Vans less than 3.5 T in FRANCE: ban on taking rest in the van

Vans less than 3.5 T in FRANCE: no rest in the van

From 3 September 2020, any daily or weekly rest in a van of less than 3.5T will be fined at 750 euros in France.

Since January 2020, daily and weekly rest periods must be taken OUTSIDE THE VAN. Until the new decree (nº2020-1104), there was no sanction linked to this prohibition but now the law has been clarified and ANY rest (daily or weekly) performed in the van will be fined with 750 Euros.

Drivers must prove that they have taken the rest outside the van (by means of documentation such as: hotel invoices, evidence of renting an apartment, the telephone number of a friend in whose house they stayed,...).

Regulation (EC) 561/2006 does not apply to vans under 3.5 T (Article 2), so national laws are applicable. Thus, whoever drives one of these vehicles in France is subject to French labor law.

So, apart from this prohibition, there are the following obligations in France:

To prove that these measures are being respected, drivers must have an activity log (indicating breaks, rests and work) which must comply exactly with the requirements laid down in the Arrêté du 20 juillet 1998 relatif à l'horaire de service et au livret individuel de contrôle dans les transports routiers de marchandises. And we believe that this new decree on breaks will generate a wave of massive controls of these activity records.

We remind you that the Truckcontroller App has been accepted by France as a tachograph for this type of vehicle and can be presented as a valid activity record (as long as the driver and the vehicle are registered in the App, both are necessary for the App to be accepted). 

Guretruck's Call Center is at your disposal 24 hours a day for any incident or for any doubt or query regarding the use of Truckcontroller.