EU Mobility Package I - Effective 1 July 2026
Tachograph rules now apply to your vans
If your fleet includes vans between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes running international routes or cabotage in the EU, the same driving-hours regime that governs HGVs now applies to them too. Here is what changes and what to do about it.
01 - Scope
Who this affects
From 1 July 2026, any van or light commercial vehicle - on its own or combined with a trailer - with a permissible maximum mass over 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes falls under the new rules if it is:
- Used for international carriage of goods for hire or reward within the EU/EEA.
- Performing cabotage - domestic transport in a member state by a non-resident operator.
- Engaged in own-account international transport, subject to the exemptions below.
What counts is the permissible maximum mass shown in the vehicle's documents, not what it happens to weigh at the roadside. A van that crosses a border under 2.5 tonnes but loads cargo or hitches a trailer during the trip, taking it over the threshold, is caught too.
02 - What changes
What is required
Affected vehicles must carry a second-generation smart tachograph (Smart Tacho G2V2), installed and calibrated by a certified workshop. Once fitted, the same regime that has long applied to HGV drivers applies to your van drivers:
- Daily driving limit of 9 hours, extendable to 10 hours on at most two days a week.
- A break of at least 45 minutes after 4.5 hours of driving, which can be split 15 + 30 minutes.
- Daily rest of at least 11 hours, or split as 3 + 9 hours.
- Weekly rest of at least 45 hours, or a reduced 24 hours with compensation later.
- A personal driver card for every driver operating an in-scope vehicle.
- Posted-driver documentation where a driver is sent to work temporarily in another member state.
03 - Exemptions
Where the exemptions apply
Two exclusions in Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 still allow operation without a tachograph after 1 July 2026 - but every condition has to be met at once:
Vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes carrying the operator's own tools, equipment or materials, within 100 km of base, where driving is not the driver's main job and the transport is ancillary to the core business.
Vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes on own-account transport - not for hire or reward, where the goods belong to the company and driving is not the driver's main occupation. There is no 100 km limit, so this can still cover long international routes.
04 - Enforcement
Penalties are already being applied
Operating an in-scope vehicle without a compliant tachograph is treated as a serious infringement, with enforcement and fine levels set nationally: