EU driver working hours

Coach drivers in Europe work under Regulation (EC) 561/2006. It protects your safety — and it shapes what a one-day itinerary can realistically contain. Here is the law in plain words.

The daily limits

Limit	Rule	What it means for your day
Driving time	9 h/day (10 h max twice a week)	Roughly 600–650 km of real road per day
Breaks	45 min after every 4.5 h driving	Coffee stops are scheduled, not optional
Duty window	~13 h from first pickup to garage (15 h max 3×/week)	An 8:00 start means the bus is done by ~21:00–23:00
Daily rest	11 h between working days	A late-night return pushes the next morning's start

Rule of thumb: one driver = one honest day of about 13 hours door to door, with ~650 km of driving in it. Anything beyond that needs a second driver or an overnight stop — we flag it on the quote before you book.

The weekly limits (multi-day charters)

After 6 consecutive working days the driver must take a 45-hour weekly rest.
The "12-day rule" extends this to 12 days for one international coach round trip — exactly the kind of tour most groups run. Conditions apply (one trip, digital tachograph, longer rest afterwards), and your operator plans them.
Charters longer than ~12 days are planned with a driver change — a fresh driver takes over mid-tour. It is routine; it just has to be in the plan (and the budget) from day one.

When a second driver is the answer

Very long days

Festival or conference days that run past a 15-hour window need double crew — or a split into two shifts.

Long transfers

A one-way leg beyond ~650 km cannot be driven by one driver in a day: it becomes a two-driver run or includes an overnight stop en route.

Night driving

Overnight legs (22:00–06:00) are limited for single drivers; overnight coach travel is normally double-manned.

Back-to-back days

A 23:30 hotel drop means the coach cannot leave before ~10:30 next morning — the 11-hour rest belongs to the schedule.

How to plan a great (and legal) day

Put the long drive at the start of the day, sightseeing after — not the other way round.
Build the 45-minute break into lunch: the driver rests while the group eats.
On multi-day tours, book the driver's hotel near the group — remote driver hotels quietly eat the duty window.
Tell us the real evening plans (dinner? show?) — we plan the duty window around the latest return, not the official programme.

Our quoting system checks every itinerary against these rules automatically and warns you — before booking — when a day needs a second driver, an overnight stop or a schedule tweak.

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