91ÊÓƵ

January 3, 2001 10:42 AM, EST

LONDON — European Union transport ministers have agreed to a plan that will reduce the number of hours truckers may work.

	More HOS Coverage
	ATA: DOT Ignored Rulemaking Guidelines (Jan. 2) LTL Interests Prefer to Keep Old Hours Rules (Jan. 2) (on Truckline) (on Truckline)
	Shop Online

The plan, which was approved by transport ministers during their Dec. 21-22 meeting in Brussels, must still be passed by the European Parliament. It would limit European truckers to 48 hours of work a week. They would be allowed to drive up to 60 hours in a week on occasion, as long as their driving time over four months averaged out to no more than 48 hours per week.

In addition, a 30-minute break would be required after six hours of work and a 45-minute break after nine hours on the job.

The EU’s transport council has been working on new hours-of-service regulations for two years now, but has been stymied by the concerns in some countries whether owner-operators should be subject to the rules.

For the full story, see the Jan. 1 print edition of Transport Topics. .