Tachograph Rules Simplified: A 2026 Guide for UK Van and HGV Drivers

Key Takeaways

• The "EU rules" are now the assimilated drivers' hours rules in UK law, applying to most goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. They cap driving at 9 hours a day (10 hours twice a week), require a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours of driving, and require 11 hours of daily rest.
• GB domestic rules cover most goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and cap driving at 10 hours per day with 11 hours of duty, plus at least 10 hours rest between working days.
• From 1 July 2026, goods vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes operating internationally for hire and reward must be fitted with a Smart Tachograph 2 and follow the assimilated rules. Domestic-only operations under 3.5 tonnes are unaffected.
• DVSA Fixed Penalty Notices for drivers' hours offences run from £100 to £300 per infringement, and DVSA can issue prohibitions that take a non-compliant vehicle off the road then and there.
• Tachograph records must be retained for 56 days under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, longer than the older 28-day rule.

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If you run a UK van fleet that crosses 3.5 tonnes, an HGV operation, or any commercial work that goes near a tachograph, the rules in 2026 are not the EU rules they once were and not yet a fully separate British system. The framework is "assimilated" UK law: most of the EU 561/2006 structure preserved, with British amendments grafted on. This guide walks through what applies to whom, the change coming on 1 July 2026 for vans on EU work, and the practical controls that keep small operators compliant.

This is for transport managers, owner-drivers, sole traders running 3.5-tonne and 7.5-tonne work, and any fleet owner unsure whether their drivers need a tachograph or just a duty record. For the wider fleet-compliance context, the fleet compliance for small businesses guide frames the regulators and licences this sits inside, and the O-licence explainer covers operator-side obligations.

The three sets of rules: which one applies to your driver

The first job is to know which rule set covers each vehicle and journey. There are three.

Assimilated drivers' hours rules (the old EU rules in UK law). These apply to most goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass (MAM) used on the public road, and to PSVs over 9 seats. They are the rules a tachograph records against. The structure most operators recognise from EU 561/2006 is preserved: 9 hours daily driving (extendable to 10 hours twice a week), 56-hour weekly limit, 90-hour fortnightly limit, 45-minute break after 4.5 hours of driving, 11 hours daily rest (reducible to 9 hours three times between weekly rests), 45 hours weekly rest (reducible to 24 hours every other week).

GB domestic rules. These apply to most goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes used on the public road in Great Britain in the course of a trade or business, and to drivers exempt from the assimilated rules. The structure is simpler: 10 hours maximum daily driving, 11 hours maximum daily duty, at least 10 hours rest between working days (reducible to 8.5 hours up to three times a week), one 24-hour off-duty period every two weeks. There is no formal break rule under GB domestic, although Working Time Regulations still apply.

International rules and the AETR. Drivers on international journeys outside the UK and EU need to follow the AETR rules, which are largely aligned with the assimilated rules.

A driver can move between rule sets in the same week. A 7.5-tonne lorry on Monday is on the assimilated rules; the same driver in a 3-tonne van on Tuesday is on the GB domestic rules. Records have to follow accordingly.

Who actually needs a tachograph in 2026

The simple test is the rule set. Vehicles on the assimilated rules need a tachograph. Vehicles on the GB domestic rules do not, although they still need a duty-time record.

Vehicles that need a tachograph today:

• Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes MAM operating in the UK or on international journeys.
• Public service vehicles with more than 9 seats used for passenger transport.
• Vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes used internationally for hire and reward (already in scope under the 2022 rules).

Vehicles that need a tachograph from 1 July 2026:

• Goods vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes operating internationally for hire and reward must be fitted with a Smart Tachograph 2 (Generation 2, version 2). This is a UK domestic implementation of the EU 2024 Mobility Package change, applied through assimilated law.
• Drivers of these vehicles will need to follow the assimilated drivers' hours rules.
• Operators in Northern Ireland with vehicles over 2.5 tonnes entering the Republic of Ireland are affected.

