Transport And Communications 2026, 14(1):13-18 | DOI: 10.26552/tac.C.2026.1.2

Potential Effects of the 1 July 2026 Extension of Driving Time and Rest Period Rules to 2.5 – 3.5 t Vehicles in International Road Freight Transport

Krystyna Ledwig1
1 Department of Transport, University of Bielsko-Biala, Bielsko-Biala, Poland

This article analyses the potential effects of extending, from 1 July 2026, the obligation to use tachographs and to comply with regulations on driving time, breaks and rest periods to vehicles with a maximum permissible mass exceeding 2.5 t but not exceeding 3.5 t in international commercial road transport of goods. The aim of the study was to estimate the impact of these changes on the operation of enterprises in the transport, forwarding and logistics (TSL) sector. A mixed-method approach was applied, including a legal framework analysis, a comparison of transport time for two international routes under different vehicle categories and driver crew configurations (activity sequence diagrams), and an anonymous survey among representatives of transport and forwarding companies. The route analysis indicates that following the introduction of the regulations the time advantage of transport performed by vehicles with a maximum permissible mass ≤ 3.5 t in time-sensitive operations is significantly reduced, while the shortest transport time on the long-distance route is ensured by the double-crew configuration of a heavy goods vehicle. The survey results confirm an expected decrease in the competitiveness of transport operations performed using vehicles with a maximum permissible mass ≤ 3.5 t and indicate planned adaptation measures, in particular shifting part of the orders to vehicles with a maximum permissible mass > 3.5 t.

Keywords: road transport, tachograph, driver working time, vehicles ≤ 3.5 t, Mobility Package, transport time analysis, survey research
JEL classification: K23, R41, R48

Received: February 16, 2026; Revised: February 16, 2026; Accepted: April 24, 2026; Prepublished online: June 30, 2026; Published: June 28, 2026  Show citation

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Ledwig, K. (2026). Potential Effects of the 1 July 2026 Extension of Driving Time and Rest Period Rules to 2.5 – 3.5 t Vehicles in International Road Freight Transport. Transport And Communications, 14(1), 13-18. doi: 10.26552/tac.C.2026.1.2
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    References

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