Improving land transport to make a better New Zealand
Work time and fatigue
Resources
- Infocard - Fatigue - The hidden killer (PDF, 47.5 KB)
- Work time and logbooks - summary of requirements
- A driver’s obligation to keep a logbook - In some circumstances, commercial drivers are exempted from the requirement to keep a logbook.
- What are cumulative work days and cumulative work periods?
- Advice on unavoidable delays - To combat driver fatigue, there are legal limits on the hours a driver can work during any given cumulative work day and period.
- Factsheet 24 - Fatigue: Staying alert while you're driving
- Factsheet 2 - Work time and logbooks
- Work time and logbooks. New requirements for the commercial transport industry (PDF, 967 KB)
This handbook explains the new work time and logbook requirements for commercial drivers, that are being introduced from 1 October 2007. - Analysis of fatigue levels in New Zealand taxi and local-route drivers (PDF, 373 KB) (Transport Engineering Research New Zealand Limited, February 2003).
Driver fatigue is a contributing factor in approximately 11 percent of fatal crashes and six percent of injury crashes each year.
Commercial drivers and drivers of heavy motor vehicles who often travel long distances must take the risk of fatigue very seriously.
Most drivers of commercial vehicles are required by law to fill out logbooks about the hours they work and the breaks they take.
Work time requirements
Work time applies to anyone legally required to manage driving hours, including transport service operators and drivers, organisations that employ or contract drivers and transport logistics companies.
Work time is time spent performing work-related duties, including driving vehicles, loading and unloading vehicles, maintaining and cleaning vehicles, administration or recording and any other paid employment.
In general*, drivers must take a break of at least 30 minutes after 5½ hours of work time – no matter what type of work takes place during that period.
*Because taxi drivers’ work typically involves ‘unofficial’ periods of rest while waiting for a fare, in most cases taxi drivers can work for 7 hours before taking a break of at least 30 minutes.After 13 hours
In any ‘cumulative work day’ (legally defined as no more than 24 hours) drivers can work a maximum of 13 hours and must then take a break of at least 10 hours (as well as the standard half-hour breaks required every 5½ hours).
Below is an example of how this might work if you worked the maximum number of hours allowed each cumulative work day.
Example of a cumulative work day
After 70 hours
Drivers can accumulate work time of up to 70 hours before they must take a break of at least 24 hours. The time between one 24-hour break and the next is legally described as a ‘cumulative work period’. A cumulative work period will be made up of a collection of cumulative work days, where drivers have taken the necessary breaks to meet their work time requirements.
Exemption from logbooks for drivers of goods vehicles
There is a logbook exemption which applies to vehicles that have a GLW of 3,500 kg - 6,000 kg. However, this is not an exemption from work time limits.
Last updated: 26 March 2008