Visitors Questions

If you cannot find an answer Ask your question

If we have been able to help with your question please show your thanks by leaving a few words of acknowledgement here

VISITORS QUESTIONS

Q If I start a weekly rest of 90hrs in one week and finish it in the following week, can I split it between the two weeks and have 45 hours for each week.

R No unfortunately you cannot split weekly rest. No matter how long it is, it can only be the weekly rest for one week.

I refer to your Q and A regarding weekly rest and think that you have got it wrong – please see extract from Rules on Drivers Hours and Tachograph (Revised 2011 GV262 - 03) in particular para 3 on page 23 –

A weekly rest period that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week but not in both. However, a rest period of at least 69 hours in total may be counted as two back-to-back weekly rests (e.g. a 45-hour weekly rest followed by 24 hours), provided that the driver does not exceed 144 hours’ work either before or after the rest period in question.

R. I'm sorry but both you and the Dept. of Transport are wrong, you cannot split a weekly rest. So even if you had 69 hours starting on Friday of week one and going into week two, it can only be the weekly rest for one or the other not both.

Please see Article 8(9), REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85

8 (9) A weekly rest period that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week, but not in both.

You can find this regulation under drivers hours on our website.

R. Thanks Alan. I have followed this up with my contact in the legal department at VOSA. I have attached their response below. From that you will see that even though you are correct in the absolute interpretation of Regulation 8 (9) the competent and enforcing authorities take a different view and therefore will not take anyone to task for splitting a weekly rest over 69 hours that crosses between two adjoining weeks. So you may want to give some additional clarity to your Q and A.

Response from VOSA

EC 561/2006 was brought in to address the shortcomings of EEC 3820/85. To a degree it has been successful but as with all legislation, no matter how hard one tries to cover every angle, someone will always think of a question that is not explicitly answered in the wording of the regulation. Ultimately it is for the courts to interpret law but where there is no stated court case giving direction or clarification from the Commission then it is up to the Competent Authority of the Member State to interpret it. In the United Kingdom DfT, VOSA and the Traffic Commissioners are all Competent Authorities (for differing matters). Whenever DfT or VOSA interpret EC legislation we draw upon not only involvement during the drafting stage but on decades of experience of interpreting and enforcing such legislation and also through regular forums with both the Commission and other Member States. We must also interpret European law purposively and not just literally.

To add some weight behind our ability to interpret this regulation the EC Commission recently appointed VOSA to produce a common interpretation of EC 561/2006 for use by all Members States (I know that may sound strange but up till now not every MS interpreted things in the same way). Whilst we have had to consult other MS's and have the interpretation approved by the Commission our views carried a considerable amount of weight.

Whilst I agree that Article 8(9) says that 'a weekly rest that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week, but not in both', nowhere, however, does it explicitly or even implicitly state that any period of rest which is more than 45 hours must only be counted as one rest period. Article 4(h) simply states that a 'regular weekly rest period' means any period of rest of at least 45 hours. All this means is that if it is at least 45 hours then it is a 'regular' weekly rest period rather than a 'reduced' weekly rest period so this article seeks to do nothing more that differentiate between what is a regular and what is a reduced and should not be interpreted to mean that anything more than 45 hours is counted as one rest period. In the absence of any stated case on the matter VOSA and DfT conclude that nothing in the regulations specifically prevents splitting a longer period of rest and the Commission is happy for this to be the case until a court interprets otherwise.

Having said that the practical application of what is in our booklet means that, in order to be able to meet the requirement to have at least one regular weekly rest in any two consecutive weeks, we are talking about periods which are at least 69 hours long otherwise it is not possible to meet the 1x45 and 1x24 (or vice versa) requirement. The 69 hours (min) must also start in one week and finish in another week.

Our response.

Thank you for the information. I have sought advice from VOSA in the past and the proviso has always been as stated below that Ultimately it is for the courts to interpret law. We all have to bear in mind that there is a mile of difference between interpretation and the decision of a court. We can all interpret things, but as VOSA says it is up to the courts to make the decisions.

Taking the comment 'nowhere, however, does it explicitly or even implicitly state that any period of rest which is more than 45 hours must only be counted as one rest period' from the response from VOSA above I think it is quite explicit in Article 8(9) when it says 'but not in both'. I don't think that you can get much clearer that that and I am sure that a court would see it the same.

Taking the statement 'We must also interpret European law purposively and not just literally'. In my extensive dealings with courts I have found them to take everything literally

With that in mind we have always given advice based on the actual wording of an Article or regulation and not someone's interpretation and don't forget the Police also prosecute these offences and they may have a different view on the interpretation of this section of the legislation. It would only take one enforcement officer to bring the matter before a court and we may get a different interpretation.

The article is quite specific and in my dealings with courts I have found them to comply with the wording of the legislation, particularly Crown Courts. Our policy is simple. Comply with the wording of the regulations and you can't go wrong.

I once again thank you for your contribution, which I will have published in our visitors questions section.

02/03/12

Q. I work in an office from 0815 Monday to 1530 Friday, I drive for an agency every other weekend, but recently my company have asked me to work weekends for them (Not driving). My question is if I drive one weekend, and then the following weekend when I would have been taking my weekly rest, I work in an office on Saturday, and again the following weekend in the office, would I need to take a weekly rest before I drive again? How many weeks away from driving would the requirement to take that weekly rest have expired if you like?

