HGV Rota: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Get It Right

When you’re behind the wheel of a heavy goods vehicle, your HGV rota, a planned schedule of driving, rest, and duty times for commercial drivers. Also known as a driver’s duty roster, it’s not just paperwork—it’s the backbone of your safety, your pay, and your sanity on the road. If you don’t understand your rota, you’re not just risking a fine—you’re risking fatigue, mistakes, and worse. In the UK, this isn’t optional. The law demands it, your company depends on it, and your body needs it.

Your HGV working hours, the total time you’re on duty, including driving, loading, and admin. Also known as duty time, it’s tracked down to the minute under EU and UK rules. You can drive up to 9 hours a day, but only if you’ve had 11 hours off before that. And if you’re doing two drives in one day? You need a 45-minute break in between. These aren’t suggestions—they’re legal limits. Miss one, and you could be fined, your company could lose its operating licence, and your license could be suspended. Your driver rest periods, the mandatory breaks you must take to avoid fatigue. Also known as daily and weekly rest, they’re your body’s way of staying sharp. That 11-hour daily rest? It’s not a suggestion to nap in the cab. It’s 11 hours where you’re completely off duty, ideally sleeping in a proper bed. And your weekly rest? 45 hours straight off—no driving, no loading, no calls from dispatch. Skip it once, and you’re playing Russian roulette with your safety and your job.

And here’s the thing: a good HGV rota doesn’t just follow the rules—it works for you. Some drivers get rota’s that send them from London to Glasgow and back in two days. Others get rota’s with long hauls, weekend rests, and predictable drop-offs. The best ones balance legal limits with real-life needs: family time, meal breaks, and sleep. You don’t have to guess. You can plan it. You can ask for it. You can push back when it’s unsafe. And if your company won’t give you a proper schedule, that’s a red flag.

What you’ll find below are real stories and practical guides from drivers who’ve been there—how to read your tachograph, how to spot a rota that’s too tight, how to handle last-minute changes without breaking the law, and what to do when your rest time gets cut short. No fluff. No theory. Just what works on the road, day after day.