Daily rest: 11 hours, reduced to 9 and split 3 + 9
CABINA Editorial Team
What Regulation (EC) 561/2006 says about driver daily rest: regular, reduced and split duration, the 24-hour window and the limit on reduced rests.
Machine translation, not verified [NV].
A professional driver’s daily rest follows precise rules in Regulation (EC) 561/2006, which sets how long it lasts, when it can be reduced and how it can be split [V].
Regular daily rest: 11 hours
Under Article 4, point g, regular daily rest is any uninterrupted rest period of at least 11 hours [V]. It is the baseline: anything shorter falls into another category.
Split rest: 3 + 9
The same Article 4, point g, allows regular daily rest to be taken in two periods [V]. The first must be at least 3 uninterrupted hours and the second at least 9 hours [V].
Reduced daily rest: from 9 to less than 11 hours
Reduced daily rest is any uninterrupted rest period of at least 9 hours but less than 11 hours (Art. 4, point g) [V].
The 24-hour window
Article 8, paragraph 2, provides that the new daily rest must be taken within 24 hours of the end of the previous daily or weekly rest period [V]. In other words, the clock does not start with the working day, but with the end of the last rest.
At most 3 reduced rests
Under Article 8, paragraph 4, a driver may not take more than 3 reduced daily rest periods between any two weekly rest periods [V].
What is missing
The regulation has specific rules for multi-manning, with two or more drivers on board (Art. 8, paragraph 5). This article does not cover them: data not found / pending verification [NV]. The official Spanish version of the regulation has not been read either; the text consulted is the consolidated Italian version [NV].
The consolidated text is only a documentation tool; the binding text is the one published in the Official Journal of the EU. This article summarises the rules and does not replace advice on specific cases.
Base Spanish not verified by a native speaker [NV].
CABINA Editorial Team
Sources
- EU Publications Office, Regulation (EC) 561/2006, consolidated text as of 31/12/2024: https://publications.europa.eu/resource/cellar/8c19a9e9-bcb1-11ef-91ed-01aa75ed71a1.0014.02/DOC_1, consulted on 30/10/2026 [V].
Informational content, not advice. Always check the text of the source given; for your own case, consult a professional or the competent authority.