Weekly rest is where a good week quietly becomes a bad month. The daily numbers are checked every day; the weekly balance is usually checked when someone asks for the paperwork — and by then the compensation week has often expired.
The regular weekly rest: 45 hours
In every week a driver must take a regular weekly rest of at least 45 hours. It normally starts after no more than six daily driving periods. The 45 hours are rest, not waiting at a ramp with the phone in hand.
The reduced weekly rest: 24 hours
A weekly rest can be reduced to at least 24 hours, but the reduction must be compensated. The compensation is a period of rest equal to the hours removed, taken en bloc together with another rest of at least 9 hours, before the end of the third week following the week in which the reduction was taken.
That sentence contains three traps:
- The deadline. It is counted in weeks, not in days, and it expires quietly.
- En bloc. Compensation taken in pieces does not count.
- Attached to a rest. It does not stand alone; it is added to a normal rest period.
One regular rest in every two weeks
In any two consecutive weeks there must be at least one regular weekly rest. Two reduced weekly rests in a row do not fit the rule, even when both compensations are planned.
Not legal advice. Weekly rest rules have additional options for international drivers and specific national interpretations. Check Regulation (EC) 561/2006 and the guidance that applies to your operation.
An example in dates
Suppose the reduced weekly rest was taken in week 32. The compensation must be completed before the end of week 35 — that is, before the third week following week 32 has ended. A note "compensate later" without a date is how the deadline is missed.
What to log
- the start and end of every weekly rest;
- whether it was regular (45+) or reduced (24+);
- how many hours the reduction was;
- the date by which the compensation must be taken;
- when the compensation was actually taken.
If those five lines are visible, the weekly balance stops being a memory exercise.
Where the app fits
Truck Driver shows rest chips for 9 / 11 / 24 / 45 hours and split rest, keeps the remaining driving time for this and the next week, and stores each shift in a 24-month archive — so the week that needs compensation is visible before its deadline, not after.
Truck Driver is not a tachograph and does not replace legally required recording equipment or legal advice.