From 1 July 2026, van drivers doing cross-border work will face the same driving time, break and rest rules that have been long familiar to HGV licence holders.
That's because the EU is introducing new road safety regulations tied to the EU’s Mobility Package which will align light commercial vehicle operations with the social rules already applied to heavier vehicles. The aim is to improve driver safety, promote fair competition and ensure decent working conditions.
The regulations effectively change the rules as we know them around tachographs in vans and LCV drivers' hours.
The European Union will expand its comprehensive road transport regulations, to bring light commercial vehicles (LCVs) into the scope of the Mobility Package from July 1, 2026.
Under the new rules, LCVs engaged in international transport operations or cabotage, with a maximum weight exceeding 2.5 tonnes (including any trailer or semi-trailer), will be required to install second-generation smart tachographs (V2).
This obligation applies to both newly registered and existing vehicles, harmonising LCV operations with the regulatory framework already in place for heavy vehicles.
The regulations will apply across the 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, due to provisions in the Trade Cooperation Agreement.
LCV drivers will also be subject to the same driving and rest time rules as heavy vehicles. These include maximum daily driving times of nine hours (extendable to ten hours twice a week), a weekly limit of 56 hours, and a fortnightly limit of 90 hours.
Mandatory breaks of at least 45 minutes after four and a half hours of driving, and specific daily and weekly rest periods, will also be enforced.
In practical terms, it applies to drivers and operators of all vans when they are used for either:
If your van operation stays purely domestic, and doesn’t fall into the realms of cabotage, this specific expansion does not apply to you. The deciding factor is if it's international goods transport or cabotage.
The legal logic is simple, the EU is extending the scope of its “social rules” framework (drivers’ hours and tachographs) to cover a category of vehicles that increasingly perform freight work similar to trucks.
That's largely because the payload of some vans means that prolonged and long-distance work can be done by van drivers, similar to that of a heavy goods vehicle.
The new roles look to improve:
The ruls cover vans with a maximum permissible mass of more than 2.5 tonnes.
That means that most medium vans and all large vans will be covered by the rules. It will also bring in any small van towing a trailer, as the permissible mass inlcudes not only the authorised mass on the registration certificate (rather than the live, actual weight on the day) but also any trailers or semi-trailers.
It's also not aimed at the passenger van segment, unless it falls into the bus and coach class, due to seat count. Instead the EU drivers' hours rules are for vans above the 2.5-tonne permitted mass threshold that are operating internationally.
The new regulations for EU drivers' hours for light commercial vehicles will come into force on 1 July 2026.
As with all rules there are certain exemptions. Own account transport operations, where driving does not constitute the main activity of the person driving the vehicle, defined as occupying less than 30% of monthly working time will not fall into scope.
Summary of Regulation 561/2006
| Driving Limits | Hours |
|---|---|
| Daily | 9 |
| Weekly | 56 |
| Fortnightly | 90 |
The rules follow those for heavy trucks, which means that there must be a minimum of 45 minutes of rest within 4 hours and 30 minutes of driving.
Breaks can be taken in one or two parts, but the longer of the two breaks must come second.
A break period must be at least 15 minutes in order to qualify as a break.
| LCV Driving Duration | Break Period |
|---|---|
| Upto 4 hours 30 minutes driving | One break / 45 minutes |
| Upto 4 hours 30 minutes driving | Two breaks / 15 minutes + 30 munutes |
Once the driver has taken the required 45 minutes (in one block or correctly split), it resets the accumulated driving time calculation, for the next 4.5-hour period.
If you intend to drive for 10 hours, which is possible twice per week, then you must take the appropriate breaks every 4.5 hours.
Minimum daily rests require that drivers have at least 11 hours of uninterrupted rest.
This rest period can be reduced to a rest of at least 9 hours twice per week - this is to allow for the increased driving time, as outlined above.
However, caution is advised as:
As well as daily rest, drivers must also be aware of weekly rest rules. They require a van driver to have a weekly rest of at least 45 hours of uninterrupted rest.
Weekly rest can also be reduced, but to no less than 24 hours of consecutive rest.
In any two consecutive weeks, the driver must take either:
