45-hour rest in the cab again? Austria seeks changes to Mobility Package rules

In a section of its document, published on 18 September 2026 and titled “EU 2026–2029: WKO position and strategy paper for transport and traffic”, the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) sets out proposals on driving and rest times in road transport. The paper was prepared by WKO’s transport and communications division, which represents businesses in the transport industry.

One section is headed “Five-star parking areas instead of banning weekly rest in the cab”. WKO argues that the current rules create practical problems because European routes do not offer enough suitable alternatives to resting in the truck. Drivers finishing their work may have to travel additional distances to reach accommodation where they can legally take the required rest.

What exactly is WKO proposing?

Under Article 8(8) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, regular weekly rest lasting at least 45 hours cannot be taken in a vehicle. The ban also covers weekly rest periods longer than 45 hours when they include compensation for an earlier reduced weekly rest.

In such cases, the driver must use suitable accommodation with sleeping facilities and sanitary amenities. The employer is responsible for paying for accommodation outside the vehicle.

This does not amount to a blanket ban on sleeping in a truck. A driver may still take daily rest and reduced weekly rest in a parked vehicle equipped with suitable sleeping facilities. Reduced weekly rest must last at least 24 hours but less than 45 hours.

WKO wants to remove the restriction on taking regular weekly rest in the cab. The proposal is not about reducing drivers’ recovery time or extending driving limits. It concerns the place where a driver could legally spend the 45-hour rest period.

However, the Austrian organisation has not presented a detailed draft of a replacement rule. Nor has it said that cab rest should be allowed only at parking areas belonging to a specific category. Its proposal has two parts: removing the current restriction and expanding safe parking infrastructure.

Five-star parking instead of mandatory accommodation outside the cab

WKO is not proposing that drivers use any available motorway stop. The chamber argues that investment should focus on facilities designed for professional drivers staying for many hours, rather than relying on a ban on resting in the cab.

The “five-star parking” concept is built around five criteria: security, cleanliness, suitable thermal conditions, social facilities and an affordable price.

As an example, WKO points to infrastructure being developed along Austria’s A8 motorway. It also refers to EU plans to expand safe and secure parking areas along the TEN-T transport network.

Under the rules governing that network, safe and secure parking areas are to be located along roads in the core and extended core networks at an average distance of no more than 150 kilometres by 31 December 2040.

The EU still lacks more than 390,000 secure truck parking spaces

European Commission data supports WKO’s argument about the infrastructure gap. A study published in April 2025 found that the European Union was short of 390,057 spaces in safe and secure parking areas for professional drivers. As demand for transport is expected to grow through 2040, the shortfall could rise to around 483,000 spaces.

The figures refer to facilities that meet appropriate safety and security standards, not simply every location where a truck can be parked. The Commission also noted that many existing parking areas do not have certification that complies with EU requirements.

That helps explain the difficulty highlighted by WKO. Employers must cover the cost of accommodation outside the cab, but drivers also need somewhere safe to leave the vehicle and a practical way to reach suitable lodging.

Removing the ban would not, by itself, solve the parking shortage. A driver might be allowed to spend 45 hours in the truck, but would still need a secure parking space and access to basic sanitary facilities.

Austria once pushed for stricter rules

The Austrian proposal marks a shift from the position taken by several Western European countries during the negotiations on the Mobility Package. France, Germany and Austria were among those that pressed for stronger social protections and more effective enforcement in road transport.

Before the package was adopted, those countries’ position on sleeping in the cab had already been set out in proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union. In the Vaditrans case, the governments of Belgium, Germany, France and Austria supported the interpretation that regular weekly rest could not be taken in a vehicle. Estonia and Spain were among the countries that took the opposite view.

More broadly, representatives of Central and Eastern European countries, including Poland, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria, pointed to the cost of the proposed rules and the difficulties they would create for international carriers.

Today, the Austrian business organisation is calling for this particular restriction to be relaxed, citing the shortage of parking areas and suitable accommodation.

WKO should not, however, be treated as the Austrian government or as part of a joint initiative by Western European governments. The document sets out the demands of an organisation representing businesses; it does not announce a change in German or French government policy.

Nor is this a new idea. In a strategic document dated May 2024, WKO already called for the requirement to leave the cab to be replaced with the development of “five-star parking areas”. The September paper therefore repeats an earlier demand from the Austrian transport industry.

The ban predates the Mobility Package

Although the ban on taking 45-hour weekly rest in the cab is widely associated with the Mobility Package, its legal history began earlier.

On 20 December 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in the Vaditrans case that the earlier wording of Regulation No 561/2006 did not allow drivers to take regular weekly rest in their vehicles.

The Mobility Package, adopted in 2020, made the ban explicit in EU law. It also clarified the requirements for suitable accommodation outside the cab and confirmed that the employer must pay the related costs.

In its judgment of 4 October 2024 concerning challenges to the Mobility Package, the CJEU largely upheld the rules, including the ban on taking regular weekly rest in the cab. At the same time, it annulled the requirement for trucks to return to the company’s operational base every eight weeks.

That distinction matters in the current debate. The court rejected a specific organisational requirement concerning vehicles, but it did not overturn the rule governing where regular weekly rest may be taken.

For WKO’s proposal to become law, the EU legislature would have to amend the relevant regulation. The strategy paper does not automatically begin that process, and it does not give drivers the right to take a 45-hour rest period in the cab today.

More flexibility – but under what conditions?

From an operational perspective, allowing regular weekly rest to be taken in a truck could reduce the need to arrange accommodation and make route planning easier. That could be particularly relevant in international transport, where drivers take rest far from home and away from their employer’s base.

The question of working conditions would remain. Current rules require regular weekly rest to be taken outside the vehicle, with the employer paying for suitable accommodation. If drivers were again allowed to spend that rest in the cab, lawmakers would need to decide whether they could still opt for accommodation outside the truck and under what conditions.

WKO highlights the need for better parking infrastructure, but its published position does not set out detailed rules governing how drivers would choose a place to rest.

The Austrian proposal reopens the debate over how to guarantee proper rest conditions for drivers. Lifting the ban would not eliminate the infrastructure shortage, just as the current ban does not create the parking spaces and accommodation facilities needed by international road transport.