A truck driver who repeatedly put false entries in his logbook and failed to take appropriate breaks has been fined and can't drive for four months.

Michael James Cody appeared before Judge Bernadette Farnan in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday.

Cody admitted representative charges of producing a log book with false information, exceeding five and a half hours of work time, exceeding 13 hours' work time, and failing to have at least 10 hours' rest.

The charges relate to when he was driving a heavy motor vehicle, mostly in the north Canterbury area.

A police summary of facts says on November 17, Cody was driving a truck south on State Highway 1, south of Dunedin.

He produced his logbook for police inspection, and they discovered it indicated excess hours, the summary says.

Truck drivers are required to keep and maintain a work time logbook that accurately records their hours of work.

Company records, including logbooks, fuel, and wage records were then analysed.

Cody also admitted a separate charge of making a false statement in a log book on May 18.

Cody's lawyer Bill Dawkins said it was a "sharp fall of grace" for Cody, but that he had not suggested he was under undue pressure from his employer to work in breach of the rules.

Judge Farnan said, in sentencing Cody, she had contemplated the need for safety in the truck driving profession so drivers did not get tired and did not cause an accident.

His offending was clearly deliberate, she said.

Judge Farnan disqualified Cody from driving for four months and fined him $500.