By Vadym Starynets, editor and publisher · Checked against the NHVR’s published rules on 26 September 2026 · How we work
The National Driver Work Diary is how drivers of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles record their work and rest. It comes as a written diary or an approved electronic work diary (EWD), and short local work can be recorded differently. Here is when you need one and what to do when it runs out or goes missing.
On standard hours, when you work more than 100 kilometres from your base.
Under BFM, AFM, Alternative Compliance Hours or exemption hours, whether you are within 100 km of your base or not.
Types of work diary
Written Work Diary: the paper diary, bought for $31 from outlets in each state and territory, such as Service NSW centres, VicRoads, Service SA and Service Tasmania centres.
Electronic Work Diary (EWD): an approved electronic system.
Local area record: see the NHVR’s record keeping requirements for when it applies.
If your diary is full, lost, stolen or destroyed
Tell the NHVR within two business days.
Use a supplementary work diary record until you have a replacement. It must capture everything the diary would, and is treated the same way.
Keep a copy of each daily supplementary record in the vehicle for 28 days, and give a copy to your record keeper within 21 days.
Get a replacement within seven business days: supplementary records can only be used for that long.
If you find a lost diary within two business days and have not yet told the NHVR, you can go back to using it on your next work day. If it turns up after a new one has been issued, write CANCELLED across every unused daily sheet of the old diary, and tell the NHVR if it is recovered within 28 days. A cancelled diary must not be used.
Learning to fill it in
Registered Training Organisations run the course Complete a work diary in the road transport industry (TLIE3028), and the NHVR publishes a guide with step-by-step examples.
Questions
Do I need a work diary within 100 km?
Not on standard hours. Under BFM, AFM, Alternative Compliance Hours or exemption hours you need one wherever you drive.
How much is a work diary?
The written work diary costs $31.
What if I lose my work diary?
Tell the NHVR within two business days, use supplementary records, and get a replacement within seven business days.