Counting time

The content on this page refers to transitional arrangements put in place due to changes to the Heavy Vehicle National Law and Regulations that commence on 1 August 2026. There may be references to different rules that are operating side by side for a fixed amount of time. For more information, please see HVNL reform implementation.

On this page

• Glossary of key terms
• What is work time and rest time
• Rules for counting time
  • Standard hours and Alternative Compliance Hours (ACH)
  • Basic Fatigue Management (BFM)
  • Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM)
  • Long/night work time
  • Counting work and rest time in Written Work Diary
  • Counting work and rest time in an Electronic Work Diary
  • Time zones
  • How to determine a 24-hour period for the purposes of counting time?
• More information

Glossary

What is work time and rest time

Work time

Work time includes all tasks to do with the operation of the fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle. For more information, see Definition of work and work time. 

It doesn’t matter if any of these tasks occur on private property or on a road or road-related area; they are still classified as work.

Rest time

Any time that is not work time.

Rules for counting time

Drivers and other responsible parties in the supply chain are required by law to count work and rest times in a specific way.

How to count periods less than 24-hours — all drivers

Work periods of less than 24-hours must be counted forward from the end of any rest break. 

How to count 24-hour periods or longer — by hours option

The rule for counting periods of 24 hours or longer depends on which hours option you are working under.

Counting periods for standard hours and Alternative Compliance Hours (ACH) is now simplified — one consistent rule applies across all period lengths.

Standard hours and Alternative Compliance Hours (ACH)

For drivers operating under standard hours or ACH, all periods of 24-hours or longer - including 7, 14 and 28-day periods - must be counted forward from the end of the longest major rest break required under your hours option.

To find the longest major rest break, refer to the 'Rest' column in the work and rest 'Table of hours' for your option. For ACH drivers, the longest major rest break is stated on your accreditation certificate for each counting period of 24 hours or longer.

Examples

• A standard hours solo driver would count a period of 7 days from the end of a rest break of 24 or more continuous hours.
• A standard hours solo driver would count a period of 14 days from the end of a night rest break.

If you have not taken the required rest break, count from the end of any rest break.

Basic Fatigue Management (BFM)

For drivers operating under BFM, all periods of 24 hours or longer must be counted forward from the end of the relevant major rest break required under your BFM hours option.
To find the relevant major rest break, refer to the 'Rest' column in the BFM work and rest 'Table of hours'.

Example

• A BFM solo driver would count a period of 14 days from the end of a rest break of 24 or more continuous hours OR from the end of a night rest break.

If you have not taken the required rest break, count from the end of any rest break.

Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM)

For drivers operating under AFM, all periods of 24 hours or longer must be counted forward from the end of the relevant major rest break required under your AFM hours option.

To find the relevant major rest break, refer to the 'Rest' column in the work and rest 'Table of hours' for your option. For AFM drivers, the relevant major rest break is stated on your accreditation certificate for each counting period of 24 hours or longer.

If you have not taken the required rest break, count from the end of any rest break.

Important note: You must count work and rest time for the whole 24-hour period following the end of a relevant major rest break for BFM or AFM; or from the end of the longest major rest break for standard hours or ACH. If you take another (subsequent) relevant/long major rest break during that 24-hour period, it does not reset the 24-hour period and you must continue counting work time for that 24-hour period after the break. You must count all work time before and after the subsequent relevant major rest break in that 24-hour period.

For example, if you started working at 6:00am and:

• worked 5¼ hrs (6.00 -11.15am) and then took a 15-minute break
• worked 2¼ hrs (11.30am –1.45pm) and then took a 90-minute break
• worked 4½ hrs (3.15 –7.45pm) then took a 7-hour major rest break

then you have completed the maximum 12 hours work time in any 24-hour period at 7.45pm and may not commence working again until 6.00am the next day because that is when the 24-hour period you are counting finishes.

Note: When your 7-hour major rest break finishes at 2.45am, a new 24-hour counting period does not commence. If you had work hours left within the 24-hour counting period, and recommenced work at 2.45am, this would instead create an overlapping 24-hour counting period.

Counting long/night work time

Long/night work time means any work time that is:

• greater than 12 hours in a 24-hour period, or
• between midnight and 6am, according to the time zone of the driver's base.

Both long and night work must be counted together.

Under BFM, the 7-day counting period uses a long/night work time cap of 36 hours rather than a total work time cap. See the BFM 'Table of hours' for details.

Under ACH, whether a long/night work time limit applies, and what that limit is, depends on what is set out on the operator's ACH certificate. Drivers operating under ACH should refer to their certificate for the applicable requirements.

Counting work and rest time in a Written Work Diary (WWD)

The following rounding rules apply when recording work and rest time in a Written Work Diary (WWD). Work and rest times are counted in 15-minute periods in a WWD.

Work time rounds up

Work time is subject to maximum limits. Record work time by rounding up to the next 15-minute interval.

Rest time rounds down

Rest time is subject to minimum requirements. Record rest time by rounding down to the previous 15-minute interval.

Counting work and rest time in an Electronic Work Diary

An Electronic Work Diary (EWD) rounds work and rest time differently from a WWD.

When using an EWD:

• Work time and rest time are counted in one-minute periods
• Periods of work or rest less than one minute are not counted
• A continuous rest period of less than 15 minutes does not count towards a minimum rest requirement.

Work time is counted to the minute

Each completed minute of work counts towards the driver’s maximum work time.

Rest time is counted to the minute

A continuous rest period of 15 minutes or more is counted to the minute.

Time zones

Rules for recording time in different time zones

Both work time and rest time must be counted relative to the time zone of your base (that is, your journey starting point).

For example:

• If you are based in Queensland and you drive into New South Wales during daylight savings time, record your work and rest hours in Queensland time.

For more information, see Managing fatigue work and rest requirements under Daylight Saving Time. 

How to determine a 24-hour period for the purposes of counting time?

More information

Contact info@nhvr.gov.au for more information on fatigue management.