Driver Fatigue Management Plan: Rest Rules, Checks, and Alerts

Many people think a tired driver knows when to stop, so driver fatigue management is left to the driver’s judgment. But a driver who has driven eight hours after a short night may not decide to stop alone, especially when a delivery deadline is close.

That is why fatigue is managed through schedules, pre-shift checks, and follow-up during the trip, before it shows on the road. Some oil and gas contracts ask the contractor for a written plan that does this.

In this article, we cover:

• What fatigue management means, and what causes fatigue on fleet routes.
• The driving and rest limits announced in Saudi Arabia, and working hours in both countries.
• What goes into a fatigue plan, from company limits to training.
• Schedule controls vs fatigue cameras, and what to do when an alert fires.
• How Safee turns your plan’s limits into alerts.

What is driver fatigue management?

Driver fatigue management is a written plan that sets driving and rest hours and checks that each driver is fit before the shift. It also builds trips around rest stops, and names who acts when fatigue signs appear or an alert arrives.

The plan protects the driver first. It then protects the company after an accident, because it shows that limits were written down and tracked.

What causes fatigue on fleet routes

Fatigue on fleet routes builds up from five main sources:

• Lack of sleep: Drivers sleep less than they need, or sleep badly in crowded housing or in the cab.
• Time of day: Drowsiness rises late at night and in the afternoon.
• Monotonous roads: Long trips run on straight desert roads where nothing changes for hours.
• Heat: Summer heat wears drivers down, especially after loading work before the drive.
• Ramadan: Sleep and meal times shift, and some drivers drive while fasting after a late suhoor.

Who needs a written fatigue plan

These companies need a written plan before anyone else:

• Goods transport companies: Their trucks fall under the driving and rest limits announced by the Transport General Authority (TGA).
• Oil, gas, and mining contractors: Their contracts usually require journey management and in-vehicle monitoring.
• Staff and student transport fleets: Their drivers work at dawn and in the evening, with passengers on board.
• Companies with long shifts: Their drivers load and wait for hours before they start driving.

For sector details, read about oil and gas fleet management software and bus fleet management.

Also read: Logistics fleet management in Saudi Arabia

Driving and rest rules in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

During Ramadan 2025, the TGA reminded goods transport truck drivers of these limits:

The reminder does not cover bus drivers, so if your fleet includes buses, confirm their limits with the TGA directly. For truck operations more broadly, see our article on truck fleet management. To check a planned shift against driving and rest hours, use the free Driving and Rest Hours Checker.

These limits are as of 31 October 2026 and may change; check the TGA’s latest official sources to confirm what applies to your activity.

In the UAE, we found no published federal rule on truck driving hours. Fleet managers usually work from working-hours limits and the client’s contract terms.

For fleets in Qatar and Bahrain, we cover local rules in our guides to fleet management in Qatar and vehicle tracking in Bahrain.

Labor law working hours for employed drivers

In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development caps actual working hours at 8 a day or 48 a week. During Ramadan, they drop for Muslim workers to 6 hours a day or 36 a week. The rule also has exceptions, including up to 9 hours a day for some categories, so check which category your drivers fall under.

In the UAE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation sets normal private-sector hours at 8 a day or 48 a week. No worker may work more than five hours in a row without breaks totaling at least one hour, and hours fall by two during Ramadan. These working-hour rules in both countries are as of 31 October 2026 and may change.

Driving hours are part of working hours. A driver who spends three hours loading and waiting before departure may reach the working limit first. Check with your adviser what counts as working time for your drivers.

What oil and gas clients add to the rules

Oil and gas companies often ask contractors for a journey management plan, in-vehicle monitoring (IVMS), and driving and rest limits that can be stricter than the law. IOGP Report 365 on land transportation safety is a well-known reference in the sector. Still, the limits that bind you are the ones in your client’s contract.

Do not rely on another client’s limits or an old copy of the requirements. Get the document from your own client, turn each limit into an alert in your tracking system, and keep a monthly report that proves compliance.

