Short answer: Daily driving time is normally a maximum of 9 hours (can be extended to 10 hours up to twice a week), a maximum of 56 hours per week and a maximum of 90 hours over two weeks. After 4.5 hours of driving, a break of at least 45 minutes must be taken. Daily rest is at least 11 hours, and weekly rest at least 45 hours. The rules apply to vehicles and vehicle combinations with a maximum permissible mass above 3.5 tonnes - including trailer or semi-trailer - and since 1 July 2026 also to vans between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes in international transport. From 1 April 2027, vans are also covered in domestic transport in Norway.
These are the main rules in the EU driving and rest time regulation, which applies in Norway through the EEA Agreement. Details and special cases can be found at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) - but if you know the numbers above, you know what applies on the vast majority of days.
The 45-minute rule sounds simple, but has two traps.
The first: the break must be taken no later than when you have driven 4.5 hours - not "roughly there". The tachograph counts the minutes, and the inspector reads them.
The second: if you split the break, the parts must come in the right order - first at least 15 minutes, then at least 30. If you take 30 first and 15 afterwards, it does not count as a completed break. And the break is rest: unloading, loading and paperwork during the break do not reset it - that is other work.
Daily rest of 11 hours must be taken within 24 hours of the previous rest. The flexibility lies in two options: reduce it to 9 hours (a maximum of three times between two weekly rests), or split it into two blocks of at least 3 + at least 9 hours. Note that a split daily rest must total at least 12 hours - so you do not "save" time by splitting, you buy flexibility.
Weekly rest of at least 45 hours must be started no later than at the end of six 24-hour periods after the end of the previous weekly rest. Every other week the weekly rest can be reduced, but never to below 24 hours. The reduction must be compensated: the missing hours are taken in one block, attached to another rest period of at least nine hours, and no later than before the end of the third week following the week with the reduced rest. Note also: the regular weekly rest of 45 hours cannot be taken in the cab. Reduced weekly rest and daily rest can be taken in the vehicle if it has suitable sleeping facilities and is parked.
The main rule: carriage of goods by vehicles or vehicle combinations where the maximum permissible mass - including trailer or semi-trailer - exceeds 3.5 tonnes, as well as passenger transport by bus. A 3-tonne van with a trailer can therefore be covered, even though the vehicle alone is below the limit.
Since 1 July 2026, vans between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes in international transport and cabotage are also covered, and from 1 April 2027 the requirements apply to such vans in domestic transport in Norway as well. If you are in the van segment, we have a separate review of the new rules and exemptions.
There are exemptions - including for certain types of own-account transport and driving within short radiuses. If you are in doubt about whether your driving is covered, check with Statens vegvesen before you make plans based on an exemption.
At a roadside check, the driver must be able to document driving and rest time for the current day and the preceding 56 days - an extension from the previous 28 days. In practice this is done via tachograph data and the driver card.
Breaches can result in sanctions against both driver and company. Over time, repeated or serious breaches can also affect the assessment of the company's good repute, which is one of the conditions for holding a transport licence (transportløyve). Orderly operations and documentation are, in other words, not just good business - they are part of the basis for the right to operate.
Here is the point many overlook: driving and rest time breaches rarely arise in the truck. They arise at the planning stage - when a route is set up with time windows that only work if the break is "moved a little".
A dispatcher who sees the drivers' remaining driving time while the route is being planned, plans differently from one who sees it afterwards. Then rest time is not a surprise at 2 pm, but a planning premise at 7 am. This is where a TMS with a driver app makes the difference in practice: driving time becomes visible where the decisions are made - on the planning screen, not in the rear-view mirror.
A maximum of 4.5 hours. After that, a break of at least 45 minutes must be taken, optionally split into first 15 and then 30 minutes during the driving period.
Daily driving time is normally a maximum of 9 hours. Up to twice a week it can be extended to 10 hours.
No. A break is rest. Unloading, loading, paperwork and other tasks are recorded as "other work" and do not reset the break requirement.
The regular weekly rest of 45 hours cannot be taken in the cab. Reduced weekly rest and daily rest can be taken in the vehicle if it has suitable sleeping facilities and is stationary.
Yes, partly already: since 1 July 2026 the rules apply to vans between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes in international transport and cabotage. From 1 April 2027, such vans are also covered in domestic transport in Norway. Remember too that a lighter vehicle with a trailer can be covered when the combined permissible mass exceeds 3.5 tonnes.
The driver must be able to show data for the current day plus the last 56 days at a roadside check. In a company inspection, the authorities can go through stored data over longer periods.
This article is based on the rules as described by the Norwegian authorities as of August 2026. For complete and up-to-date rules, see the sources directly:
The rules may change. In the event of a conflict between this article and the authorities' information, the authorities' information takes precedence.
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