Yes, Plenty of fines but it does seem to be a bit of hit and miss.
As of July 2015 this ia what one legal firm had done for its clients.
Qoute
Are drivers paying for taking 45h breaks in their Trucks?
20/07/2015
NEWS
We already have our statistics and we took care of a few cases, according the 45-hours law in France, we paid fines like this and our lawyers are defending it now. In a few Months we will gave the first results.
February – 4 fines
March - 8 fines. à Fines from 2.500€ to 4.000€
April – 1 fine
Let’s remind what was the regulation about?
Driver can not pick up a regular (45hour) break in the truck in France. A driver can be controlled and get a fine for that reason
Company can get a fine of even 50’000€ if the French police will decide that they are pushing the drivers to pick up the breaks in the truck against the law.
What to do to avoid the fines?
- Driver should never sign or confirm that he pick up the whole break in the truck.
- Try to pick up a short break in France (24h) and the long break (45h) outside of the country if possible
- Driver should take out a card of the tachograph
Unquote.