R. Once you become a driver under the regulations you need to comply with all of those regulations and so on the weekend when you drive you become a driver and have to comply with the following:

In any two consecutive weeks a driver shall take at least:

— two regular weekly rest periods, or

— one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly

rest period of at least 24 hours. However, the reduction shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest taken en bloc before the end of the third week following the week in question.

Definitions

‘regular weekly rest period’ means any period of rest of at least 45 hours,

—‘reduced weekly rest period’ means any period of rest of less than 45 hours, which may, subject to the

conditions laid down in Article 8(6), be shortened to a minimum of 24 consecutive hours;

I don't know what time you have off between finishing on Saturday and starting again on Monday, but if you are able to take more than 45 hours off each week or at least 45 hours of one week each fortnight and are able to compensate for any reduction on the other weeks, then you are OK to drive on any weekend which would allow you to comply with the above. Remember it only applies to any fortnight. So for example if you drive in week 1, work in the office in week 2, as long as you have complied with the requirements above you can drive in week 3 or even week 2 if you had taken the required weekly rest.

20/02/12

Q. Are there any legal requirements i need to if i don't use my digital driver's card for a long period of time? ie: out of work or i no longer need to use one.

R. The downloading of driver cards & vehicle units is governed by the following regulation.

The Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) (Downloading and Retention of Data) Regulations 2008

*Case*	*Download period begins*	*Download period ends*
1. The undertaking has not previously downloaded data from the card under this section	On the first day after the commencement of this section on which— (a) the driver drives for the undertaking, and (b) the undertaking is required by article 10 to ensure that data is downloaded from the card	On the earlier of— (a) the expiry of the period of 28 days starting on the first day of the download period; (b) any downloading of the data before the expiry of that period
2. The undertaking has previously downloaded data from the card under this section	On the first day on which the driver drives for the undertaking after the last downloading under this section

As you can see from the above table your driver card must be downloaded within the download period. If you have previously downloaded your card this starts on the day after your previous download and ends 28 days after that.

If you have not driven a vehicle to which the regulations apply after your previous download, then you do not need to download your driver card.

Once you do drive a vehicle to which the regulations apply then this will start your next download period.

15/02/12 Q. HI IS IT NECESSARY TO FILL A TACHOGRAPH IN ON THE DAYS I WORK BUT DON'T DRIVE? THANKS BEN R. It rather depends on the following under Article 6 of REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85. ( Current drivers hours legislation) A driver shall record as other work any time spent as described in Article 4(e) as well as any time spent driving a vehicle used for commercial operations not falling within the scope of this Regulation, and shall record any periods of availability, as defined in Article 15(3)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, since his last daily or weekly rest period. This record shall be entered either manually on a record sheet, a printout or by use of manual input facilities on recording equipment. Therefore you need to be classed as a driver and in order to be so you will have needed to have been covered by the following definition of a driver: ‘driver’ means any person who drives the vehicle even for a short period, or who is carried in a vehicle as part of his duties to be available for driving if necessary; To simplify if you have driven a tachograph vehicle during the week then you will need to record your working time and periods of availability when not driving one of these vehicles during that week. Most drivers will do this manually on a tachograph chart, as outlined above. If on the other hand you only drive a tachograph vehicle infrequently and do not drive one at anytime during the week, then you do not have to keep a record of your work under these regulations. 13/02/12 Q. working 5 on 3 off shift system, am i allowed to work my 5 days of shift and a sixth as overtime each week. I have over 45 hours off after each 6 days worked but is this legal with the rule that you must take a full 45 weekly rest one week and a reduced one the next week. R. It is not just a matter of taking 45 hours one week and a reduced weekly rest the other week. There are other governing factors which need to be adhered to to comply with weekly rest requirements. 1. Taking a weekly rest in each week Monday to Sunday. 2. Not working longer that 144 hours after your previous weekly rest before taking another weekly rest. 3. Are you compensating for your weekly rest reduction properly. With your shift pattern covering 8 days I would need to work through the complete shift pattern to determine whether or not you comply with all of the requirements over the whole of that period. If you are having your data analysed, the software should tell you over the complete shift pattern whether or not you are committing any offences, when all of the data is available for assessment. 03/02/12 Q. At this time our company is going through a re-training period. One of the questions ask is, why do we as drivers have to put a 'Manual Entry' at the start of a shift? My question is, Is this law and do we have to do this? Thank You and I look forward to your response.

R. The answer to your question is that you may have to make a manual entry at the beginning and end of your shift.

If drivers keep worksheets or are required to use clock cards, generally speaking drivers will clock in and then go to their vehicle to inset an analogue chart or driver card.

