Step 1. The big picture
In one sentence…
Driving and rest times are road-safety and labour regulations. For professional licences you must memorise the base limits of Regulation (EC) 561/2006 and understand their preventive logic, because the goal is to avoid fatigue and unsafe decisions.
What you'll cover
Step 2. The syllabus
2.1Maximum driving and breaks
After a driving period of 4.5 hours you must take an uninterrupted break of at least 45 minutes, unless you start a rest period instead.
- That break can be split into 15 minutes followed by 30 minutes within the same driving period, keeping that exact order.
- Daily driving time is 9 hours, extendable to 10 hours only twice a week, when planning allows it.
- The key point for the exam is telling apart break, rest and accumulated driving; they are not interchangeable words even though all of them reduce driver fatigue.
2.2Weekly and two-week limits
Weekly driving must not exceed 56 hours, and the total accumulated over two consecutive weeks may not exceed 90 hours.
- These limits don't replace the need for breaks and rest periods: they apply on top of them and are checked at the same time.
- Adding up permitted days isn't enough; a week that looks correct on its own can fail once you check it against the two-week total.
- Practise the cases as a calendar: day, week and two weeks are separate windows that can make the same schedule incorrect.
2.3Daily rest
Normal daily rest is 11 hours, though it can be reduced to 9 hours within the margins allowed by the rules.
- Daily rest isn't the same as the 45-minute break; the break interrupts driving, the rest period recovers from a working day.
- When a question uses the word 'reduced', read carefully whether it refers to daily rest, weekly rest or a split break.
- The rule exists to prevent chronic fatigue, not just to organise the driver's or the company's administrative schedule.
2.4Weekly rest
Within two consecutive weeks you must take at least two normal weekly rest periods, or one normal and one reduced rest period of at least 24 hours.
- A reduced weekly rest requires the corresponding compensation, so it is not simply a free, permanent version of the normal rest period.
- The question may hide the error in the second week: always check the whole sequence before accepting a schedule.
- If an answer ignores the compensation for the reduced rest, treat it as suspect even if it respects other driving limits within the calendar.
2.5Tachograph and responsibility
The tachograph is used to monitor driving and rest times, but the driver must understand the rule, not just look at a record.
- These times affect road safety because fatigue reduces attention, anticipation and reaction ability in goods vehicles.
- Responsibility doesn't disappear because of schedule pressure; if a break or rest is due, the plan must adapt to the rule in force.
- In the exam, options that prioritise arriving sooner over respecting a break or rest usually contradict the preventive purpose of the rule.
2.6Exam practice
In the C1 specific test you get 20 questions, a maximum of 2 errors and 20 minutes; answer quickly, but always from the rule and the case described.
- First memorise the base figures: 4.5 h, 45 min, 15 + 30, 9 h, 10 h, 56 h, 90 h, 11 h and 24 h.
- Then practise with scenarios: identify whether the question asks about continuous, daily, weekly or two-week driving, daily rest or weekly rest before calculating.
- If two answers have correct figures, choose the one that also respects compensation, the order of split segments and compatibility between applicable limits.
Step 3. Key points
If you only have a minute before the exam, revise this.
- 1.Memorise 4.5 hours of driving and a 45-minute break.
- 2.Remember the break can be 15 minutes plus 30 minutes.
- 3.Distinguish daily driving from continuous driving.
- 4.Apply 9 hours daily and 10 hours only twice a week.
- 5.Check 56 hours weekly and 90 hours over two weeks.
- 6.Distinguish normal and reduced daily rest.
- 7.Check normal weekly rest, reduced weekly rest and its compensation.
- 8.Work through each scenario as a calendar, not as a loose list.
Step 4. Exam traps
Mistakes the DGT uses again and again on this topic.
- Confusing a break with daily rest.
- Adding up daily limits without respecting the weekly and two-week caps.
- Forgetting that reduced weekly rest requires compensation.
- Reversing the order of 15 minutes and 30 minutes in the split break.
- Applying 10 hours daily as the general rule rather than a limited extension.
- Accepting a schedule for one week without checking the two consecutive weeks.
Step 5. Quick check
Four real exam questions on what you have just read.
A lorry designed primarily to carry goods has a technically permissible maximum laden mass of 8 tonnes. Under the European mass classification, which N category does it belong to?
Step 6. Frequently asked questions about driving and rest times
- A driver performs goods transport subject to Regulation (EC) 561/2006. Which sequence permits splitting the minimum 45-minute break for a driving period of up to four and a half hours?
- 15 minutes followed by 30 minutes. In goods transport, the 45-minute break may be replaced by a first break of at least 15 minutes followed by another of at least 30 minutes, interspersed during the driving period. The minimum durations cannot be reversed or replaced by three 10-minute breaks. The flexibility introduced in 2024 for occasional passenger services does not apply to this goods-transport situation.See full question
- According to Regulation (EC) 561/2006, daily driving time may be extended to 10 hours:
- At most twice per week. As a general rule, the daily limit is 9 hours, but it may be extended to 10 hours at most twice during the week.See full question
- Aggressive driving with a C1 or C truck:
- Increases risk and usually worsens efficiency. Abrupt acceleration, braking, and maneuvers increase risk and worsen efficiency.See full question