On August 20, 2020, the REG 1054/2020 (renamed “ Mobility Package“) was introduced, which brought significant changes to the regulations on tachographs. The most significant changes concern the scope of application of Reg. 561/06, the rules on driving and rest times, the use of the tachograph, and the period of time that can be controlled by the authorities.
EXTENSION OF THE SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF DIGITAL TACHOGRAPH
Starting from 01/07/2026 the obligation to install and use the tachograph, as well as compliance with driving and rest times, will be extended to a new category of vehicles: vehicles with a permissible mass exceeding 2.5 tons engaged in transport international or cabotage.
OBLIGATION TO DECLARE COUNTRY OF START/END: LOCATION OF VEHICLES
The obligation to declare the country of start and the country of end of the daily work has been introduced. This obligation is also extended to those who drive vehicles equipped with analog tachographs. In that case, the driver is required to manually mark on the disk the place of start and the place of end.
OBLIGATION TO DECLARE BORDER CROSSING
In addition to the obligation to declare the country of start/end, the mobility package has introduced the obligation to declare border crossings. Specifically, it is now required that, upon crossing the border, the driver must enter the symbol of the country they are entering. The declaration must be made in the parking area as close as possible to the border, either just before it or immediately after crossing it. If the border crossing occurs by ship or train convoy, the declaration must be made at the port or at the arrival station. This obligation, for digital tachographs, will come into effect starting from February 2, 2022.
DEROGATION OF WEEKLY REST
Limited to freight transport, the reform provides for an important derogation in the field of international transport.
The driver, in the case of international transport, can now take two consecutive reduced weekly rests. provided that, over four consecutive weeks, there are at least four weekly rest periods, of which at least two are regular. Transport is considered international if the driver starts the two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods outside the state of the company. If the derogation is utilized, the driver must take a compensatory rest. The recovery of the two previous reduced rest periods must take place before the next regular weekly rest.
FERRY/TRAIN
Regarding crossings by ferry or train, the usual exemption for daily rests will be supplemented by the possibility of exempting weekly rests as well. Now the driver, during a regular daily rest or a reduced weekly rest, may interrupt it to carry out other activities. This may be done a maximum of two times and for a total of up to one hour. Such an exemption can be granted only if the driver has a sleeping cabin, a bunk, or a sleeper. The possibility of interrupting a regular weekly rest twice, however, is granted only if the expected duration of the route is more than 8 hours. In addition, the driver must have available a sleeping cabin.
DAILY/WEEKLY DRIVING EXEMPTION
In addition to the existing exemption for driving and rest times, provided for exceptional and unpredictable cases, two new scenarios will be added. In particular the driver can now:
- derogare di un’ora al massimo i periodi di guida per r aggiungere la sede dell’impresa o la propria residenza e iniziare un periodo di riposo settimanale;
- exceed by a maximum of two hours the driving periods, if necessary to reach the company's headquarters or their residence to begin a regular weekly rest period. In this case, the driver must observe a consecutive break of 30 minutes before the additional driving period.
The reform finally establishes that all periods of extension used must be compensated by equivalent periods of rest taken within the third week following.
CONTROLLABLE PERIOD
Starting from 12/31/2024, the period subject to road control will be extended to the last 56 days.
It will now be important to see how the landscape of the transport sector will welcome the many and profound changes that the mobility package has introduced.