules for buses and coaches:

• No more than 10 hours' driving in a working day, and a working day of no more than 16 hours from start to finish.
• A break of at least 30 minutes after 5 hours 30 minutes of driving (longer working days have other options).
• At least 10 hours' rest between working days, which can be reduced to 8 hours 30 minutes up to 3 times a week, and at least one 24-hour period off duty every 2 weeks.

"What are my working time limits?"

If you drive under the assimilated or AETR rules, the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 also apply. They cover mobile workers (including trainees and apprentices) and many self-employed drivers.

• Working time must average no more than 48 hours a week, usually over 17 weeks (up to 26 weeks under a collective or workforce agreement).
• No more than 60 hours in any one week.
• There is no opt-out for individuals.
• If you do night work, no more than 10 hours' work in any 24 hours, unless a collective or workforce agreement allows more. Night is midnight to 4am for goods vehicles and 1am to 5am for passenger vehicles.
• No more than 6 hours' work in a row without a break. Breaks must total at least 30 minutes if you work 6 to 9 hours, and 45 minutes if you work more than 9 hours. Each break must be at least 15 minutes.
• You still get 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998.

If you drive under GB domestic rules, four parts of the Working Time Regulations 1998 apply: the 48-hour average week (you can opt out), 5.6 weeks' paid leave, health checks for night workers, and adequate rest.

Van drivers who are workers are covered by the Working Time Regulations 1998. If you drive for a delivery or transport company, you are a "mobile worker": instead of 11 hours' daily rest, 24 hours' weekly rest and a 20-minute break, you are entitled to "adequate rest". If you drive a van for another kind of business (for example a builder or electrician), you get 11 hours' rest in each 24 hours, 24 hours' rest in each 7 days, and a 20-minute break when you work more than 6 hours.

"What about tachographs?"

You must use an approved tachograph when you drive under the assimilated or AETR rules. If the vehicle has a digital or smart tachograph, you must use your own driver card. Never use anyone else's.

• Enter any other work done since your card was last removed, using the manual entry facility.
• At the roadside you must be able to show your records for the current day and the previous 28 days. For international journeys to and from an EU country it is the previous 56 days.
• If your card is lost, stolen or not working, report it to DVLA and apply for a new one within 7 calendar days. You can drive without it for up to 15 calendar days, making printouts at the start and end of each day.

Under GB domestic rules you record your hours on a weekly record sheet or a tachograph, unless your work is exempt from record keeping.

"Can I refuse to drive?"

Your employer must organise your time so that you can follow the rules. If you reasonably believe there is serious and imminent danger, for example from a dangerous vehicle, you are protected from being treated worse for refusing to drive it. An employee dismissed for this can claim automatically unfair dismissal, with no minimum length of service. See the refusing unsafe work guide (Refusing Unsafe Work in England, Wales and Scotland).

You can report a driver or company to DVSA for breaking drivers' hours rules, tachograph offences or using unsafe vehicles. You do not have to give your name. Reporting wrongdoing can also be whistleblowing: see Whistleblowing at Work in England, Wales and Scotland.

"Who gets fined, me or the company?"

Both can. Many breaches lead to a prohibition (you cannot drive on until it is put right), a fixed penalty, or prosecution of the driver, the operator or others in the chain. Under the assimilated and AETR rules, operators are liable for breaches committed by their drivers, unless they can show they organised the work properly and took all reasonable steps. DVSA can also report the driver or operator to the Traffic Commissioner, who can take action against a vocational driving licence or an operator's licence.

Maximum fines in court (Transport Act 1968): a level 4 fine for breaking driving, break or rest rules, a level 5 fine for not using a tachograph, and up to 2 years in prison for a false record made to deceive.

Deadlines you must meet

• Report a lost, stolen or faulty driver card to DVLA within 7 calendar days.
• Most employment tribunal claims (for example about holiday pay, rest breaks or being punished for refusing unsafe work): 3 months less 1 day from the act you are complaining about, or 6 months less 1 day where that act (or the last act in a series) happened on or after 1 October 2026.
• Notify Acas within your time limit. Early conciliation pauses the clock. If you contacted Acas on or after 1 December 2025, early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks.
• Your exact date depends on your facts. See our tribunal deadline guide.

Money figures

• Minimum wage from 1 April 2026: £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, £10.85 at 18 to 20, £8.00 under 18 and for apprentices. Travel between jobs counts as working time for the minimum wage. Travel between home and work does not.
• Court fines: see "Who gets fined" above. This guide does not give fixed penalty amounts.

Traps

• The 48-hour average under the 2005 regulations has no opt-out. Signing an opt-out only works under the ordinary Working Time Regulations.
• A break under the drivers' hours rules is not the same as a break under the working time rules. You must meet both.
• Using someone else's driver card is never allowed.
• Self-employed drivers can still be covered by the 2005 working time limits. The 1998 regulations do not cover the genuinely self-employed.
• A grievance does not stop the tribunal clock. Notifying Acas within the time limit pauses it.
• Do not use the 6-month limit for an act that happened before 1 October 2026.