Europe Eyes Restrictions On Hours

Transport ministers may approve a plan that includes more restrictive hours-of-service regulations for overseas truckers and a weekend ban on trucks travelling international roads.

Gilles Gantelet, a spokesman for the European Union, said the proposal could be approved at a Dec. 20 meeting of the EU’s Transport and Energy Commission.

The proposal, introduced Nov. 22, includes truck drivers in the 48-hour-per-week work limits the EU imposes on most other workers.

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Under the plan, truckers could drive up to 60 hours every week as long as the four-month average came out to 48 hours per week. Owner-operators would be exempted from the regulations for three years after company drivers had to comply. The commission has not agreed upon an implementation date yet.



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