Carrier fined €15,000 as being transported doesn’t count as rest

A road transport boss who also works as a driver has been fined 115,000 Danish kroner (nearly €15,500) because he and his colleague didn’t take the obligatory 9-hour rest between two daily driving periods. The drivers were actually being transported overnight by a third trucker, and thought they were observing their required hours of rest during this period.

During a routine check in Denmark on Saturday, police officers stopped the lorry and its 3 drivers, all of whom were from the Netherlands.

When checking the tachograph-print, the police officers found that the two drivers had carried out their daily driving work period on Friday in the Netherlands. Then a third driver took the steering wheel and transported them to Padborg in Denmark. He then left the vehicle, and the original drivers took over the work.

However, this practice doesn’t count as rest time. Therefore, as a result of not taking the required rest time, plus some other minor offences, the Dutch carrier had to pay 115,000 DKK (approximately €15,500) in deposit and the drivers had to take a 9-hour rest before the truck could continue its journey.

The court will decide on the final fine later.

Does being transported while not driving count as rest time?

The driving and rest time rules require the driver to have at least 9 hours of rest between daily driving periods. However, travelling in the vehicle while another driver is driving doesn’t count as rest time. That’s the main reason why the two drivers were issued such a high fine.

When the two drivers are transported in a truck between the two working periods, this cannot be described as rest. In practice, this means that the two aforementioned two drivers had not observed any rest time at all.

Photo credit @ Twitter.com/Rigspoliti/