The Department for Transport (DfT) has introduced a temporary relaxation of the enforcement of the EU drivers’ hours rules in England, Scotland and Wales for drivers involved in the delivery of Operation London Bridge during the period of national mourning. The relaxation of the rules applied from 1600hrs on 9 September, and will remain in force until 2359hrs on 22 September.
The Department for Transport said that the situation is being kept under review and explained that the relaxation reflects the urgent case resulting from the demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the need for substantial amounts of goods and numbers of personnel to be moved at short notice to support the main official ceremonial events taking place across Great Britain.
The relaxation does not apply to drivers in scope of GB domestic drivers’ hours rules who are not subject to tachograph controls.
The DfT reminded operators however that drivers’ hours rules are an important road safety measure and any deviation from the rules must be a last resort when other means of mitigating a situation have failed and must only be used where absolutely necessary. “Driver safety must not be compromised. Operators and self-employed drivers must assess the risks of using the temporary relaxation and implement suitable control measures and/or mitigations, so that the safety of the driver and others is not compromised. Transport managers should make sure that a risk assessment has been carried out and appropriate controls put in place. They should also continue to monitor and review where necessary, as long as the relaxation is used,” the DfT advised, and reminded operators that drivers continue to be bound by the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005.
Under the relaxed rules, drivers involved in transport related to the official ceremonies will be permitted to increase daily driving limits to allow up to 11 hours of driving up to twice in a week. Practically, this means that a driver can drive for up to 11 hours on no more than 2 days in a single week, whilst all other daily driving limits remain at 9 hours. Additionally, there is a relaxation to the rules around weekly rest periods.
All other drivers’ hours rules remain in force unchanged, including the requirement for drivers to take a break period of at least 45 minutes after 4.5 hours of driving.
If using the relaxations, operators must notify the DfT by completing an initial notification of relaxation form. A completed follow-up notification of relaxation form must then be submitted by 29 September 2022 at the latest. As in all out-of-course circumstances, drivers must note on the back of their tachograph charts or printouts the reasons why they are exceeding the normally permitted limits.
