I started work at 06:15hrs until 17:45hrs duty time. Can I start shift again after 11hrs rest at 04:45hrs ? Or am I to wait until the end of the 24hr period at 06:15hrs. Also am I breaking the law by removing my card when nighting out on
OWLDRIVER:
I started work at 06:15hrs until 17:45hrs duty time. Can I start shift again after 11hrs rest at 04:45hrs ? Or am I to wait until the end of the 24hr period at 06:15hrs. Also am I breaking the law by removing my card when nighting out on
You can legally start work at 02:45 if you have a reduced daily rest period available or 04:45 if you don’t have a reduced daily rest period available.
A new period of 24 hours begins when you’ve completed a daily rest period or reduced daily rest period.
Whether or not you withdraw the driver card when on a night out is entirely your choice, I have always withdrawn my card but some people prefer to leave it in.
By the way, there’s no mention of “duty time” in EU regulations, “duty time” is only mentioned in the domestic regulations, but my reply is based on the assumption that you’re on EU regulations.
Thanks big help, my mate in Germany said a driver was fined for taking his card out while parked in services…overnight I said I’d find out if it was illegal
OWLDRIVER:
Thanks big help, my mate in Germany said a driver was fined for taking his card out while parked in services…overnight I said I’d find out if it was illegal
I don’t do Euro work so I’ve no idea what excuses the Germans have thought up to raise funds, but certainly in the UK you will not get done for withdrawing the driver card at the end of the shift, and there’s nothing in the regulations that suggests that you should leave the card in when on a night out.
I’ve never heard or seen anyone suggest that the Germans expect you to leave the card in, but as a precaution it may be worth asking the question in the Euro Driving Forum to see if anyone who goes to Germany have any thoughts on the subject 
Thanks again, for your help. [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND SMILING EYES]
The Germans, and most other European countries expect and prefer the card to be left in, they like to see the daily rest period recorded on the card, but it is not an offence to remove it and that fine could, and should be,be contested. Personally I wouldn’t have paid it in the first place as refusal would have escalated it up the food chain and eventually someone senior and with sense would have got involved. It’s not actually a fine anyway, it’s a deposit and that means it could still be contested. When they relive you of some money in Germany for whatever offence, hours offences, overtaking in a restricted zone, speeding and so on, you will receive a letter a while afterwards detailing the offence and the amount you have been fined. More times than not this amount will be exactly what you paid at the time as a deposit. However, it could be more and you will be asked to pay the difference, happened to me once in 20 years of driving to and through Germany, or on very rare occasions it might be less, also happened to me once when it appears I had been overcharged by, I think it was, 15 marks. Yes, it was that long ago.