Ramadan and summer heat

The TGA reminder above came in mid-Ramadan 2025, and it set no different limits for the month. Sleep and meal times do change, and a driver may drive after a late suhoor or just before iftar while more tired.

In summer, heat adds strain for a driver who loads in the sun before driving. Review shift patterns in both seasons, and do not rely on the year-round limits alone. For Ramadan rosters, the free Ramadan Driver Shift Planner helps you plan driver shifts for the month.

If your client’s contract sets stricter limits than the law, get a Fleet-Fit Recommendation and we will set them up as alerts on your vehicles.

What goes into a driver fatigue management plan

The plan has four parts: limits, fitness checks, journey planning, and training. You can build your own fatigue management plan template from this section, or start from Safee’s free Driver Fatigue Management Plan Template.

Company limits for driving and rest

Set your company’s limits in these steps:

1. Collect the limits: Put the TGA, labor law, and client contract limits in one table.
2. Take the strictest: For each item, use the strictest limit among these sources.
3. Set the first drive: Write the longest a driver may drive at the start of the day before the first break.
4. Restrict night driving: Set the hours when driving is banned or needs a supervisor’s approval.
5. Cap distance without a break: Write the longest distance a driver covers before stopping.
6. Count all work: Set a daily cap on working hours that includes loading and waiting as well as driving.

As a hypothetical example, a tanker averaging 80 km/h reaches 4.5 hours of driving after about 360 km. So the company plans its break at a stop before that distance, not right at the limit.

Then add these limits to your fleet management policy so every driver signs the same rules.

Fitness-for-duty check before the shift

The driver answers a few short questions before each shift, and the supervisor reads the answers before assigning the trip:

• Sleep: How many hours did you sleep in the last 24 hours?
• Health: Are you ill, or taking medicine that causes drowsiness?
• Previous work: How many hours did you work yesterday, and did you work at night?
• Fasting: Are you fasting, and when did you have suhoor?

Name in the plan who has the authority to stop a trip, and do not leave the decision to the driver alone. If the driver is not fit, the supervisor has three options: a replacement driver, a delayed trip, or a trip split between two drivers. Keep the check answers with the trip record, because they help prove the plan was applied after an accident or during a client audit. Our article on driver welfare and privacy covers the wider picture.

Journey planning with rest stops

Mark rest stops on the route before departure, based on distance and expected speed. Then record them as checkpoints in the journey management system, and set the trip’s maximum duration.

As a hypothetical example, a 900 km trip at an average of 80 km/h needs more than 11 hours of driving. That exceeds the announced daily limit for trucks, so the trip needs two days or two drivers taking turns.

Fatigue training and reporting

Fatigue management training teaches drivers the signs of drowsiness, such as repeated yawning, heavy eyelids, and not remembering the last few kilometers. It also covers the effect of short sleep and how to stop safely on a highway.

Supervisors learn what to do when an alert or a driver report comes in. The plan also sets a clear rule: no penalty for a driver who reports fatigue before the trip.

If an oil and gas client wants a written fatigue plan, talk to a Fleet Expert and we will review the reports that prove you follow it.

Schedule-based controls vs fatigue detection cameras

Each fatigue control catches some things and misses others:

Schedules and driving-hours alerts stop fatigue from building up, and the camera catches drowsiness when it appears. The fitness check finds what the data cannot show, such as a night without sleep. So the plan needs all of them together. For how the camera alerts work, read about the Safee driver monitoring system.

Also read: Fleet risk management

What to do when a fatigue alert fires

An alert with no written response becomes noise, and it may be reviewed against the company after an accident.

Who acts on the alert and how

1. Route the alert: The alert goes to the named supervisor on duty, not to a shared inbox nobody reads.
2. Call the driver: The supervisor calls the driver right away and asks how they are.
3. Stop safely: The supervisor directs the driver to the nearest safe place, such as a fuel station or rest area.
4. Decide what next: The supervisor sets the length of the break, or sends a replacement driver.
5. Record it: The supervisor logs what happened, when the vehicle stopped, and the decision taken.

