Drivers Hours Calculator UK
This drivers hours calculator supports HGV day planning for operators, planners and drivers under UK rules. Check standard 45 minute driving breaks, latest finish, daily rest and earliest next start.
- No sign-up needed
- Instant results in your browser
- Published UK data
How to use: enter your start time and today's planned driving and other work, set the two optional toggles, then read the timeline and figures below. Recalculates instantly.
Methodology and assumptions
This planner applies the GB drivers' hours rules under Regulation (EC) 561/2006, retained in UK law and enforced by the DVSA. Figures are current as of July 2026. It models a single working day for a driver operating in scope of the EU rules (most HGVs over 3.5 tonnes).
- Break: after no more than 4 hours 30 minutes of driving you must take a break of at least 45 minutes, unless you are starting a rest period. The 45 can be split into a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes. The tool inserts a break each time accumulated driving reaches 4.5 hours.
- Daily driving: 9 hours, extendable to 10 hours no more than twice a week.
- Daily rest: 11 hours regular, reducible to 9 hours no more than three times between two weekly rests. A regular daily rest may be split into 3 hours then 9 hours. Earliest legal start tomorrow is your finish time plus the chosen daily rest.
- Driving period window: your daily rest must be completed within 24 hours of the end of your last rest, so the working day (from start to the beginning of your next rest) cannot exceed 13 hours on a regular 11-hour rest, or 15 hours where a reduced 9-hour rest is used. The tool warns when your plan crosses these thresholds.
- Weekly limits shown for reference: 56 hours driving in a fixed week and 90 hours across any two consecutive weeks.
Break, driving and rest times are the statutory minimums or maximums. Sources: gov.uk Drivers' hours: goods vehicles (GB and EU rules) and the DVSA guidance Rules on drivers' hours and tachographs. This tool does not model Working Time Directive limits, ferry or train interruptions, multi-manning, or the GB domestic rules, which can apply differently.
Frequently asked questions
When is the 45-minute break due?
You must take at least 45 minutes of break after no more than 4 hours 30 minutes of driving. It does not have to be in one go: you can split it into a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes, but only in that order. The break resets your driving counter to zero.
How many hours can an HGV driver drive in a day?
Nine hours, which you can raise to 10 hours on no more than two days in your fixed week. Weekly driving is capped at 56 hours, and no two consecutive weeks may exceed 90 hours of driving.
What is the minimum daily rest for a lorry driver?
A regular daily rest of 11 hours. You may reduce it to 9 hours on up to three occasions between two weekly rest periods, with no requirement to compensate the reduction. A regular rest can also be split into two periods of 3 hours then 9 hours.
Does loading and unloading count towards my hours?
Loading, unloading, vehicle checks and paperwork are recorded as other work. They do not count as driving, but they do count towards your working day and reduce how long you can keep the vehicle on the road before your daily rest is due.
What is the longest a working day can be?
Your daily rest has to be completed within 24 hours of the end of your previous rest. In practice that limits the span from start to the beginning of your next rest to 13 hours on a regular 11-hour rest, or 15 hours if you take a reduced 9-hour rest. This is a spread limit, not a driving limit.
Is this calculator legal advice?
No. It is a planning aid to help you structure a compliant day. The recorded tachograph and the operator remain responsible for compliance. Always confirm against the official DVSA guidance and your own tachograph records.
Disclaimer: This is planning guidance, not legal advice. It covers the GB and EU retained rules only and does not account for every exemption or the Working Time Directive. The recorded tachograph and the operator remain legally responsible for compliance at all times. Verify against the current gov.uk drivers' hours guidance before you rely on any plan.
Planning the driver hours is the easy part. Finding the operator is the job.
You have mapped a legal day. The harder question is whether the operator running it holds the right licence, fleet and hours discipline. Brief CTS on what you need moving and we place your requirement in front of vetted UK operators whose compliance we can show you. Free, no obligation. See our contract haulage and transport outsourcing options.
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