Anyone organising a day trip or a multi-day tour usually discovers driving times when reading the quote: driving shifts, a night in a hotel for the driver, a departure brought forward by an hour. These items all come from one precise question, namely how many hours a coach driver can drive. The answer lies in Regulation (EC) 561/2006, which applies throughout the European Union and which we apply every day in our coach hire with driver in Rome.
The same rules apply to the vehicles at our Lainate base, which serve bus and coach hire in Milan and Lombardy. Below are the main limits, explained with practical examples, and what they mean for those who have to set the departure and return times.
How many hours a coach driver can drive per day and per week
The daily limit is 9 hours of driving. Twice a week it can rise to 10 hours, no more. Over a week the cap is 56 hours, and over two consecutive weeks 90 hours: a driver who has driven a lot in one week must drive less the next.
Hours are counted on actual time at the wheel, recorded by the vehicle’s tachograph. Stops, visits and waiting are not driving, but as we will see they still weigh on the driver’s day. On the road, checks are carried out by the Polizia Stradale, the Italian traffic police, who verify driving and rest times by reading the tachograph data.
The 45-minute break every 4 and a half hours
After at most 4 and a half hours of driving the driver must stop for at least 45 minutes. The break can be split into two parts, the first of at least 15 minutes and the second of at least 30, as long as both fall within the 4 and a half hours.
For the group this means planned stops, not ones decided on the spot. If the trip involves four hours of motorway, it makes sense to have the stop coincide with lunch or a visit, so the driver’s break does not become wasted time. When you send us the programme, mark the stops you have in mind: we fit them together with the compulsory ones.
Daily rest and the maximum length of the day
This is where most surprises hide. Normal daily rest is at least 11 hours in a row, which can be split into 3 hours plus 9. Three times between two weekly rest periods it can drop to 9 hours. And the rest must be completed within 24 hours of the end of the previous one.
Doing the maths, with a single driver the working day, from starting duty to finishing, generally fits within 13 hours, or 15 when reduced rest is used. An example: leaving at 06:30 and returning at 23:30 makes 17 hours, and the driver starts duty before departure to prepare the vehicle. With one driver that programme cannot be done, even if only six or seven hours were spent at the wheel.
This is why, faced with a very long day trip, we suggest shortening the day by an hour or two or revising the programme, organising driving shifts within the legal limits. It applies to all groups, including school classes: the rules on school trips by coach start from exactly these limits.
The second driver: when you need one and how it changes the quote
With two drivers on board (the regulation calls this multi-manning) the rules change: each driver must take a new daily rest of at least 9 hours within 30 hours of the end of the previous rest. Taking turns at the wheel, the two drivers can cover journeys a single driver could not, such as a long transfer leaving at dawn and arriving at night.
How driving shifts are organised on long trips affects the quote, as does the driver’s overnight accommodation on multi-day trips, which we always show separately. The cost of hiring a coach in Rome is also made up of these items.
For departures from Lombardy, with indicative figures for a full day, there is our guide to coach hire prices in Milan.
Multi-day tours and the 12-day rule
On tours of a week or more, weekly rest comes into play: at least 45 consecutive hours, which can be reduced to 24 every other week, and the rest must begin within 144 hours, that is six days, of the end of the previous weekly rest. On a ten-day tour of Italy with the same driver, halfway through the trip you therefore need a driver rest of at least 24 hours or a change of driver.
For occasional international services there is an exemption, the 12-day rule: weekly rest can be postponed until the end of the twelfth day. It applies to a single international journey, only with a digital tachograph, and requires longer rest before and after: at least 45 hours before departure and, on return, two weekly rest periods in a row. With a single driver, between 22:00 and 06:00 no more than 3 hours may be driven without a break.
This is the rule that makes international coach trips from Rome possible with the same driver, such as European tours and pilgrimages abroad lasting about ten days.
How to build a programme that respects driving times
The first tip is to leave a margin. A programme built on exactly 9 hours of driving falls apart at the first motorway queue, and at that point it is the driver’s limits, not the programme, that decide where the group stops. It is better to plan 7 or 8 hours of driving and keep an hour in hand.
The second is to put everything in writing: times, visits, lunch, dinner, any extra stops. A half-hour photo stop is not driving, but it lengthens the working day and can upset the return. On long trips the vehicle matters as much as the timetable: six hours on a Gran Turismo coach with reclining seats and individual air conditioning are much easier on the group.
The same limits apply to multi-day coach trips across Italy.
So that nothing gets forgotten, we have a checklist for organising a group coach trip.
How to request a quote for a long trip
To check driving times before giving you a price we need the date, the departure time and preferred return time, the departure point and destination, the number of passengers, the planned stops and visits and, for tours, the nights away. With this information we can tell you straight away whether one driver is enough or two are needed, and why.
The service runs 7 days a week, public holidays included, and we reply to quote requests within a few hours during working hours. Phone: +39 06 4882027. Email: info@toddebus.it (for services leaving from Lombardy, subject line: “Milan”).
Frequently asked questions
Can a coach driver drive for 10 hours straight?
No. After 4 and a half hours of driving the driver must take a break of at least 45 minutes, which can be split into 15 plus 30. Ten hours is the maximum daily driving time, allowed only twice a week.
Do the driver’s hours include stops and visits?
No, only the hours at the wheel recorded by the tachograph count. Stops and visits do lengthen the working day, though, which must leave room for daily rest within 24 hours. That is why a trip leaving at dawn and returning at midnight often needs a second driver.
When do you need a second driver?
When the day goes beyond the limits for a single driver, in driving hours or in overall length, or on overnight transfers. With two drivers, each must take a rest of at least 9 hours within 30 hours. On long trips we organise driving shifts within the legal limits and show this in the quote.
Does the 12-day rule also apply to trips within Italy?
No. The exemption covers occasional services consisting of a single international journey and requires a digital tachograph. For a tour entirely within Italy, weekly rest must be taken within six days.
Who checks coach drivers’ driving times?
The tachograph records each driver’s driving, breaks and rest. On the road, checks are carried out by the Polizia Stradale, the Italian traffic police, who read the tachograph data and verify driving and rest times.
