if you break down whilst driving, what should the tacho be set to until you either get repaired or recovered?
Break… If your on the bunk waiting 
ta just got a new job doing long distance recovery in a 12 ton midlum. been driving them ‘out of scope’ for the last 5 years, so new to this tacho stuff. and based on my previous experience of midlums, i’m sure it’s gonna break soon 
Could use POA if you are told how long it will be until you are recovered or repaired.
Norfolknewbie:
Could use POA if you are told how long it will be until you are recovered or repaired.
wrong, the rules on POA are, you must know before hand, but, considering you don’t know if/when you will break down, how can you book it as POA?
scania730lover:
Norfolknewbie:
Could use POA if you are told how long it will be until you are recovered or repaired.wrong, the rules on POA are, you must know before hand, but, considering you don’t know if/when you will break down, how can you book it as POA?
Another shining example of why the DCPC is needed…
“Hi, this is Conor, I’ve broken down on the A46”
“No problem, we’ll send someone out to you. They’ll be with you in about an hour.”
And there you go, up to one hour PoA.
scania730lover:
Norfolknewbie:
Could use POA if you are told how long it will be until you are recovered or repaired.wrong, the rules on POA are, you must know before hand, but, considering you don’t know if/when you will break down, how can you book it as POA?
Thanks for backing up my original thoughts Conor, obviously scania730lover didnt read my original post properly as I did state ‘if you are told how long’.
Conor:
scania730lover:
Norfolknewbie:
Could use POA if you are told how long it will be until you are recovered or repaired.wrong, the rules on POA are, you must know before hand, but, considering you don’t know if/when you will break down, how can you book it as POA?
“Hi, this is Conor, I’ve broken down on the A46”
“No problem, we’ll send someone out to you. They’ll be with you in about an hour.”And there you go, up to one hour PoA.
This is how I book it too…ATS always give an ETA of 90 mins,so that’s 90 mins POA for me 
Where I used to work Washy - ATS used to say 60-90mins so you could book it without even been told as you knew beforehand roughly how long to expect■■?
You certainly could use POA if you wanted to, I don’t think I’ve ever phoned in because of a breakdown and not been told approximately how long they will be before reaching me.
But to be honest unless you don’t get paid for breaks it’s easier to use break especially if you’re using a digital tachograph, 45 minutes of POA will wrongly reset your driving time leaving you to rmember or check how much driving time you have left before needing a break.
Norfolknewbie:
Where I used to work Washy - ATS used to say 60-90mins so you could book it without even been told as you knew beforehand roughly how long to expect■■?
I always do,it seems to be a standard reply from breakdown control with any suppiler (Volvo,M A N,ATS,etc)
tachograph:
You certainly could use POA if you wanted to
I don’t want to be ■■■■ but itsn’t one of the satisfying conditions of POA that you do not need to remain at your workstation? If so, it would be an impossibility in this case to leave it?
Mike-C:
tachograph:
You certainly could use POA if you wanted toI don’t want to be ■■■■ but itsn’t one of the satisfying conditions of POA that you do not need to remain at your workstation? If so, it would be an impossibility in this case to leave it?
Fair point, depends where you breakdown I guess, personally I try not to breakdown unless there’s a coffee shop handy 
Lost now, so can you or can’t you use POA in this situation?? Never heard about the workstation rule whats that all about■■?
Norfolknewbie:
Lost now, so can you or can’t you use POA in this situation?? Never heard about the workstation rule whats that all about■■?
The jist of it is (without getting to convoluted) is that when you are on POA you do not (or should not ) have to remain at your workstation , i.e in your truck. So if you break down somewhere where you cannot leave it unattended then you cannot actually leave your workstation. So its probably not really qualifying for POA if you have to stay with the vehicle.
Of course everyone in a queue who books POA mostly can’t leave the workstation either but they still book it.
Mike-C:
tachograph:
You certainly could use POA if you wanted toI don’t want to be ■■■■ but itsn’t one of the satisfying conditions of POA that you do not need to remain at your workstation? If so, it would be an impossibility in this case to leave it?
Examples of what Qualifies as a POA
The following examples qualify as a POA, as defined by the DfT.
a.When a mobile worker experiences a delay at a regional distribution centre or depot, waiting for someone to load or unload their vehicle; if they know about the length of the delay at the start of the period (because someone has told them; because they have arrived too early for their slot or because they always experience a delay at one of their regular customers).
b.If a mobile worker typically experiences a 1 hour delay at one of their regular customers, then this would count as a PoA. However, if they were to unexpectedly experience a 2 hour delay, then the second hour would count as working time. Unless the mobile worker was notified, before the end of the first hour, that a further hours delay was expected, in which case the second hour would also count as a POA.
c.Where a mobile worker reports for work, is informed that they are not required to undertake any duties for a specified period (albeit, they need to remain on site to answer calls and be ready to take up work), but is free to wait in the canteen or rest facility.
d.If the vehicle breaks down and the mobile worker is told how long it will take to be rescued.
e.Unless doing some other work (e.g. navigating), a relief driver who is travelling as a passenger would count this time as a period of availability. This time (or a part of it) could also be counted as a break, but would need to be recorded as such.
f.Traffic prohibitions that would count as a PoA include, for example, where the police have delayed the movement of an abnormal load for a set period of time, or where vehicles are banned from city centres during specified hours, and the driver has to park the vehicle and wait.
Source - Department for Transport
Breakdown is covered by section D…
There you go you learn something new everyday! Just a quick query is sitting in passenger seat or laid up on bunk still classed as been at my workstation■■?
washy jnr:
Mike-C:
tachograph:
You certainly could use POA if you wanted toI don’t want to be ■■■■ but itsn’t one of the satisfying conditions of POA that you do not need to remain at your workstation? If so, it would be an impossibility in this case to leave it?
Examples of what Qualifies as a POA
d.If the vehicle breaks down and the mobile worker is told how long it will take to be rescued.
Source - Department for Transport
Breakdown is covered by section D…
Indeed the DFT advice seems to be contrary to what the Law says…
“period of availability” means a period during which the mobile worker is not required to remain at his workstation, but is required to be available to answer any calls to start or resume driving or to carry out other work , including periods during which the mobile worker is accompanying a vehicle being transported by a ferry or by a train as well as periods of waiting at frontiers and those due to traffic prohibitions;
Or maybe not contrary to it, but it depends like tacho says…where you break down?
Way I interpret that bit ‘not required to remain at his workstation’ is that you could remain at your workstation through choice, it does not state -‘thou shalt not be at that workstation’. Maybe just a play on words but then which bits of the regs etc aren’t■■?
Norfolknewbie:
Way I interpret that bit ‘not required to remain at his workstation’ is that you could remain at your workstation through choice, it does not state -‘thou shalt not be at that workstation’. Maybe just a play on words but then which bits of the regs etc aren’t■■?
I agree 100% with you. You’d need to be a solicitor/lawyer to understand it in some cases to be 100% confident in a yes/no answer. Although Conor reckons the DCPC will cure it, i’m not convinced.