At the end of a shift they will remove their chart or driver card and then clock off at a later time or put a later finish time on their worksheet. This means that there are gaps between the times recorded on clock cards or worksheets and the times recorded on driver cards or analogue chartsUnder Article 15 (2) of COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3821/85 of 20 December 1985 on recording equipment in road transport. THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, it states:15 (2) paragraph 2...When as a result of being away from the vehicle, a driver is unable to use the equipment fitted to the vehicle, the periods of time referred to in paragraph 3, second indent (b), (c) and (d) shall:(a) If the vehicle is fitted with recording equipment in conformity with Annex I, be entered on the record sheet, either manually, by automatic recording or other means, legibly and without dirtying the sheet; or (b) If the vehicle is fitted with recording equipment in conformity with Annex IB, be entered onto the driver card using the manual entry facility provided in the recording equipment.15 (3) Drivers shall: - operate the switch mechanisms enabling the following periods of time to be recorded separately and distinctly: (b) “other work” means any activity other than driving, as defined in Article 3(a) of Directive 2002/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities (*), and also any work for the same or another employer within or outside of the transport sector, and must be recorded under this sign ; - Crossed Hammers(c) “availability” defined in Article 3(b) of Directive 2002/15/EC must be recorded under this sign .-Box(d) under the sign : breaks in work and daily rest periods. - BedYou can see therefore, that because the driver is away from the vehicle having clocked on/off or made entries on a worksheet, between inserting/removing his chart or driver card, then this time must be recorded manually at the beginning or end of his shift on the chart or driver card.This has been confirmed only recently with an email to VOSA from one of our clients. Please see extract below:To VOSA;
Q…......Do our drivers have to make a manual entry to record the time between when they clock on to when they get in the lorry and put the card in? For example we have got a yard with about 30 wagons in, and the driver will clock on and then walk out of the office and get into their wagon, which could take 5 minutes..............R …...The answer to your question is yes they should record all duties after they clock on so as the chart for the day is a true record............If however they are waiting for vehicles to be loaded prior to them taking the vehicles out they should also make a manual record of this as a period of availability.Clock cards and worksheets are not documents under the regulations and would not qualify as a manual entry under these regulations.We undertake audits of new clients every week as part of the free trial of our service and without exception not one of these companies were performing tachograph analysis or had working practices that conformed to the regulations and still risked prosecution.This was borne out by a case in which we were involved, where a large national, multi depot company was successfully prosecuted for permitting a driver to fail to keep records, despite scanning charts, downloading driver cards and vehicle units every week, because they were not recording all of the time recorded on clock cards and work sheets on the charts and driver cards.We were not providing their tachograph analysis at the time and needless to say they are now with us.
02/02/12

Q. As a sub-contractor driving a utilities class 1, do i need to use a tacho so that the company i do work for has a record. I also keep a log book of my
driving hours - do I need to use both and also am I breaking the law by using a tacho in a utilities vehicle

R. Under article 13(h)of REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 15 March 2006, if you are driving vehicles covered by the following definition, you are exempt from keeping a tachograph record.

vehicles used in connection with sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity maintenance services, road maintenance and control, door-to-door household refuse collection and disposal, telegraph and telephone services, radio and television broadcasting, and the detection of radio or television transmitters or receivers;

The logbook is fine or you can use a tachograph, it is not illegal, it is just not a requirement under the regulations.

09/12/11

Q Hi, due to a motorway accident hold up on my route back to base recently, (not involving me!), I was forced to park up in a layby as I had reached my 15 hours working time. After informing my base, they decided that I wasn't to have a night out and that they were going to collect me and the vehicle and bring me back to base. By the time I had got back my shift was 18 hours in total. I didn't drive back at all I finished as soon as I got back. What exactly is the legality of this as it seems to be a grey area.

R I refer to I refer to the Article 9 (2) of REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006

Article 9

2. Any time spent travelling to a location to take charge of a vehicle falling within the scope of this Regulation, or to return from that location, when the vehicle is neither at the driver's home nor at the employer's operational centre where the driver is normally based, shall not be counted as a rest or break unless the driver is on a ferry or train and has access to a bunk or couchette.

3. Any time spent by a driver driving a vehicle which falls outside the scope of this Regulation to or from a vehicle which falls within the scope of this Regulation, which is not at the driver's home or at the employer's operational centre where the driver is normally based, shall count as other work.

The time spent returning to your base, (but not driving) from a location which is not your base or your home is classed as a period of availability (box) and under Article 15 (2) of COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3821/85 should be recorded manually on a record sheet (paper chart) or driver card, if it cannot be recorded automatically.

Therefore if you worked for18 hours, you have failed to take a daily rest period. You may have been able to avail yourself of the defence of exceeding your driving/working time to find a safe stopping place and could under these circumstances have driven to a suitable stopping place.

Q. I work for a Govt contractor (Defence)as a LGV/PCV, Ambulance & Car driver and my colleagues and myself have been told that shortly we will have to record ALL work, including non Tacho vehicles onto the FRONT of a Disc, this is to include holiday & sickness. Plus we may have to back date to April 1st of this year when the contractor took over the contract.
We already have three different sizes of tachos in use (180km, 140km & 125km) as well as digital.
We have furthermore been informed that the Contractor has 'special' dispensation from VOSA to enable us to do this. Surely this illegal? We are also in the process of consulting our union (TGW.U/Unite)on this matter. More info to fight this stupid situation is appreciated.

R. Under REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 Article 3

Specialised vehicles used for medical purposes are exempt from tachographs. Cars are not covered either. As far as I am aware VOSA cannot give exemptions to the regulations. I should ask to see this exemption. Although you are exempt from tachograph regulations it does not prevent an employer from implementing their own procedures.

Q Is PoA enshrined within tachograph law? For example; it is required in law to record breaks, daily and weekly rest periods. But do we have to record PoA in the same way or is it optional?

R Yes it is written into the law under Directive 2002/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities where you are required to record your duties as prescribed by that legislation.

Q As a distributor of High Value goods we are encouraged to take our breaks at company stores or premises or at least have the vehicle within view. With this mind a colleague of mine has recently been admonished as taking a break whilst tipping and threatened with disciplinary action. The facts behind this threat, when examined, are far from conclusive as the driver when finished tipping did not move his vehicle and changed the mode to break.

