Saudi Gazette report

TAIF — The Public Transport Authority (PTA) has introduced new rules to regulate the work of truck drivers.

The authority restricted the work of truckers to a maximum of nine hours a day and 56 hours a week with sufficient intervals to rest so that the drivers would not be overworked or exhausted.

The transport authority said the truck drivers should get enough time to rest to protect their own safety, the safety of other road users, prevent accidents and maintain the integrity of roads.

Quoting informed sources, local daily Al-Madina said on Sunday that the new rules would coincide with the introduction of an advanced technological system to electronically monitor the movement of trucks on the Kingdom’s roads.

The sources said a fine between SR2,000 and SR5,000 would be imposed if these rules were violated and the drivers not given enough time to rest.

They said the authority would make it mandatory on all trucks to install an electronic gadget that would be automatically linked to a control center monitoring their movement. The electronic gate will be launched soon. Under the new rules, a truck driver should not drive beyond nine hours a day except in emergency situations when the number of work hours may go up to 10 hours a day twice in a week.

It said the weekly work of the truck drivers should be 56 hours and should not exceed 90 hours in a fortnight under any circumstances. The new rules stipulate that the driver should rest for at least 45 minutes after every four and a half hours of continuous driving, the sources said.

They said the drivers should rest for 11 hours daily and 48 hours after every week of continuous work.