What does a driving hours checker do?
A driving hours checker compares a driver's schedule with the limits on driving time, breaks and rest. You enter each day: how long the driver drove, the longest stretch without a break, the break minutes, other work and the rest that followed the duty. The checker marks each day as compliant, extended or in violation, and lists every broken rule with the recorded value and the limit.
It also adds up each week and the full 14 days, counts extended days, and finds the longest weekly rest and the longest run of working days. Use it to plan a rota before it is driven, or to review a past two weeks from logbooks or trip reports.
What driving and rest hours does the TGA allow?
The Saudi Transport General Authority (TGA) set driving and rest limits for drivers in goods transport (reported in July 2018) and for bus drivers in specialized transport, bus rental, tour buses and international transport (in force from 30 April 2023). The main limits as reported in the Saudi press, reviewed in October 2026, are below. They come from the pre-2025 regulations, so confirm whether the 2025 executive regulations restate them.
| Rule | Reported limit | Default in this tool |
|---|---|---|
| Daily driving | 9 hours in any 24-hour period, extendable to 10 hours twice a week | 9 h, 10 h, 2 days a week |
| Continuous driving | 45-minute break after 4.5 hours of driving; can be split into 15 minutes, then 30 minutes | 4.5 h, 45 min |
| Weekly total | 56 hours | 56 h |
| Two consecutive weeks | 90 hours | 90 h |
| Daily rest | At least 11 consecutive hours | 11 h |
| Weekly rest | 45 consecutive hours for bus drivers; 48 hours reported for goods transport; no more than 6 working days in a row | 45 h, 6 days |
The reports also allow a driver to exceed the driving limits by up to 30 minutes or 50 km, whichever comes first, to reach a safe place to stop, and say rest taken while the vehicle is moving does not count. Rules can change and may differ by activity, so confirm the current requirements with TGA. In the UAE, Qatar, Oman and other GCC markets, enter the limits that apply to your operation in the Limits tab.
What data do you need to check driver hours?
| Input | Where to find it | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Driving time per day | Tachograph or driver card data, telematics driving reports, logbooks | Use the same day boundary for every day, for example midnight to midnight. |
| Longest driving stretch | Trip timeline or stop report | A stop shorter than the qualifying break does not end the stretch. |
| Breaks | Stop report or driver log | Count only breaks with no work done. |
| Other work | Timesheets, loading records | Needed only when totals count other work. |
| Rest after duty | End and start of duty times | For rest over days off, enter the whole unbroken rest. |
How are driving and rest hours checked?
Daily checks
A driver who drives 10 hours with a 4.5-hour limit drives 4.5 + 4.5 + 1 hours, so the day needs 2 breaks, or 90 minutes at the reported 45 minutes each.
Weekly and 14-day checks
Worked example: a two-week driver schedule
The example rows show a driver working Sunday to Thursday in week 1 and Sunday to Friday in week 2, checked against the TGA reference values.
- Monday and Wednesday of week 1 are extended days at 10 h, which the rules allow twice a week. Thursday at 9.5 h is the third extended day, so it is a violation.
- On Tuesday the driver drove 5 h without a break (limit 4.5 h) and rested only 10 h before the next duty (minimum 11 h): two violations.
- On Tuesday of week 2 the driver drove 10 h, which needs ⌈10 ÷ 4.5⌉ − 1 = 2 breaks, or 90 minutes. Only 60 minutes were taken.
- Week 1 has 47 h of driving and week 2 has 54 h, both within 56 h. Together they make 101 h, 11 h over the 14-day limit of 90 h.
- The rest after Thursday of week 1 is 58 h and after Friday of week 2 is 46 h, so both weekly rests meet 45 h. The longest run is 6 working days, within the limit.
Result: 5 violations, four of them on 3 of the 11 working days and one for the 14-day total. If totals count other work too, week 2 reaches 60 h and also breaks the weekly limit.
How to read your driver hours results
- Violations name the day, the rule, the recorded value and the limit. Fix the rota before it is driven, or record why it happened.
- Extended days are allowed but limited. A week that already used both leaves no slack for delays.
- Hours left in the weekly summary show how much driving the driver can still do this week and in this two-week period.
- A partial week (fewer than 7 rows) is not checked for weekly rest. Add the remaining days for a full check.
Common mistakes when checking driver hours
- Counting short stops as breaks. A 10-minute stop does not reset continuous driving.
- Counting rest on the move. Time in a sleeper cab or bus rest area while the vehicle is moving is not rest.
- Resetting weeks freely. The 14-day limit covers any two consecutive weeks. A light week does not cancel a heavy one before it.
- Ignoring other work. Loading and waiting time tire a driver too. Check which totals your rules count.
- Checking one driver card only. A driver who also drives another vehicle or for another employer must count all of it.
Assumptions and limits
This checker is a planning and review aid, not legal advice or a compliance certificate. Default limits are the TGA rules as reported in Saudi press coverage (Okaz and Ajel, January 2023, for bus drivers; Al Yaum, July 2018, for goods transport), reviewed in October 2026. These limits come from the pre-2025 regulations; confirm whether the 2025 executive regulations restate them, and verify current requirements with TGA or the authority in your country. The tool works on daily totals you enter: it does not read tachograph data, check rest within each rolling 24-hour period, apply the 30-minute or 50 km safe-stop allowance, or handle two-driver crews. Weeks are rows 1–7 and 8–14 as entered, and weekly rest is credited to the week in which the rest starts.