The Transport teams response was that if the vehicle had been stopped later that day by VOSA, the driver could not prove when tipping had ceased and break began other than a switching of the mode, and would be accused of tipping whilst on break. Surely the change of mode from one to the other is accepted as proof of actions and would not contravene standing rules.

R A break is defined as:

‘break’ means any period during which a driver may not carry out any driving or any other work and which is used exclusively for recuperation;

It is irrelevant where you take this break. However you must consider Article 3b of DIRECTIVE 2002/15/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 March 2002, which states

(b) ‘periods of availability’ shall mean:
— periods other than those relating to break times and rest times during which the mobile worker is not required to remain at his workstation, but must be available to answer any calls to start or resume driving or to carry out other work.

and Article 3a of the same regulation which states:

‘working time’ shall mean:
1. in the case of mobile workers: the time from the beginning to the end of work, during which the mobile worker is at his workstation, at the disposal of the employer and exercising his functions or activities, that is to say:

The times during which he cannot dispose freely of his time and is required to be at his workstation, ready to take up normal work, with certain tasks associated with being on duty, in particular during periods awaiting loading or unloading where their foreseeable duration is not known in advance

The crux of the matter is whether or not the driver is free to dispose of his own time. If he is required to remain with the vehicle ready to move it when the loading or unloading is complete then as seen above it is other work.

Q If we telephone the depot and report a non-show of staff and are given a 30 minute PoA instruction from the depot, is that 30 minutes binding even if the staff arrive some five minutes later and are ready to start unloading?

R. That of course depends on whether the the staff will allow you to sit around for 30 minutes. Also under the above directive the following is classed as working time not POA.

'the times during which he cannot dispose freely of his time and is required to be at his workstation, ready to take up normal work, with certain tasks associated with being on duty, in particular during periods awaiting loading or unloading where their foreseeable duration is not known in advance'

Q I am driving a 7.5 ton lorry and trailer to Spain with all my household stuff, everything but the kitchen sink! It is all my own stuff. Do I need to run with a tacho in France or Spain.
If I am stopped, are there any reference numbers, or law exempt codes I can quote to the police involved to prove my case on the spot, as I don't want a large fine, and a long wait.
Thanks for your help in advance

R Under the regulations you are exempt from tachograph regulations.

Vehicles used for non-commercial carriage of goods for personal use You can find these exemptions here

Q. What are the new regulations due to come in April regarding lgv drivers weekend and daily breaks.

R You can find details of the new regulations regarding drivers hours

Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March

and Roadside checks

DIRECTIVE 2006/22/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 on minimum conditions for the implementation of Council Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85 concerning social legislation relating to road transport activities and repealing Council Directive 88/599/EEC.

These regulations came into force in April 2007.

Q. I am asking this question on behalf of one of my relations who is employed by a company that does road repairs as well as replacing damaged lamp posts etc for various London borough Councils. He has to drive a 7.5 truck that has a tachograph fitted but he has been told by his transport manager that he is exempt from all EU tachograph regulation as well as POA regulations because of the type of work that they undertake for these Councils. The Company that he works for are subcontractors to these Councils so my question is: can they be exempt from all Tachograph rules?

R. The following exemption to the use of tachographs is given for vehicles used as below, which would cover the use described by yourself.

Vehicles used in connection with the sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity services, highway maintenance and control, refuse collection and disposal, telegraph and telephone services, carriage of postal articles, radio and television broadcasting and the detection of radio or television transmitters or receivers

Q. We run Transit dropside 3.5 tonnes. We have fitted Tachos as we occasionally tow. Most of the deliveries are local and then back to the depot to reload/unload and usually a cup of tea! We have the tacho loaded with a disc for most of the day but do we really need to do that? Could we just run the tacho when we are towing?

R. Under Article 2 REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006, states that the regulation applies to f goods where the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle, including any trailer, or semi-trailer, exceeds 3,5 tonnes. Therefore when towing a trailer you need to comply with the regulations.

However Article 6 of the same regulation states:
A driver shall record as other work any time spent as described in Article 4(e) as well as any time spent driving a vehicle used for commercial operations not falling within the scope of this Regulation, and shall record any periods of availability, as defined in Article 15(3)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, since his last daily or weekly rest period. This record shall be entered either manually on a record sheet, a printout or by use of manual input facilities on recording equipment.

Therefore, although you do not need to keep a tachograph you still have to record the duty as 'other work'

Q. Does a company break the law if they send out a HGV artic on day run, knowing it will not get back due to drivers hours. The driver does 18 hour day after being picked up.

R. Under Article 10 (2) of REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85

It states:

A transport undertaking shall organise the work of drivers referred to in paragraph 1 in such a way that thedrivers are able to comply with Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 and Chapter II of this Regulation. The transport undertaking shall properly instruct the driver and shall make regular checks to ensure that Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 and Chapter II of this Regulation are complied with.

This means that an operator cannot send out drivers on runs which it knows will breach the drivers hours regulations and therefore commits an offence under this Article, if it doe so.

Q. On an analogue tachograph, is a driver legally obliged to indicate on the chart the start and end of daily or weekly rest? Some analysis that we have received says the driver should, whilst other analysis says this is not necessary

There is nothing in law that you need to write EDR/SDR or SWR/EWR, on the charts to denote the start and end of daily rest.

