The Mobility Package: driving and rest times and cabotage

Short answer: Mobility Package I is a set of EU regulations adopted in 2020 and phased into force since then. Social provisions on driving and rest times have applied since 20 August 2020; the new cabotage rules have applied since 21 February 2022. The package aims to ensure fair competition in road transport and better working conditions for drivers.

Driving and rest times: what changed

The core limits of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 remain unchanged: a maximum of 9 hours driving per day (extendable to 10 hours twice per week), a maximum of 56 hours per week, and a maximum of 90 hours over any two consecutive weeks. After every 4.5 hours of driving, an uninterrupted break of at least 45 minutes is mandatory.

Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 — part of Mobility Package I — adds two concrete obligations. First, regular weekly rest periods of at least 45 hours may no longer be taken in the truck cab (Article 8(8)). Employers must arrange suitable accommodation with adequate sleeping and sanitary facilities and cover the associated costs. Second, employers must organise work schedules so that employed drivers can return home or to the employer's operational centre in the Member State of establishment every three to four weeks (Article 8(8a)). Drivers may individually opt out of the return.

These social provisions apply to goods vehicles exceeding 3.5 tonnes and vehicles carrying more than nine persons. From 1 July 2026, the threshold for international and cabotage operations is lowered to 2.5 tonnes.

Cabotage: maximum three trips, four-day cooling-off

Cabotage — the carriage of goods within one Member State by a non-resident haulier — is governed by Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009, Article 8. After completing an incoming international delivery, hauliers may carry out a maximum of three cabotage operations in the same Member State, within seven calendar days of the final unloading of the international consignment.

Regulation (EU) 2020/1055 adds a cooling-off period applicable from 21 February 2022: after completing cabotage operations, the same vehicle may not perform further cabotage in the same Member State for four days (Article 8(2a) of Regulation 1072/2009 as amended). This is designed to prevent systematic or permanent presence of foreign hauliers in a domestic market.

Vehicles must also return to an operational centre in the Member State of establishment at least every eight weeks (amended Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009).

Enforcement and tachograph

Compliance is verified through tachograph records, transport orders, and consignment notes (electronic e-CMR is also accepted). Smart tachographs (version 2) have been mandatory in new vehicles since 21 August 2023 and automatically record border crossings, simplifying checks on cabotage compliance.