How to create a daily plan for drivers and trucks

In brief

A daily plan is not a list of deliveries. It is the intersection of orders to carry out, available drivers, available vehicles and real constraints. If one of these four elements is overlooked, the plan may look perfect at 07:00 and become impossible to carry out by 10:30.

For fleets subject to European social legislation, planning must also comply with the rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods. Management software can help organise information, but responsibility for complying with the applicable rules remains with the parties subject to the obligations.

Which data to start with

Before assigning the first order, four up-to-date lists are needed:

Orders. Which collections/deliveries have to be performed, with what time windows and priorities?

Drivers. Who is available? Who is absent? Who has specific qualifications or restrictions? What is the relevant driving/rest situation?

Trucks. Which vehicles are operational? Is any vehicle under maintenance? Are payload, equipment or characteristics compatible with the goods?

External constraints. Appointments, access restrictions, limited-traffic zones, driving bans, waiting times, document requirements, customer conditions.

In a small company, the competitive advantage does not come from a sophisticated algorithm, but from how well these four lists are kept up to date.

Driving times: the limits that affect the plan

Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 establishes common rules on driving times for vehicles and operations within its scope. The European Commission summarises some key limits:

• daily driving normally no more than 9 hours;
• it may be extended to 10 hours twice a week;
• weekly driving no more than 56 hours;
• total driving over two consecutive weeks no more than 90 hours.

These figures are not “targets” to fill. They are maximum limits within a framework that also includes rest periods, breaks, exceptions and specific cases. Planning systematically to the maximum leaves very little margin for traffic, waiting or customer changes.

Breaks and rest periods

After a driving period of 4 hours and 30 minutes, the driver must generally take a break of at least 45 minutes, unless they begin a rest period. The break may be split according to the conditions set out in the regulation.

There are also minimum daily and weekly rest periods. The Mobility Package strengthened certain rules on regular weekly rest: a regular weekly rest period of at least 45 hours may not be spent in the vehicle, and the undertaking must organise the work of employed drivers so that they can return periodically to the operational centre or their place of residence under the conditions of the regulation.

For the dispatcher, the consequence is clear: it is not enough to know that the driver is physically present. It is necessary to know whether they can legally be planned for the assigned service.

The new scope above 2.5 t from 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026, Regulation 561/2006 extends its scope, for international road haulage or cabotage operations, to vehicles with a maximum permissible mass exceeding 2.5 tonnes, including any trailer or semi-trailer.

In April 2026, the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport published clarifications on the obligation to install and use a tachograph for these vehicles in the relevant operations. For many SMEs using vans or light vehicles above 2.5 t internationally, this is not a theoretical change: it changes how work is planned and documented.

A six-step planning method

1. Block in orders with a fixed time. They determine the structure of the day.
2. Exclude unavailable drivers and vehicles. Do not leave resources that “may become available” in the plan.
3. Check technical and documentary compatibility. Not every truck can perform every service.
4. Check the time margin. Take account of travel, loading/unloading, breaks and a realistic buffer.
5. Assign flexible activities. Fit them into the remaining time, not the other way around.
6. Publish a clear version of the plan. The driver must know which task is valid now.

The plan does not have to be perfect: it has to be updateable. In road haulage, the quality of planning is also measured by how quickly the company manages an unforeseen event without losing control of the other deliveries.

Practical example

Three drivers have to cover four orders. Two deliveries have fixed appointments at 09:00 and 11:00; two are flexible in the afternoon. One driver has already accumulated many driving hours during the week.

A naive plan assigns work based on the shortest distance. A sound plan also considers the driver's remaining capacity, foreseeable breaks and the possible option of moving the flexible orders. The aim is not to keep “all the trucks moving” at any cost, but to build a workable day.

Checklist

• Are unavailable drivers excluded from the plan?
• Has the driving/rest situation been checked with appropriate company tools and processes?
• Are vehicles under maintenance blocked?
• Are fixed time windows highlighted?
• Are realistic loading/unloading times included?
• Does the plan allow for traffic and unforeseen events?
• Are changes communicated without creating multiple competing versions?