Working time calculator for lorry drivers
Enter your working time each week and any leave or sick days, and see your average against the 48-hour limit, the weeks over 60 hours and how much you can still work this reference period. Saved on your phone.
The rules it applies
- Working time must not exceed 60 hours in any week, and an average of 48 hours a week over the reference period (regulation 4(1) and (2)).
- The reference period is 17 weeks, or up to 26 weeks where a collective or workforce agreement allows it. Without an agreement for successive or rolling periods, the fixed periods start on the Monday on or after 1 December, 1 April and 1 August (regulation 4(3) and (4)).
- For a mobile worker the average is (working hours + excluded hours) ÷ weeks. Excluded hours are annual leave, sick leave and maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave, counted at 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week (regulation 4(5) to (7)). A self-employed driver counts working hours only.
- Working time is driving and other work. Breaks, rest and periods of availability are not working time, and there is no individual opt-out.
Source: The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/639), regulation 4, on legislation.gov.uk, and DVSA’s guide GV262, annex 2. The daily and weekly driving limits are separate rules: see the drivers’ hours calculator.
Questions
Can HGV drivers opt out of the 48-hour week?
Not under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005, which cover drivers under the assimilated or AETR drivers’ hours rules. Drivers under the GB domestic rules come under the 1998 Regulations, which do allow an individual opt-out.
How is holiday counted in the working time average?
Each day of annual leave, sick leave or parental leave counts as 8 hours, and a whole week as 48 hours, for a mobile worker.
What is the maximum working time in a single week?
60 hours, as long as the average over the reference period stays at 48 or under.