The response depends on the alert type. A continuous driving alert means the driver has passed the break time, and a break fixes it. A camera yawning alert means the risk is present now, and the driver must stop at once.

Indicators to review each month

Review these five indicators by driver and by route at the end of each month:

• Continuous driving breaches: Number of alerts per driver.
• Accumulated driving breaches: Number of drivers who went over the period limit.
• Night driving: Hours driven outside allowed working hours.
• Camera events: Yawning and drowsiness alarms per driver and route.
• Response time: Time between the alert and the vehicle stopping.

Look for the route or client where alerts repeat before you blame the driver, because the problem may be the trip schedule itself. For more indicators, see fleet management KPIs.

How Safee helps with driver fatigue management

At Safee, we turn your plan’s limits into alerts that reach the responsible supervisor through Alarms and Alerts. These are the tools that relate to fatigue:

• Driver Excessive Continuous Driving: You set the first-drive limit, the maximum time without a break, the rest time, the day start time, and the drivers covered.
• Driver Excessive Accumulative Driving: Alerts you when a driver passes the total driving hours set for a time interval you choose.
• Night and over-driving: Out of Working Hours flags a vehicle moving outside set hours, and Over Driving flags driving longer than the set limit.
• Driver Workload: The dashboard shows drivers’ hours in five bands, from under 4 hours to over 16 hours.
• Reports: Driver driving violations lists rest breaches, and the RALG Report counts fatigue rest and fatigue max hours.
• Journey management: JMS records each checkpoint visit and its duration, and alerts you if the trip passes its maximum duration.
• Camera: Video-iVMS sends DSM driver status alarms, such as the yawn alarm, with a video clip, depending on the camera and license.
• Driver identity: Driver Management assigns driving hours to the driver through the driver ID reader, not only to the vehicle.

Here is a hypothetical example of how a fleet could configure this alarm. It is not a Safee default. To match the TGA break, the system admin enters 270 minutes as the maximum driving time without a break, and 45 minutes as the rest time. If the driver keeps driving past 4.5 hours without a long enough stop, the supervisor gets the alert.

Each company picks values that fit its own plan and client contracts. Some set them below the TGA limit so the alert arrives early.

If the network drops, the trackers Safee supplies store their readings and send them once coverage returns. Driving hours then fill in on reports, even if the alert arrives late.

Safee is approved by the CST as a tracking service provider in Saudi Arabia. Camera alarms need Video-iVMS devices fitted and licensed, and assigning hours to drivers needs a driver ID reader.

Safee vs hours drivers record themselves

This table compares tracking driver hours today with tracking them on Safee:

What Safee cannot judge about a driver

Safee measures driving and stop time, and detects fatigue signs if a camera is fitted. It does not know how long the driver slept or how they feel. Our role is to get the alert to the right person on time, while the decision to drive or stop stays with the supervisor.

To see continuous driving alerts and the Driver Workload chart on your own fleet data, request a Safee Fleet Demo.

FAQs about driver fatigue management

How many hours can a truck driver drive per day in Saudi Arabia?

Nine hours a day under the TGA’s Ramadan 2025 reminder, extendable to 10 hours twice a week. The driver takes a 45-minute break after every 4.5 hours of driving.

Is there a fatigue management plan template?

Yes. Safee offers a free Driver Fatigue Management Plan Template. The four parts in this article help you fill it in: limits, fitness checks, journey planning, and training. Adjust them to your clients’ limits and your own trips.

Does a fatigue camera replace rest rules?

No. The camera detects drowsiness when it appears, while schedules stop fatigue from building up before the trip.

Can Safee decide whether a driver is fit to drive?

No. Safee provides driving hours and alerts, and the decision to drive or stop belongs to the supervisor under your company’s plan.

Sources

• Okaz: TGA reminds truck drivers of driving and rest limits (March 20, 2025)
• UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation: Workers’ rights, working hours, and breaks