Hi all,
sorry for this being another “can I, can’t I” thread…
I’ve been reading through some other threads regarding newbies driving part-time on days off from other full-time employment, but can’t get my head round how the rules apply to my situation.
I work shifts - 6 on, 3 off, 6 on, 3 off, etc. - these are made up of both early, late and night shifts, all 8 hours in length
Since my working rotation (work + rest before starting again) is a total of 9 days long - when / how often would I be entitled to drive under EU rules?
Thanks for any input.
BGC
In any week you drive under EU rules you must have a weekly rest period. This is normally a minimum of 45 hours however every second week you can reduce this to a minimum of 24 hours but there is a price to pay for that in you must make up the hours you have reduced by within 3 weeks by attaching them, in one lump, to a rest period of at least 9 hours.
For someone who works Monday to Friday this usually means they can drive one day every two weeks but your situation is different. Because you have a rolling shift pattern you will have some weeks, the week being 00:00 Monday to 24:00 Sunday, where you have 3 days off, some 2 days off and some just 1. This makes it difficult to say what days you can drive. In the weeks with one day off you would not be able to drive in the weeks with 2 days of you might be able to work one, depending if you had driven in the previous week or not. The weeks with three days of you should be able to work one day but may be able to do two, again depending on the previous week.
Sorry to make it sound complicated and not give a definitive answer but it’s your fault for having that shift pattern. 
To try to simplify it you must have at least one day off each week and every second week at least two days so if you can fit that in around your rota you should be able to do one day every two weeks although on occasions it will be one day every three weeks.
Slightly clearer now, cheers buddy 
If you want to go further with this for a bit of fun…
WEEK…MON…TUE…WED…THU…FRI…SAT…SUN
… 1 …WK…WK…WK…WK…WK…WK…OFF
… 2 …OFF…OFF…WK…WK…WK…WK…WK
… 3 …WK…OFF…OFF…OFF…WK…WK…WK
… 4 …WK…WK…WK…OFF…OFF…OFF…WK
… 5 …WK…WK…WK…WK…WK…OFF…OFF
… 6 …OFF…WK…WK…WK…WK…WK…WK
… 7 …OFF…OFF…OFF…WK…WK…WK…WK
… 8 …WK…WK…OFF…OFF…OFF…WK…WK
… 9 …WK…WK…WK…WK…OFF…OFF…OFF
9 week rolling rota of 6 on 3 off
Needs WK changing for EA (early) LA (late) or NI (night)
ROG –
WEEK…MON…TUE…WED…THU…FRI…SAT…SUN
… 1 …EA…EA…EA…EA…EA…EA…OFF
… 2 …OFF…OFF…LA…LA…LA…NI…NI
… 3 …NI…OFF…OFF…OFF…EA…EA…EA
… 4 …LA…LA…LA…OFF…OFF…OFF…LA
… 5 …LA…LA…NI…NI…NI…OFF…OFF
… 6 …OFF…EA…EA…EA…EA…EA…EA
… 7 …OFF…OFF…OFF…LA…LA…LA…NI
… 8 …NI…NI…OFF…OFF…OFF…EA…EA
… 9 …EA…LA…LA…LA…OFF…OFF…OFF
Not the easiest of patterns! 
For anyone to be specific they would need to know the start and finish times of each shift
To be honest I doubt you could legally work many days driving with a 6 on 3 off work pattern 
WEEK…MON…TUE…WED…THU…FRI…SAT…SUN
… 1 …EA…EA…EA…EA…EA…EA…OFF
… 2 …OFF…OFF…LA…LA…LA…NI…NI
… 3 …NI…OFF…OFF…OFF…EA…EA…EA
… 4 …LA…LA…LA…OFF…OFF…OFF…LA
… 5 …LA…LA…NI…NI…NI…OFF…OFF
… 6 …OFF…EA…EA…EA…EA…EA…EA
… 7 …OFF…OFF…OFF…LA…LA…LA…NI
… 8 …NI…NI…OFF…OFF…OFF…EA…EA
… 9 …EA…LA…LA…LA…OFF…OFF…OFF
I THINK the 6 day rule would apply so perhaps the extra days for driving would need to be at least every other week with at least one day OFF shown in each of those weeks 
Hmmm… not so much FUN as I first thought 
Thanks for your help ROG and Coffeeholic, I appreciate it.
tachograph - if you really have nothing better to do - EA = 0600-1400, LA = 1400 - 2200, NI = 2200 - 0600