The Senate approved this Tuesday (24), in two rounds, the text of the proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 22/2025, which establishes the National Policy to Support Professional Road Transport Activities. 
Among other points, the proposal aims to ensure adequate resting places for professional freight and passenger drivers at regular intervals on highways.
In the first round, the proposal received 66 votes in favor and none against. In the second round there were 69 votes in favor. No senator voted against. The text now goes to the Chamber of Deputies for consideration.
The PEC adds a provision to the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act (ADCT) to guarantee a minimum infrastructure for stopping and rest points. The text says that the National Policy to Support Professional Road Transport Activity will be established by the Union in conjunction with the states, the Federal District, municipalities and the private sector.
According to the proposal, until a regulatory law is enacted, the driver cannot be penalized if he fails to comply with the rest intervals provided for in the legislation when there is no adequate structure on the route, previously recognized by the public authorities.
“Until the coverage of the road network reaches a sufficient number of places of rest and rest with adequate safety, hygiene and rest conditions, in order to guarantee that professional drivers – employed or self-employed – can fully comply with occupational health and safety and traffic standards, the splitting of the daily rest period for professional drivers on long-distance trips will be permitted”, says the proposal.
The text also states that the daily rest period for professional drivers on long-distance trips – lasting more than 24 hours – will be at least eleven hours, with a minimum period of eight uninterrupted hours of rest between two workdays, complemented, in this case, by additional rest periods during the journey.
For employed professional drivers, the splitting of the scheduled rest period will be conditioned on the conclusion of a collective bargaining agreement or convention.
Another point of the PEC says that the accumulation of paid weekly rest periods will be allowed, limited to four consecutive periods, as long as it is provided for in an agreement or collective bargaining agreement.
In road transport of passengers carried out by a pair of professional drivers, resting inside the moving vehicle will be permitted, as long as it is equipped with a rest compartment and provided for in a collective bargaining agreement or convention.
Furthermore, the Union, through the competent bodies, will annually publish an official report mapping the coverage of resting places for professional drivers and updating the classification of road sections.