Vehicles that do not need a tachograph:

• Domestic-only goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes (these stay on GB domestic rules).
• Vehicles used for non-commercial passenger transport.
• Various exempted categories listed in the assimilated rules: emergency services, breakdown vehicles within 100 km, agricultural vehicles in defined contexts, vehicles carrying materials for the driver's own use in their work where driving is not the main activity.

The "own goods, driving not the main activity" exemption is the one most often misread. A plumber driving a 3-tonne van of tools to a job is comfortably exempt. A driver whose main work is delivering goods, even if those goods belong to the employer, is not exempt by reason of "own goods" alone.

The assimilated rules explained, in the order a daily run uses them

Take the rules in the order they apply to a working day, not the order they appear in a regulation.

Driving time, daily. No more than 9 hours' driving per day. Extendable to 10 hours twice a week. The week is fixed Monday 00:00 to Sunday 24:00 for this purpose. 10-hour days are the exception; the bulk of weeks should sit at 9 or below.

Driving time, weekly and fortnightly. No more than 56 hours' driving in a fixed week. No more than 90 hours' driving across any consecutive two weeks. A driver can do 56 in week one but is then capped at 34 in week two.

Breaks. After 4.5 hours of driving, a break of at least 45 minutes. The 45 minutes can be split into a 15-minute break followed by a 30-minute break, in that order, both within the 4.5-hour window. The break is for rest, not loading or paperwork.

Daily rest. A regular daily rest is 11 consecutive hours. A reduced daily rest of 9 consecutive hours is allowed up to three times between two weekly rests. A split rest is allowed: a first period of at least 3 hours, followed later by a second period of at least 9 hours, in the same 24-hour window.

Weekly rest. A regular weekly rest is 45 consecutive hours. A reduced weekly rest of at least 24 hours is allowed every other week, with the time taken off compensated by an equivalent period of rest taken before the end of the third week following the week in question. Weekly rest must follow within six 24-hour periods of the end of the previous weekly rest.

Other work. Time spent loading, unloading, paperwork or other work for the employer counts towards working time under the Working Time Regulations and shows on the tachograph as "other work", not as a break.

The GB domestic rules, simpler but still binding

For most under-3.5-tonne UK trade work, the GB domestic rules apply. They are simpler than the assimilated rules but still mandatory, and DVSA can and does enforce them.

• Maximum 10 hours daily driving.
• Maximum 11 hours daily duty (where any driving takes place).
• At least 10 hours rest between working days, reducible to 8.5 hours up to three times a week.
• At least one 24-hour off-duty period in every two-week period.

There is no formal break rule under GB domestic, but the Working Time Regulations require a 20-minute break in any shift over 6 hours and a daily rest of 11 hours. Self-employed drivers fall outside the Working Time Regulations on driving time but are still bound by the GB domestic hours.

A duty-time record is still expected: a written log, a phone-based record, or a fleet-management app, kept for inspection. "I do not need a tachograph" is not the same as "I do not need a record".

The 1 July 2026 change for 2.5-to-3.5-tonne vans on EU work

The single biggest change in 2026 is the Smart Tachograph 2 fitment requirement for goods vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes operating internationally for hire and reward. From 1 July 2026:

• The vehicle must have a Smart Tachograph 2 (generation 2, version 2) fitted by an approved tachograph centre.
• The driver must follow the assimilated drivers' hours rules, not GB domestic, for international journeys.
• The driver needs a digital tachograph driver card.
• Records must be retained for 56 days, in line with the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (longer than the older 28-day rule).
• The same vehicle on a domestic-only journey continues to fall under GB domestic rules.

The exemption for own-account international journeys (vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes carrying the operator's own goods, not for hire and reward) remains, but is narrow. Most courier and parcel work crossing the Channel is hire and reward.

The change does not affect domestic-only operations under 3.5 tonnes. A 3-tonne plumbing van that never leaves the UK is unaffected.

What enforcement looks like and what it costs

DVSA enforces tachograph and drivers' hours rules at the roadside, at depots, and through targeted operations. The penalties are graduated and stack quickly.

