There has been written clarification from the DVSA and Department for Transport regarding the recent update to driver activity recordings - published last month.

The update included changes to driver recording requirements being extended to show a record of 28 days activity. This includes; driving, periods of availability, breaks, rest, annual and sick leave within the time period.

The clarification from the DVSA has come after uncertainty around how the recording keeping for this larger time period of activity should be implemented. Following this the DVSA have responded stating that for fixed weeks (00:00hrs on Monday to 24:00hrs on Sunday) when no ‘in-scope driving’ takes place, the DVSA: “will accept one or more records for the whole week, as opposed to requiring 7 daily records.”

DVSA followed up by reiterating that “Records must identify all the weekly rest periods within that fixed week.” And made pertinent that: “When in-scope driving is undertaken [in a fixed week], a full record must be kept for that whole week with separate records for each 24-hour period.”

There has been much advice from the DVSA saying that other countries may take a different stand point on recordings of drivers hours. Therefore those undergoing journeys throughout the EU and beyond are recommended to keep full daily records for the previous 28 days.

“Any drivers undertaking international journeys to, from, and through the EU keep full daily records for the previous 28 days.

This reflects the potential for different interpretations of the rules and the inability of enforcement authorities to check the home premises of UK-based operators.”

Collating and analysing drivers hours records can be onerous and time consuming, but with SmartAnalysis thousands of drivers records are analysed every day from occasional drivers to large fleets.

To continue our support for the industry we’re extending our offer we started over the pandemic, offering 14 months of SmartAnalysis pre-pay for the price of 12mo (£40 per driver +VAT) with no contract required.

Full guidance for drivers hours recordings can be found here.