Many drivers fined for lack of rest

the hague - Foreign truckers often still break the rules by spending their free time in their car. The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) fined 103 lorry drivers for this in the first six months of this year. That equates to almost a quarter of all drivers who received a check. There were no Dutch among the fined truckers.

'Drivers from other countries were used to spending their weekends in the truck', explains a spokesperson for the ILT. But a ruling by the European court made it clear at the end of last year that this is against the rules, which require a truck driver to spend the legally required rest time outside the truck.

'Employers must ensure that the driver can, for example, go home or go to a good location,' says the spokesperson. 'When you are rested, you do your work better and you also make mistakes less quickly. You just need to have free time. '

Every week a trucker is in principle entitled to a block of 45 hours of free time. This may be slightly shorter once it is compensated within three weeks.

The fine is 1500 euros. The employer has to pay that. Small independents turn themselves for it.

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