The EU Commission has stated that lorry drivers must serve the remainder of their weekly rest periods outwith the cabin after disembarking from ferries – even if the ferry journey is over 8 hours and the driver has access to a sleeping cabin onboard.
In their latest Q&A, the EU Commission were asked the following question:
Does a driver accompanying a vehicle transported by ferry or train, for a journey of 8 hours or more, and with access to a sleeper cabin, have to take the other parts of the regular weekly rest period in a suitable accommodation, or is she/he allowed to spend these parts of the regular weekly rest in the vehicle?
The EU Commission’s answer is as follows:
According to Article 8(8) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, the regular weekly rest periods and any weekly rest period of more than 45 hours taken in compensation for previous reduced weekly rest periods must not be taken in a vehicle. They must be taken in suitable accommodation, as detailed in the Regulation.
Article 9(1) of the Regulation deals with the situation where a driver accompanies a vehicle which is transported by ferry or train, and in this context provides for certain derogations. While referring to Article 8 as whole, it does not allow to derogate from the ban established in Article 8(8), of taking certain types of rest in the vehicle. Instead, as follows from its terms, derogations permitted thereunder may only concern the possibility to “interrupt” certain rest periods, i.e. a regular daily rest period, a reduced weekly rest period or a regular weekly rest. It thus only derogates from the provision whereby a “rest” constitutes “any uninterrupted period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time”.
As a result, the driver may not, before embarking and/or after disembarking from the ferry/train, spend a part of his/her regular weekly rest in the vehicle.
Photo credit: Mat Fascione / Geograph UK
