Per diem for drivers in international transport 2026: new Slovak rates up to €64, calculated from GPS

What changed on 30 January 2026

Measure No. 9/2026 Coll. added a new § 1a to Measure No. 401/2012 Coll. with special basic per diem rates for mobile workers in road transport. It has applied since 30 January 2026. The ministry was allowed to set higher rates for certain sectors by Act No. 261/2025 Coll., which amended § 13 of the Slovak Travel Allowances Act.

For truck and bus drivers the difference is significant: a full day in Germany now pays €63 instead of €45, Hungary €55 instead of €39, Czechia CZK 1,200 instead of CZK 600.

Who is entitled to the special rates

The rates apply to a mobile worker in road transport under § 7(1) of Act No. 462/2007 Coll. – a crew member of a vehicle subject to the driving and rest time rules of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. In practice:

• goods vehicles over 3.5 t (categories N2, N3), • buses and coaches (categories M2, M3), • from 1 July 2026 also vans over 2.5 t in international transport, which must have a tachograph – see tachographs in vans from 2026.

A sales representative in a passenger car or a technician in a light van on a service trip keeps the standard foreign per diem. What counts is the vehicle and the work, not the job title in the contract.

Driver per diem rates by country

The rate applies per calendar day spent abroad for more than 12 hours. Shorter stays are reduced in the same way as the standard foreign per diem: up to 6 hours 25 %, 6 to 12 hours 50 % (§ 13 of Act No. 283/2002 Coll.). Meals provided by the employer reduce it further.

Example: a truck driver in Austria and Germany

A driver leaves Bratislava on Monday at 6:00, crosses into Austria at 7:00, reaches Germany in the afternoon and returns to Slovakia on Wednesday at 18:00. On Tuesday the driver spends the whole day in Germany (24 h), so the per diem is €63. On Monday the driver is abroad for 17 hours and gets the full rate of the country where he spent the most time. On Wednesday the driver is abroad for 18 hours, again the full rate. In total €189 of foreign per diem for three days – €135 at standard rates.

This is exactly the calculation SaveTrack does for you: from GPS it knows when the vehicle crossed which border, how many hours it spent in each country and which rate applies on that day.

How SaveTrack calculates it from GPS

For business journeys, SaveTrack groups a driver's business trips into journeys, detects border crossings from the positions and calculates domestic and foreign per diem for every day.

• Vehicles in categories N2, N3, M2 and M3 get the special rates automatically from the category in the vehicle detail. • For a lighter vehicle with a tachograph, just switch on International road transport – the special rates apply to days from 1 July 2026. • A country not in the special table (e.g. Switzerland) uses the standard rate. • Amounts in foreign currency (CZK, DKK, SEK) are converted to euros at the ECB rate on the day the journey starts.

The employer then reviews the journey, adds any meals provided, confirms it and exports it for payroll. It all builds on the GPS trip log that SaveTrack keeps automatically. The link to travel allowances is covered in travel allowances and the trip log.

Summary

Since 30 January 2026, truck and bus drivers employed in Slovakia have higher foreign per diem in international transport – €63 to €64 a day in Western Europe. From 1 July 2026 this also covers vans over 2.5 t with a tachograph. Reductions by hours and for provided meals stay the same. SaveTrack calculates the per diem directly from GPS trips, including borders, rates and exchange rates.