The commonest confusion in a transport office is that there are two rule sets running at the same time and they count different things. Drivers' hours count driving. The working time rules count working: driving plus other work, and they bring their own breaks and their own weekly limits. A driver can be inside one and outside the other, which is why an office that only analyses driving finds itself surprised. This page is about the second set and how it sits beside the first.
Working is not driving
The working time rules count the whole of what a driver does at work, which includes loading, waiting where it is not designated availability, checks and paperwork, not just the driving the tachograph records as driving. That is the single fact that explains most of the difference between the two sets, and it is why a day well inside the driving limit can breach a working time limit.
The 6 hour point, and what it is about
The rule people mean by the 6 hour rule is a break requirement counted on working time rather than on driving. It is not the same as the tacho break, which falls after driving time, and the two do not always coincide. An office that plans breaks on the driving clock alone will meet one requirement and miss the other on exactly the days that are busiest.
Where the two sets meet
They meet at the shift: a day has to satisfy the driving limits, the driving break rule, the working time limits and the working time break rule at once. Reduced weekly rest changes the driving side's arithmetic and does not excuse the working side. The practical answer for a small office is to check both against the same day rather than to reason about them separately, which is what the free check on this site is arranged to do.
Questions people ask about working time directive hgv
What does the working time directive add for HGV drivers?
Limits and breaks counted on working time rather than driving time, with their own averaging period. GOV.UK's guidance is where the requirements are set out; this page explains the shape rather than restating them.
Is the WTD break the same as the tachograph break?
No. One is counted after driving, the other after working, and they do not always fall at the same point in a shift. Meeting one does not mean meeting the other.
What is the 6 hour rule?
A break requirement on the working time side, counted on working rather than driving. Which figure applies to your operation is a question for the guidance, not for this page.
Does reduced weekly rest affect working time?
It changes the driving side's arithmetic. The working time limits are counted separately, which is the point of checking a day against both.