Health and safety

Your most important working tool is not the vehicle but yourself. A professional driver spends many hours behind the wheel, often at unsocial hours. That places demands on sleep, diet, exercise and judgement. The third main area of YKB training covers health, road safety and safety at work (direktiv (EU) 2022/2561 bilaga I, punkt 3).

Fatigue

Fatigue (trötthet) is one of the biggest risks in traffic. According to VTI (the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute), studies suggest that fatigue may be a contributing factor in around 10–40 per cent of all road traffic crashes.

The risk increases if you:

• have had too little sleep,
• have been awake for a long time,
• drive late at night or early in the morning.

VTI counts professional drivers as a risk group, together with young drivers, shift workers and people with sleep disorders. A shift starting at 04:00 after a short night's sleep is therefore a classic risk situation.

The Traffic Ordinance (trafikförordningen) is clear. You may not drive if, because of fatigue, you cannot drive in a safe manner (3 kap. 1 §). This applies even if you have driving time left under the driving and rest time rules. The rules are maximum limits, not a guarantee that you are alert.

The safe way to deal with fatigue is to stop in a safe place and rest or sleep. Turning up the radio or opening the window does not solve the underlying problem. New vehicles have a system that warns of driver drowsiness, but the system does not replace your own responsibility.

Sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea (sömnapné) can be an obstacle to holding a licence with the heavy categories if they are judged to be a road safety risk. If you are often tired even though you get enough sleep, you should contact a healthcare provider.

Alcohol and drugs

The drink-driving rules (rattfylleri) are the same for professional drivers as for other drivers (Act on penalties for certain traffic offences (lag 1951:649 om straff för vissa trafikbrott)):

• Drink-driving (rattfylleri): at least 0.2 promille alcohol in the blood or 0.10 mg per litre of exhaled air. The penalty is a fine or imprisonment for up to six months (4 §).
• Aggravated drink-driving (grovt rattfylleri): among other things, if the alcohol concentration is at least 1.0 promille in the blood or 0.50 mg per litre of exhaled air. The penalty is imprisonment for up to two years (4 a §).
• Narcotics: it counts as drink-driving (rattfylleri) to drive if any narcotic substance remains in your blood during or after the journey, even if you do not feel affected. An exception applies to medicines taken as prescribed.

The alcohol concentration is measured during or after the journey. So it does not help if the test is taken a while after you have parked.

Remember that alcohol stays in the body for a long time. After an evening of heavy drinking, you can still be affected when you start driving early the next morning.

Even prescribed medicines can affect your ability to drive. Read the package leaflet and ask a doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure.

Exercise and ergonomics

Long shifts in the driver's seat mean a lot of sitting still. Folkhälsomyndigheten (the Public Health Agency of Sweden) recommends that adults are physically active so that their pulse rises for at least 150–300 minutes per week and do muscle-strengthening activity at least twice a week. Long periods of sitting should be broken up with short breaks for movement.

For you as a driver this means:

• Use your breaks to take a walk and stretch.
• Adjust the seat, steering wheel and mirrors so that you sit relaxed with your back against the backrest.
• Lift and carry correctly when loading. Use lifting aids when available.
• Eat regularly and drink enough water.

Mobile phone and attention

You may only use a mobile phone while driving if it does not affect your driving negatively, and you may never hold it in your hand (trafikförordningen 4 kap. 10 e §). A moment's inattention with a heavy vehicle can have serious consequences.

Heavy vehicles in the crash statistics

According to Trafikanalys's (the Swedish transport analysis agency's) official statistics, 203 people were killed on the roads in Sweden in 2025. Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration) notes that lorries account for about six per cent of traffic volume but are involved in roughly one in five fatal crashes. In over 90 per cent of cases it is the other party who dies. As a professional driver, you therefore have a particularly great responsibility for the safety of others.

In a crash

If you are first on the scene of a crash, or are involved yourself, the following applies in broad terms:

1. Warn and protect. Switch on your hazard warning lights, position your vehicle so that it protects the scene and put out a warning triangle. Put on a high-visibility vest.
2. Call 112.
3. Help the injured as far as you can.

Assess the situation before you act, so that no more people are injured. Anyone who has been involved in a road traffic crash, whether or not it was their fault, may not leave the scene to avoid helping or giving their name and address. This is leaving the scene of an accident (smitning) and can lead to a fine or imprisonment (lag 1951:649 5 §).

Crime and people smuggling

Lorries and buses can be used to smuggle goods or people. YKB training must give you the ability to prevent crime and people smuggling (människosmuggling) (direktiv 2022/2561 bilaga I, punkt 3.2).

• Check the vehicle, the load space and seals before driving on, especially if the vehicle has been left unattended overnight near a port or border.
• Never accept money or favours to transport something or someone when you do not know what it is.
• Helping someone to enter Sweden illegally is a crime, people smuggling, which can lead to imprisonment.
• People hiding in a closed load space can be exposed to mortal danger.

If you suspect someone has hidden in the vehicle, contact the police.

Remember

• Fatigue can contribute to 10–40% of road traffic crashes, and professional drivers are a risk group.
• You must never drive if you are too tired, regardless of driving time left.
• Drink-driving: 0.2 promille. Aggravated drink-driving: among other things, from 1.0 promille.
• Narcotics in your blood count as drink-driving even if you feel unaffected.
• Move about during your breaks. Folkhälsomyndigheten recommends 150–300 minutes of pulse-raising activity per week.
• In a crash: warn and protect, call 112, help. Leaving the scene can be an offence (smitning).
• Check the vehicle and load after it has been left unattended.