However with the Road Transport Directive requiring that you record all of your time at which you are at the disposal of you employer, where you start or end duty before and after the recordings on your chart, it is much easier to record your start and finish times in this way. The only other alternative would be to record the duties before and after the recording on the front of the chart, in the space allocated on the rear of the chart.

If you put your chart in immediately on commencement of your duties and do not remove it until you finish work completely, there is no need to make any entry.

Below is VOSA's advice on manual entries

When using a vehicle equipped with an analogue tachograph, the sheets or charts normally provide a space to make manual entries. This is usually on the reverse side, but they can be made anywhere on the chart provided they are clear and do not obliterate other recordings.

Also in relation to weekly rest periods and the recording thereof the advice from VOSA is as follows. This could also apply to the recording of daily rest.

WHAT HAPPENS ABOUT DAYS ON WHICH A DRIVER DOES NOT DRIVE?
Analogue Tachographs

The period of time unaccounted for between the last day’s record and the first day’s record should normally be regarded (unless there is evidence to the contrary) as a rest period, when the driver is freely able to dispose of his time. He is not expected to account for this period, unless VOSA have reason to believe that he was working.

To my knowledge there is nothing in the current advice from VOSA that requires the driver to enter EDR/SDR or EWR?SWR, although it is more convenient to do this.

Q. We have a driver who has been driving for 3 hours but has been working from 5am until 11am and has taken half hour break before the 6 hours is up? Have you got to work 6 hours 1st before taking half hour off, he has been told by another driver he should off done 6hrs before he took half hour break????

R. No you do not have to work 6 hours before taking a 30 minute break. Six hours is the maximum work that you can perform before taking a 30 minute break. If you take a 30 minute break within the first 6 hours then you must then take another 15 minute break before you get to 9 hours working time. You can, as can be seen from part 2 of this regulation, split the breaks into 15 minute periods.

Under Article 5 DIRECTIVE 2002/15/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 March 2002 on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities; it states

'persons performing mobile road transport activities, without prejudice to Article 2(1),in no circumstances can work for more than six consecutive hours without a break. Working time shall be interrupted by a break of at least 30 minutes, if working hours total between six and nine hours, and of at least 45 minutes, if working hours total more than nine hours.'

2. Breaks may be subdivided into periods of at least 15 minutes each.

Q. On the 11th September you replied to a question i asked, which was "Is it legal for me to drive the van back to the depot after exceeding 15 hours on duty in a lorry?"

You did reply to the question with this; I'm afraid not. Under Article 9 of Regulation 561/2006 which came into force on the 11th of April this year, this type of driving is classed as 'other work.' You are therefore on duty and should record this driving as a manual entry on crossed hammers.

My next question is this; how did i stand with this matter and the law before the 11th of April 2007?

R. Following a decision by Advocate General A. Saggio delivered his Opinion at the sitting of the Fifth Chamber of the THE COURT OF JUSTICE AND THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, on 21 September 2000. It became law that these journeys be recorded as other work.

Q. I work Monday to Friday non-driving office based. Am I ok to drive at weekends Saturday Sunday hgv class one.

R. If you drive a vehicle to which the regulations apply then you have to comply with all of those regulations. One of these regulations stipulates that a driver must take daily and weekly rests. A weekly rest is defined as:

‘weekly rest period’ means the weekly period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time and covers a ‘regular weekly rest period’ and a ‘reduced weekly rest period’:
— ‘regular weekly rest period’ means any period of rest of at least 45 hours,

— ‘reduced weekly rest period’ means any period of rest of less than 45 hours, which may, subject to the conditions laid down in Article 8(6), be shortened to a minimum of 24 consecutive hours;
(i) ‘a week’ means the period of time between 00.00 on Monday and 24.00 on Sunday;

Clearly because you are working Monday to Friday you cannot freely dispose of your time to comply with weekly rest requirements. Therefore the answer is no you can't drive at the weekend under these circumstances.

Q. I want to send an articulated vehicle and a transit van to the same location. Can my second driver put his chart into the second man position to record his duties whilst he is driving the transit van.

R. I don't see why not. Under Article 9 of Regulation 561/2006 which came into force on the 11th of April 2007, this type of driving is classed as 'other work' and as long as your driver of the transit van records his driving under crossed hammers and marks on the chart the registration number and odometer readings of the transit van I would say that he had conformed with the regulations.

Q. I'm a LGV multi-drop driver, if I run out of hours (15 hours 0n duty) away from the depot,as a result The Company send out a relief driver in a van to drive the lorry back to the depot.
My Question is this:
Is it legal for me to drive the van back to the depot after exciding 15 hours on duty?

R. I'm afraid not. Under Article 9 of Regulation 561/2006 which came into force on the 11th of April this year, this type of driving is classed as 'other work'. You are therefore on duty and should record this driving as a manual entry on crossed hammers.

Q. Hi, if you are driving a 10 hour day could you drive for 4 1/2 hours, have a break of 45 mins, then drive for 3 hours, have a poa of 1 hour then drive for another 2 hours 20 mins back to base?? I've been told you can and i have no reason to doubt it because what if you drive for 2 hours have a poa of 3 hours, surly you should be able to drive for 3 1/2 hours then without a break?? Surely a lengthy being sat doing nothing drinking coffee is the same as a break??

