Significant improvements in the supervision of driving times and rest periods

At the beginning of 2025, the occupational safety and health authority introduced a new tachograph data  analysis programme (Tachospeed). As a result, information on violations detected during inspections of driving time and rest periods is now transferred in real time to Traficom, which can then initiate the process for assessing the company’s good repute if necessary. The process involves consulting the company and may result in a notice, warning, or cancellation of the company’s transport permit. Previously, supervision data was transferred manually through tables and could not be utilised effectively.

In the future, the common risk classification scheme of EU countries will also be used to exchange information between authorities. The risk category of a transport enterprise consists of observations made during roadside inspections and occupational safety and health inspections. In Finland, Traficom determines the risk category on the basis of information provided by the police, Customs, the Border Guard, occupational safety and health authorities, and other authorities in EU Member States.

‘Traficom automatically notifies our system of permits and risk categories of transport companies. We can use this information when targeting supervision at companies that particularly need it,’ says Inspector Ville Gröndahl from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland.

In addition, the new analysis programme helps OSH inspectors detect violations more effectively than before. It makes it easier to see, for example, if the driver uses a card that belongs to another driver or that has been granted on the wrong basis. 

Many companies neglect driving times and rest periods

There is a great need for more effective supervision, as serious neglect of driving times and rest periods is very common. In 2024, the occupational safety and health authority inspected a total of 614 transport companies in Finland. Of these, 497, or 80%, were found to have violations related to driving times and resting periods or tachograph violations.

214 companies, or 35% of the inspected companies, had had drivers who did not use the driver card with the tachograph. Typically, this is done to hide excessively long driving times and insufficient daily and weekly rest periods.

‘It is important to remember that this is a very serious violation. Companies must not give their drivers any direct or indirect incentives that might tempt them to misuse the tachograph,’ Gröndahl points out.

Driving times and rest periods are monitored through both roadside and company inspections. In roadside inspections, the police handle individual violations of the driver with the driver themselves. If necessary, roadside inspections are also carried out by the Finnish Customs and the Border Guard. In company supervision, occupational safety and health inspectors examine the company’s vehicles and drivers comprehensively and provide transport companies with official guidance when necessary.

A total of 5,829 drivers were checked during the driving and rest period inspection carried out by occupational safety and health inspectors in 2024. The number of inspected driving days totalled more than 375,820.

Professional traffic outside the EU’s joint monitoring of driving and rest periods is also supervised in Finland

The EU defines quantitative targets for the supervision of driving times and rest periods. National authorities must inspect at least 3% of driving days for transports that are subject to European legislation on driving times, rest periods and the use of tachographs. Half of the supervision must be made up of company inspections.

There are also some professional traffic operations in Finland that are not part of the EU’s joint monitoring of driving and rest periods. Some of such professional transports are exempt in all EU countries from the EU regulation regarding driving and rest periods. In addition, it has been possible to provide separate national legislation on some exceptions. These include local transport by bus, taxi services and transport of ready-mixed concrete.

‘We have noticed that there are clear shortcomings in transports that are outside of the scope of the EU regulation on driving times and rest periods, for example concerning the use of the driver’s personal driving log in accordance with section 31 of the Working Hours Act if the driver cannot or does not want to use the tachograph in transports outside the scope of the regulation. This is a problem that often requires official instructions. ‘For this reason, a decision has been made to target official supervision at such companies during the next supervision period,’ says Gröndahl.