Truck driver overtime: 25%, 50% and the thresholds nobody checks
Updated on 13 June 2026
This is where the most money is lost in transport. Not necessarily through dishonesty, but because the calculation is complex and almost no one cross-checks their actual hours against what gets paid. Here's how it works.
Overtime is any hour worked beyond the statutory working time. In road freight transport, it is not paid at the same rate as a normal hour: it attracts a premium. But first it has to be counted — and that's where everything falls apart.
1. Working time, not driving time
First misconception to clear up: overtime is calculated on working time (effective working time), not just the time spent behind the wheel. Working time includes driving, but also loading and unloading, waiting ordered by the employer, maintenance, manoeuvring, etc.
As a result, you may have driven "little" on paper and yet accumulated a large volume of working hours due to dock waiting. If only driving time is taken into account, some of your overtime disappears.
2. Premium rates: 25% then 50%
Overtime is paid at your hourly rate increased by a premium. The general principle:
- +25% on the first band of overtime hours.
- +50% beyond a certain volume of overtime hours in the month.
The transition from 25% to 50% depends on the thresholds applicable to your status and your company agreement. Always check the rates stated in your collective agreement and your payslip.
3. Monthly thresholds (152 h / 186 h)
In transport, working time is often tracked as a monthly cumulative. Depending on status (short-distance, long-distance, long-haul) and the applicable agreement, reference thresholds of around 152 h then 186 h per month are used, beyond which the nature and premium of hours changes.
These figures are reference points: they vary by category and are not read the same way for a short-distance driver and a long-haul driver. The key point: your monthly hours place you in a "band", and each band has its own treatment. A band error = a pay error.
4. The most common pitfalls
- Dock waiting time not counted: real working hours that do not appear in the total.
- Hours smoothed on a "flat-rate" basis without checking that the flat rate actually covers actual hours in some months.
- Premium at the wrong rate: hours paid at +25% that should have been +50%.
- Counter reset inconsistently from one month to the next.
🛠 Cross-check your actual hours in seconds
TruckerMaster reads your driver card and reconstructs your real working time, day by day. You can compare it with your payslip to spot missing or under-compensated hours — the concrete basis if you want to open a discussion with your employer.
Check my hours for free →