Fixed Penalty Notices. Issued for hours and tachograph infringements at the roadside, typically £100 to £300 per infringement. A driver caught with three infringements (an unrecorded period of work, a missed break, and a short daily rest) can collect three FPNs in one stop.

Prohibition notices. A serious or ongoing infringement can attract an immediate prohibition: the vehicle is taken off the road until the infringement is resolved. For an HGV on a delivery run, that is the load and the day gone.

Driver fines. DVSA can fine a driver up to £300 per offence for breaking drivers' hours rules. For more serious cases, including drivers' hours fraud or interfering with a tachograph, the matter can be taken to court and result in unlimited fines and a driving ban.

Operator consequences. A pattern of infringements leads to a Traffic Commissioner Public Inquiry. The Commissioner can curtail the O-licence, reduce vehicle authorisation, or revoke the licence entirely. For an operator, that is the business, not just a fine.

The whole system rewards record-keeping. A driver who takes the proper breaks and rests, a vehicle whose tachograph is calibrated and downloaded on time, and an operator who reviews drivers' hours weekly is a driver, vehicle and operator that DVSA finds nothing on at the roadside.

A small-fleet routine that keeps drivers' hours clean

A small fleet does not need an in-house transport manager to stay on top of drivers' hours. The routine that works is built around three jobs.

Daily, by the driver. Start the shift by inserting the driver card or selecting the right rule set. Take the 45-minute break before 4.5 hours of driving, not after. Take the 11-hour daily rest before starting the next shift. Record any other work as "other work", not as a break or as rest.

Weekly, by the operator. Download tachograph data weekly for HGVs and any in-scope vans. Run an analysis (in software or by eye) for: any 9-hour driving day extended without a recorded reason, any missed 4.5-hour break, any short daily rest not justified by the 3-times-a-week rule, any short weekly rest without a corresponding compensation. Resolve infringements with the driver inside seven days of the download.

Monthly, by the operator. Reconcile drivers' hours against duty rosters. Check that compensatory rest has been taken where reduced weekly rests have been used. Confirm tachograph calibration dates: digital and smart tachographs must be calibrated at least every two years by an approved tachograph centre.

A 56-day record retention discipline is the bottom line. Anything older than 56 days must still be retained where the driver is paid (it counts as a working-time record), but for tachograph compliance purposes the 56-day window is what DVSA will inspect.

How Autodue tracks the surrounding compliance

Tachograph and drivers' hours data lives in dedicated tachograph-analysis platforms; Autodue does not replace those for HGVs. Where Autodue helps is the surrounding fleet compliance: MOT, road tax, walkaround checks, defect management, and service intervals all on one timeline per vehicle. The walkaround records that DVSA expects at a roadside check sit next to the licence and tax records, and the same defect raised on a walkaround creates a defect report for the operator to action the same day.

For under-3.5-tonne fleets on GB domestic rules, Autodue is the duty-record system that satisfies the "you still need a record" expectation. For HGV operators, Autodue runs alongside the tachograph software, not instead of it, covering the parts of compliance the tachograph does not.

First van free, forever. No card needed. Get started at autodue.co.uk.

The bottom line

For a UK van fleet under 3.5 tonnes operating only in Britain, GB domestic rules apply: 10 hours' driving, 11 hours' duty, 10 hours' rest, and a written or app-based duty record. For vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, or vans over 2.5 tonnes on international hire and reward work from 1 July 2026, the assimilated rules apply, with a Smart Tachograph 2 in the cab and 56-day record retention. The penalties for getting it wrong are graduated and stack fast. The routine that keeps it right is daily, weekly, monthly, and the same in any small fleet: drive within the limits, download the data, resolve the infringements before they become a Public Inquiry.

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Sources: Drivers' hours: assimilated rules (GOV.UK) · Drivers' hours: GB domestic rules (GOV.UK) · The Drivers' Hours and Tachographs (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2025 (legislation.gov.uk) · Simplified guidance on EU drivers' hours and working time (GOV.UK)