R. Unfortunately POA is not a break. Although neither count towards your 48 hour weekly working time you do need to show a break for it to count with driving periods. I agree that sitting around for three hours doing nothing should enable you to drive but it does not, if you record this under the box. Under Article 7 of 561/2006 it does say specifically that the driver must take a break. It does not say a break or POA.

Q. We operate a 16 seater minibus on a school run less than 50kms and less than 4hrs per day designated as a regular service are we still under domestic rules? Do we still need to use tacho's on that regular service or are we soley under EC regs

R. Under Article 3 of REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 it states:

This Regulation shall not apply to carriage by road by:

(a) vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on regular services where the route covered by the service in question does not exceed 50 kilometres;

Regular service is defined under Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992 on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus and states:

1. Regular services

1.1. Regular services are services which provide for the carriage of passengers at specified intervals along specified routes, passengers being taken up and set down at predetermined stopping points. Regular services shall be open to all, subject, where appropriate, to compulsory reservation.

1.2. Services, by whomsoever organized, which provide for the carriage of specified categories of passengers to the exclusion of other passengers, insofar as such services are operated under the conditions specified in 1.1., shall be deemed to be regular services. Such services are hereinafter called 'special regular services'.

Special regular services shall include:

(a) the carriage of workers between home and work,

(b) carriage to and from the educational institution for school pupils and students

From what you say you are therefore exempt from tachograph regulations but are subject to domestic rules.

Q. We have a recovery company that only recovers vehicles on behalf of the police and always work within 100km of base using either 7.5 tonne or 17 tonne trucks.

The vast majority of cars that we recover are disabled following theft and/or accident but on occasion we are requested to recover vehicles by the police for instance that are “suspect ringers” or suspected of being used in crime. These vehicles are not necessarily “disabled”.

Up until recently we have always operated without an operators licence and without the use of tachos but in future we will be required to have an operators licence and I am curious as to the tachograph implications.

Will we have to use tachographs to recover a disabled crashed vehicle as well as an able vehicle used in crime or could we just put a tachograph disc in when we went to pick up an able vehicle.

R. The regulations apply to the type of vehicle. Therefore if you are within the scope of the regulations you will need to use a tachograph. (Outside 100kms radius of base)

Q If someone works from 08:00hrs to 17:30hrs in the workshop/office and during the course of that day drives 3 mile in a truck, recovers a car and drives 3 mile back could he then be “on call” at home from 17:30hrs to 08:00hrs the following morning and then come to work a full day in the workshop to then be on call the following evening etc (during the “on call” periods he may/may not recover one or more vehicles.) There are only three drivers and on average each one does one recovery per day as well as a full days work.

R. Under Article 3 of REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 specialised breakdown vehicles operating within a 100 km radius of their base are exempt from the regulations. Therefore if the driver only travels 3 miles from the base he is exempt.

Q. If he had to use a tachograph once would that mean he would then have to use a tachograph ( and thereby governed by drivers hours) to attend each subsequent recovery in the truck regardless of whether he ended up recovering the car or not and regardless of whether that car was damaged i.e. disabled or not disabled.

R. No he would not have to use a tachograph unless he went outside the 100km radius of the base. However once you drive vehicles to which the regulation applies then you are governed by all of the regulations. i.e Daily/Weekly Rest

Would then “other work” i.e. in the workshop or office have to be recorded on the tachograph discs

R. Under Article 6(5) A driver shall record as other work any time spent as described in Article 4(e) as well as any time spent driving a vehicle used for commercial operations not falling within the scope of this Regulation, and shall record any periods of availability, as defined in Article 15(3)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, since his last daily or weekly rest period. This record shall be entered either manually on a record sheet, a printout or by use of manual input facilities on recording equipment.

Working time is outlines on the following link

http://www.tachochart.com/WTDworkingtime.htm

One driver works full time six days a week for a bathroom salesroom as a warehouse manager and during the course of this work is required to deliver bathrooms in a 3.5 tonne van. At the evenings/weekends he “on call” for us working from home where he may or may not get called out to recover vehicles in a 7.5 tonne truck. Does his daytime job have to be recorded on the tachograph discs.

R. Only if he drives a vehicle to which the regulations apply. If he drives the 7.5 t vehicle he becomes a driver and he needs to keep records in accordance with the regulations. You would probably find that if he did drive your vehicle and then made entries regarding his work during the week that he would exceed his weekly 48 hour average working time. -

Details of the full regulation 561/2006 can be found on the following link.

561-206.pdf

The basic rule of thumb is that once a person drives a vehicle to which the regulations apply then all of those regulations apply.

Q I wonder if you can resolve an argument. I drive a dustcart and usually drive for 9 hours a day with a 45 minute break in the middle somewhere. I obviously make frequent stops to load bins but the distance between stops is considerable as its a trade round and I cover a large area. I am never away from the wheel for more than a minute or so .

My employer is saying that drivers hours do not accumulate when the vehicle is stationary, i.e. at traffic lights or in a traffic jam or when I am stopping for a bin. I say that drivers hours apply as long as I am at the wheel or while in control of the vehicle, i.e. whilst loading a bin which takes less than a minute so obviously its not sensible to put the tacho into work mode as it would be impossible to keep such a record on the move as it were.

The problem is that there is overtime available which I cant do because as far as I am concerned I have done 90 hours in a fortnight so can do no more. Can you clarify this matter at all. It really boils down to what is driving as far as drivers hours are concerned.

