Hello All
I know that you need a 45 min break after 4.5 hrs driving and after the second 4.5 hours another break with the possibility of working for an extra hour after that but only twice in a week.
What I still have some confusion over is this;
If I work for the first period of 4.5 hours and then have a 45 min break and in the second period I work for three hours say, and then take a 45 min break does that then mean I can work for 2 1/2 hours before the end of my day?
The reason I am asking is because on a number of jobs I have had to wait around for ages in the shift, and what I have been asked to do is to take a break for 45 mins so that the company can sort out any issue(things like rejected goods and where they will eventualy need to go), This does not cause me an problem but I was wondering if the split in the periods of driving i.e. the second session of 4.5 hours could be added to the final session without it effecting my total time. I have spoken to a couple of people about this but the stock answer seems to be take a 45 min break or combination of 15 and 30 mins in the 4.5 hours and then you can do the next 4.5 hours. This is not always possible and I was hoping to clarify where I stood in terms of keeping legal.
Many thanks as always 
Truckist
If I work for the first period of 4.5 hours and then have a 45 min break and in the second period I work for three hours say, and then take a 45 min break does that then mean I can work for 2 1/2 hours before the end of my day?
Quick answer - yes that’s fine. Pete 
The 2 1/2 at the end looks ok to me. The 4 1/2 is a maximum. You could do 3 hours have a 45, do 3 hours have a 45, and then do 4 hours.
Yep, every time you take a 45 minute break (or a 30 minute break to add to a 15 minute break taken earlier), you “wipe the slate” and your 4½ hour available driving time starts again, up to your maximum daily driving time.
Whenever you’ve completed a 45 minute break or a split 45 minute break the driving time is reset but it does not affect how much driving you can do in the day.
You don’t have to do 4½ hours driving before having the break, if you do 2 hours driving then have a 45 minute break or complete a split break the driving time is reset to 0 so you can now again drive for 4½ hours before needing another break.
Legally you can have as many breaks as you like and it will never affect how much driving time you have available in the day.
By the way you’ve mentioned a couple of times working 4½ hours but work is not necessarily driving, the 4½ hour driving limit is actual driving and does not include other work.
