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Changes in the rules of work of drivers

Swedish haulage association: drivers’ hours rules changes needed for electric HGVs.

The Swedish Transport Association has said that EU driver working time rules should be changed to adapt to the electrification of vehicles.

In a recent article on its website, a Swedish group representing road transport companies said that as transport electrifies, drivers may”find themselves in situations where they are forced to become illegal”.

The organization believes that the current driving and rest time rules thus require change.

The driver’s working time is also time outside the accepted working schedule,when the driver remains at work in a state of readiness to perform work,in particular, while waiting for loading or unloading, the duration of which cannotalways be predicte before or until shipmentbeginning of this period.

Сhanges that the association of carriers would like to make:

– Propose that, provided that traffic safety is not threatened, the driver should be allowed to drive to the next charging station even if the driving time before the break is exceeded.

After all, according to the current rules, a driver can drive no more than 4 hours and 30 minutes before a break. But if a driver is driving an electric truck, sometimes he or she has to drive a little further to get to the next charging station in order to stay on schedule.

– And they wants to see lorry drivers have the possibility to interrupt longer rest periods that coincide with the charging of a lorry.

This, it is said, is needed to allow drivers to move their vehicle away from a charging point after the battery is sufficiently recharged,thereby freeing up the charger for another lorry.