R If the tachograph is operated correctly it will be set to the crossed hammers mode before you commence your daily work. In this way when you drive it will automatically record drive and when you stop it will record working. In your case, if I understand you correctly, you actually get out of the drivers seat, albeit for just a minute or so, to empty the bin, presumably by some mechanism at the rear of the dustcart. If this is so then it is not driving and the tachograph would record this as working time.

However. If you stopped and remained at the wheel, whilst another person emptied the bins, in this case although the stationary period would be recorded as working, just the same.

There are other drivers who have similar circumstances. i.e. parcel deliveries, where they are only out of the vehicle for a minute or so. This time is not classed as driving. Drivers hours due accumulate when the vehicle is stationary, but it is not driving.

Q I drive once or twice a week only at weekends and I have another job during the week. What should I actually put on my tachograph at the start and end of my duty lines EDR / EWR or SDR / SWR. The typical hours I work would be Sunday SOD 1230hrs EOD 2400hrs, no more driving until the following Saturday SOD 1430hrs EOD 0300 hrs. No more driving until the following Sunday. Would you say that I don't really have a daily rest period unless I work two consecutive days and that I start a weekly rest period after my one day of driving?.

R You cannot work weekends because you are not able to take a weekly rest period if you work during the week.

Q We transport Humanitarian Aid through Europe (France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy) on average 6 times/year. This is non-commercial and not for profit. Is there any exemption from tachograph regulations for this type of transport? If so where can I find more info and how do I go about claiming exemption.

R The regulations apply to all vehicles, whether laden or not used for the carriage of goods and the important part is 'used for the carriage of goods'.

There is an exemption for vehicles used for non-commercial carriage of goods this is for personal use. There is no exemption to my knowledge for charities.

You could apply to the transport minister for an exemption, but I feel that it may be difficult getting permission when travelling through so many countries.

I can't see that using a tachograph would be any disadvantage. If you used 2 drivers they could be on duty for 21 hours out of every 30 hours, being able to drive for up to 20 hours during that time, depending on previous driving periods.

Q What are the driving hours allowed over the weekend in France if you are within a couple of hours to catch a ferry

R The driving periods are the same in France over the weekend as they are here. If you drove over your hours, or failed to take a daily/weekly rest in order to catch a ferry into this country, they may be what is called 'continuing offences', whereby they start on the continent but end here. If this is the case you can be prosecuted.

I do not think that driving to catch a ferry would qualify for making a safe stopping place in the interests of the safety of your vehicle or the load, unless you could prove that there was nowhere for you to park when you time was up.

Q I've been searching the net for weeks to try and find a definitive answer on the meaning of "Not for hire or reward". We run a full size artic race transporter (4.2m x 13.6m) for the transport of our own race cars and spares around the country. I have the "Not for hire or reward" sticker on the side of the truck.

Do we need to run a tacho?

Do we need to get an operators license?

Do we need an international op license to go into Europe?

Many thanks in advance and keep up the good work - your site is an excellent reference for new truckers such as ourselves.

R As far as Operators Licences are concerned I am afraid that I cannot help you there. As for the use of a tachograph, all journeys made on roads open to the public of vehicles, whether laden or not used for the carriage of goods require a tachograph to be kept. There is no mention in this legislation of 'for hire or reward'. This no doubt forms part of the operators regulations.

There is an exemption however for the non-commercial carriage of goods for personal use. If these journeys do not involve a commercial organisation i.e you are a private entrant then I would say that you could claim this exemption.

However if you are a commercial organisation then I would say that you need to keep a tachograph. With all of these types of operation I personally cannot see the problem with keeping a tachograph.

Even if you were exempt from the tachograph regulations you would still have to comply with domestic regulations, which restrict your daily duty to 11 hours, with 10 hours driving, whereas tachograph regulations would allow you to perform between 13 and 15 hours duty, depending on any daily rest reductions that you take.

Q The wallets given to you to put your tacho in do the fields on them have to be filled out as well as the tacho chart it self?

R The details on the envelopes do not have to be filled out by law, they are there simply as an aid to the driver to keep track of driving hours, duty worked and daily rest periods.

Q. If in a traffic jam for one hour is it classed as driving time thank you.

R. The simple way to look at this is the correct way of using a tachograph.

With all automatic heads, drive will be recorded whenever the vehicle moves, irrespective of the mode to which the tachograph has been set.

Before starting you should switch to the mode to box, so that whenever you stop to load or unload the tachograph will record box. The only change you make is to bed when you take a break and then back to box when you recommence work again.

In your case if the vehicle is stationary in a traffic jam, then the tachograph will be recording box, which is not driving.

If you wished to take a break during this time, then you must be free to use this time as you see fit. If you have to remain at the wheel in case you are required to move then this is not a break and is classed as a period of availability.

Q I drive large vehicles during my normal working week. By driving an 'out of scope' vehicle, in particular a taxi during my weekly rest period, am I contravening the EC tachograph rules and regulations?

R Article 5 of Regulation (EC) 561 states:

A driver shall record as other work any time spent as described in Article 4(e) as well as any time spent driving a vehicle used for commercial operations not falling within the scope of this Regulation, and shall record any periods of availability, as defined in Article 15(3)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, since his last daily or weekly rest period. This record shall be entered either manually on a record sheet, a printout or by use of manual input facilities on recording equipment.

I would say that this would be classed as a vehicle used for commercial operations.

