Driving hours relaxed for animal feed deliveries

The Government has brought in a temporary and limited emergency relaxation in driver hour regulations to deliver feed supplies to livestock farms to make sure essential deliveries of animal feed get through during the current extreme winter weather conditions.

The Agricultural Industries Confederation welcomed the response and said it would 'allow feed materials to continue being delivered to feed mills and finished livestock rations to be delivered to farms during the current wintery weather.'

The move has been achieved with considerable support from NFU Scotland where the difficulties of farm deliveries has been particularly severe.

"Defra has worked over the weekend to get this relaxation in place and is to be applauded for its work," said George Perrott, Head of AIC’s Feed Sector.

"Much of the feed is delivered in bulk using specialist vehicles with specially trained drivers, who have the knowledge to safely operate such lorries at mills and on-farm.


"Without this relaxation, there would not be sufficient drivers to meet the increased demand for feed and cope with the inevitable delays on snowy or icy road networks."

The temporary relaxation lasts until 30 March and will be regularly reviewed.

This temporary relaxation of enforcement applies immediately and will run until 23.59 on 30 March 2013.

It applies only to those drivers involved in the distribution of raw materials to feed mills and prepared feed to livestock farms located in Great Britain and will mean:

- Replacement of the EU daily driving limit of 9 hours with one of 10 hours;

- Reduction of the daily rest requirements from 11 hours to 9 hours;

- Postponing the weekly rest requirement by up to 24 hours, following which drivers should take their weekly rest as normal. Drivers will however be required to take a minimum rest of 24 hours beginning no later than the end of the eleventh day since the end of his/her last weekly rest period.


The requirement to take a 45 minute break after 4½ hours driving remains and will continue to be enforced.