Portugal fines Spanish carrier 6,300 EUR for tachograph overruns of 5 to 10 minutes

The Spanish transport federation FENADISMER said on 2026-10-28 that Portugal fined a Spanish carrier 6,300 EUR for three tachograph infringements, each a driving overrun of 5 to 10 minutes past the 4h30 limit. According to FENADISMER, the fine was 2,100 EUR per day, a court classed the overruns as very serious, and the association will complain to the European Commission. We found no statement from the carrier or Portuguese authorities, so every case fact is FENADISMER's account.

What FENADISMER says happened

According to FENADISMER , the GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana, Portugal's national gendarmerie) checked a Spanish truck at the roadside and read its tachograph records for the previous 56 driving days. The labour inspectorate ACT (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho) then imposed the fines. FENADISMER lists three continuous-driving overruns of 5, 6, and 10 minutes, which means 4h35, 4h36, and 4h40 of driving before a break.

FENADISMER says ACT fined the company 2,100 EUR for each of the three days, 6,300 EUR in total, plus court costs, and that the company challenged the fines administratively and then in court. FENADISMER says a court, which it does not name, rejected the challenge in full, called the size of the overruns entirely irrelevant, and classed them as very serious infringements. According to Diario de Transporte , the company had invoked Article 12 of Regulation 561/2006, which lets a driver depart from the driving rules to reach a suitable stopping place, together with the principle of proportionality.

FENADISMER adds that strict compliance is sometimes physically impossible on motorways without safe stopping places, and that stopping on the hard shoulder creates its own safety risk.

How the fine compares with the EU and Portuguese scales

Article 7 of Regulation (EC) 561/2006 requires an uninterrupted break of at least 45 minutes after 4h30 of driving, which can be split into a break of at least 15 minutes followed by one of at least 30 minutes. The regulation leaves penalties to member states but requires them to be effective, proportionate, dissuasive and non-discriminatory (Article 19). Our guide to EU driving hours and rest periods covers the full rule set.

The Commission grades the same breach by size. Under Annex III of Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/403 , driving over 4h30 and under 5h without the break is a minor infringement, 5h to under 6h is serious, and 6h or more is very serious. All three overruns FENADISMER reports, at 4h35 to 4h40, sit in the minor band. That grading does not set fines, and we read the bands from the 2016 text, not a later restatement.

Portugal's own scale uses the same cut-offs. Decreto-Lei 84/2026 , in force since 2026-07-12, replaced Lei 27/2010 and treats driving without the required breaks as leve (minor) below 5 hours, grave (serious) from 5 to under 6 hours, and muito grave (very serious) from 6 hours. The old law used the same cut-offs. FENADISMER gives no infringement dates, so either regime could apply, but the classes match.

On the published scale, driving for 4h35 to 4h40 is leve, while FENADISMER reports a very serious classification. No source we found states the legal basis for the fine, so the gap is unexplained, not proven wrong.

What happens next for operators

FENADISMER says it will file a formal complaint with the European Commission and wants Portugal to apply reasonableness criteria in road transport inspections. As of 2026-10-31 we have seen no confirmation that a complaint has been filed or that the Commission has taken a position.

Carriers sending drivers through Portugal should schedule the 45 minute break well before 4h30, not at it. Under Article 36 of the same decree, an employer is liable for a driver's infringement even outside Portugal unless it shows it organised the work so the driver could comply. Article 62 allows seizure of a non-resident offender's vehicle if the minimum fine is not deposited on the spot. Real-time fleet tracking of each vehicle's rest window lets dispatchers plan a stop before the limit.

The Logifie Driver Assistant app for iOS and Android shows your drivers their remaining driving time before the roadside check does.