Q The company that I work for recently had a vehicle stopped by the ministry at Holyhead. The two drivers had taken over the vehicle the previous evening in Dublin, there driving hours were correct, but they were parked up for nine hours because they could not produce a copy of the previous days drivers tachograph. The drivers were told that they should have had a photocopy of the tachograph from the previous driver. We have never heard of this before and may find this difficult to carry out this procedure as drivers often change on the side of the road of in the port at night.

R This is incorrect. Drivers need to carry their own charts completed within within the previous 28 calendar days.

They do not need to carry other drivers charts and they certainly are not required to carry photocopies of other drivers charts.

It is understandable however, that they were required to take a 9 hours daily rest if they were unable to produce any previous charts.

Q When taking a weekly rest period at the end of the week do you first have to complete your daily rest period for the day you have just worked. Or does your weekly rest just start soon has you have finished work.

R Both actually apply. If you are starting a weekly rest then all of the time from when you finish to when you restart is your weekly rest. However 11 hours of that weekly rest ( or 9 hours if you have any rest reductions available) has to be within the 24 hour period starting from the time that you commenced work on your last working day.

For example if you started at 06.00 on Friday and finished at 20.00 hours and then took a weekly rest, or even went on holiday for 2 weeks because you have only had 10 hours rest within the 24 hour period (6.00 Friday to 06.00 Saturday) you would have failed to take a daily rest within the 24 hour period, (accepting that you have no rest reductions available).

This is because the legislation says that in each period of 24 hours, after the previous daily or weekly rest period, the driver shall have a daily rest period of at least 11 hours. (Can be reduced to 9 hours, 3x per week). This applies even when starting a weekly rest.

From a ' legal expert ' on drivers hours legislation......Hum....!

Q. I read with interest one of your answers regarding working/driving hours. You answered "as long as I do not work over 15 hours within 24 it is ok" sorry but where in the current legislation does it say that anyone is limited to 15 hours a day. I think this a myth with most truck drivers. I think if you look closely there is no limit to how many hours you work. It refers to the amount of rest you must take.

R Correct, it does only refer to daily rest. But as a consequence of taking 9 hours daily rest that leaves 15 hours duty. The questions section does included the fact that there is no such thing as ‘daily duty’ or ‘speadover’. But depending on the type of daily rest that you take it does mean that there are maximum limits to the length of a shift that you can perform.

Reply to my answer

Because it refers to a minimum of 9 hours rest between shifts most people believe it means you cannot work more than 15 hours WRONG.

Reply to the above

You are wrong. It is not 9 hours between shifts it is within a 24 hour period. See (Article 8 (2) (EC) 561

This has been defined by the European Court as being 24 hours commencing from the finish of a weekly or daily rest and you must take a minimum of 9 hours rest (where available) with that 24-hour period. You can in fact finish work on a Friday and go on holiday for a fortnight and still fail to take a daily rest, because you didn't have 9 hour within the 24 hour period from when you started duty on the Friday.

I worked once for a 16.5 hour day started @ 10:30 in morning and finished @ 03:00 the following morning. Job entailed going to a warehouse pick up load, take to another warehouse, tip, reload at yet another warehouse and back to base. At first warehouse (after a 30 min drive -tacho) wait 3 hours. Between first and second warehouse (3 hour drive) tyre blowout another 3 hour wait. Between second and third warehouse 1 hour drive. Reload and back to base 3 hours. Total time 16.5 hours. This was a Tuesday I did not work till the following Saturday therefore I took all the rest period.

My Reply

Wrong. You took 7.30 minutes daily rest starting at 10.30 Tuesday and finishing at 10.30 on Wednesday. The minimum daily rest that you can take is 9 hours as part of a split daily rest where the first period is at least 3 hours and the second period is at least 9 hours.

Reply to the above

I would humbly suggest to you that you read the current legislation a bit closer.

All the best
David S..... Full name of above withheld.

R Having over 27 years of being involved in the Drivers Hours legislation, including the prosecution and defence of hundreds of drivers and offences and having only ever lost one case, I have read the current legislation a bit closer.

I advise you do the same, perhaps with someone who understands it better. Thanks for the interest. Check out Article 8 of regulation (EC) 561, which deals with daily and weekly rest periods.

Q Who is responsible for filling in the total miles travelled on the tachosheet? If the driver records his starting mileage and his finishing mileage is it also his responsibility to calculate the total miles he has travelled
that day?

R The legislation only requires you to enter the odometer readings at the start and end of your journey. You are not required to enter the total.

Q If you forget to change your mode switch from rest to driving, do you still need to draw a manual entry even though the Tacho automatically shows you driving?

R There is no ‘driving mode’ on an automatic tachograph. It does not matter whether your select crossed hammers; the box or rest, when you start to drive the tachograph automatically records drive. That is why it is called an automatic.

The correct way to use and automatic tachograph is to select the crossed hammer mode before you start to drive. The tachograph will record driving when you move and the crossed hammers when you stop. The only change you need to make is when you take a rest or take a period of availability. Then you move from crossed hammers to box or rest. After your rest you then put it back to crossed hammers.

Q I drive a lorry for between 4 and 5 hours a day Monday to Friday in the Water Industry in a 38 hour week tacho exempt. I want to drive weekends on a tachograph for an agency.

Is this allowed?

R I'm afraid not. Once you drive a vehicle to which the regulations apply then you have to comply with all of the regulations, including taking a weekly rest, which you will not be able to do if you work 7 days a week.