OVLOV JAY:
wax cards can be out by up to 5mins either way. Line a stack up on the head and then flick through them at the 12. If yesterdays was 5 fast and todays 5 slow, that’s an 8:50 overnight rest if you have a minimum 9. I used to add 15 mins on. I used to add 5 on to my breaks Just for peace of mind. What’s the harm? If you have a minimum you probably wont get an infringement, if you add a few mins you definitely wont. What’s the obsession with pulling your card as soon as you put it in every day. Drivers flying about all day, then sitting there on 44 mins, engine running, in gear, hand on the hand brake. Makes me laugh
that is why i get no infringments i follow good advice instead of bad advice
bigvern1:
Stopped by VOSA last year. Their man told me with a digi, to do at least a 17 and a 32 min break, because they don’t record full minutes. So I always do just that, right or wrong.
Obviously a VOSA bloke who doesn’t know what he’s talking about then, the digital tachograph will tell you exactly how much break you’ve had.
Came off a digitach fitted truck back onto my own electronic one this morning; I deliberately had bang on 45 mins to test the theory over the last 2 days and got tm to download data and after analysis showed bang on 45.
Advantage, Tachograph
Back to the original question.
An analogue tachograph has, by definition, a clock on the dial with hands.
This is not accurate enough to read minutes, the hands are too wide and there are no minute markings.
It will record accurate times on the tachograph disc inside, but the driver cannot see this during his daily duty.
For this reason, when I am driving the Scania fitted with the analogue tachograph, I never attempt to take a break of exactly 15,30 or 45 minutes as this cannot be accurately measured without an accurate external clock.
My other two vehicles are fitted with an electronic tachograph, which does have an accurate digital readout of the time but records my duty on a paper tachograph disc.
I will always allow at least one extra minute on an exact break, as I cannot tell from the digital display whether there is one second of the displayed minute elapsed or 59 seconds.
I have also occasionally experienced a time difference between that displayed on the digital readout and that marked on two consecutive tachograph discs.
For this reason, particularly when running to and from Spain, I always left at least 9 hours and 15 minutes between daily duty periods.
As I sad earlier, if everyone has this proof, they will make a fortune in the European courts. It seems strange that with all my inexperience I have never come across this and had any serious 1001 Euro fines in Spain, Germany or Belgium
bigvern1:
Stopped by VOSA last year. Their man told me with a digi, to do at least a 17 and a 32 min break, because they don’t record full minutes. So I always do just that, right or wrong.
Obviously a VOSA bloke who doesn’t know what he’s talking about then, the digital tachograph will tell you exactly how much break you’ve had.
Came off a digitach fitted truck back onto my own electronic one this morning; I deliberately had bang on 45 mins to test the theory over the last 2 days and got tm to download data and after analysis showed bang on 45.
Advantage, Tachograph
As long as you check the duration of the break on the tachograph as described in this post it will always be correct
As I sad earlier, if everyone has this proof, they will make a fortune in the European courts
I don’t think there is anything wrong with the tachograph discs, but it is possible for the ham-fisted to elongate the pear shaped hole when putting the disc into the device.
That’s what I put it down to and for the sake of 15 minutes I never had to worry that the daily rest recorded was too short.
You should just go on your own experiances not others. As i said i never get any infringments where breaks are concerned so i cant be wrong in what i have been saying. It works for me. So i do know my arse from my elbow and anolouge from a digi.
Mrknowitall: You should just go on your own experiances not others. As i said i never get any infringments where breaks are concerned so i cant be wrong in what i have been saying. It works for me. So i do know my arse from my elbow and anolouge from a digi.
Neither do I and I never add extra minutes on when I want to crack on and get somewhere, 15, 30 or 45 minutes exactly and I’m gone.
I have an analogue Scania and I never take more than the absolute minimum. I use a stopwatch for breaks and make a note of the exact time from my phone for rest. I’m usually moving within 5 seconds and never have any infringements for it.
The problem only arises when drivers use the analogue clock to work out 15 minutes, which will usually be wrong because even if you stop on the hour it’s hard to tell the difference between 14 or 15 minutes. It was a common offence years ago when most trucks had the old analogue clocks fitted.
My tachos are usually checked by VOSA every month or so and never have I had a rest or break too short unless done so deliberately. Last week I was checked there must have been 50 break or rest periods, and not one was too short.
By all means add several hours to your working week just to be on the safe side, but that’s like driving at 30 mph on a single just so that you never get a speeding ticket. It works, but it’s completely unnecessary.
maurice:
I have an analogue Scania and I never take more than the absolute minimum. I use a stopwatch for breaks and make a note of the exact time from my phone for rest. I’m usually moving within 5 seconds and never have any infringements for it.
Very commendable but I fear you are heading for an early grave.
Do you time the rest of your life with a stopwatch too?
ncooper:
Very commendable but I fear you are heading for an early grave.
How do you figure that out? I don’t get stressed and have a ■■■■ easy job. It’s just I choose to get the job done without the need to waste several hours every week sitting in a layby or services when it’s completely unnecessary. How will adding several minutes to every break when I’m parked in a ■■■■ riddled lorry park increase my life.
ncooper:
Do you time the rest of your life with a stopwatch too?
What a ridiculous question. Virtually every driver ‘times’ their breaks or rest periods, including yourself otherwise you would be wandering around the lorry park with your thumb up your arse trying to figure out when it’s legal to move. I use a £1 stopwatch, others use the world’s most expensive egg timer and some use their fingers and toes to count. VOSA really don’t care how we do it.
Mrknowitall: You should just go on your own experiances not others. As i said i never get any infringments where breaks are concerned so i cant be wrong in what i have been saying. It works for me. So i do know my arse from my elbow and anolouge from a digi.
Neither do I and I never add extra minutes on when I want to crack on and get somewhere, 15, 30 or 45 minutes exactly and I’m gone.
Mrknowitall: You should just go on your own experiances not others. As i said i never get any infringments where breaks are concerned so i cant be wrong in what i have been saying. It works for me. So i do know my arse from my elbow and anolouge from a digi.
Neither do I and I never add extra minutes on when I want to crack on and get somewhere, 15, 30 or 45 minutes exactly and I’m gone.
who’s a lucky boy then
Absolutely nothing to do with luck, just knowing how the various tachographs work.
Right, make sense of this…If you start your break at say, 1000, and it’s 1000 and 13 seconds real time.
So at the end of your 15/30/45 whatever…It doesn’t completely add up to the full minute does it?
So at the end of a week, all of those “lost seconds” must add up to minutes. And this is the basis VOSA stated his case to me, when my card was analysed.
So that’s the reason I go over by at least a min or two.
Mrknowitall: You should just go on your own experiances not others. As i said i never get any infringments where breaks are concerned so i cant be wrong in what i have been saying. It works for me. So i do know my arse from my elbow and anolouge from a digi.
Neither do I and I never add extra minutes on when I want to crack on and get somewhere, 15, 30 or 45 minutes exactly and I’m gone.
who’s a lucky boy then
Absolutely nothing to do with luck, just knowing how the various tachographs work.
so do i old son i expect you are 1 of those drivers who has always got 4hrs to run Just like 2 tacho ■■■■
MrknowF’all: You should just go on your own experiances not others. As i said i never get any infringments where breaks are concerned so i cant be wrong in what i have been saying. It works for me. So i do know my arse from my elbow and anolouge from a digi.
Neither do I and I never add extra minutes on when I want to crack on and get somewhere, 15, 30 or 45 minutes exactly and I’m gone.
who’s a lucky boy then
Absolutely nothing to do with luck, just knowing how the various tachographs work.
so do i old son i expect you are 1 of those drivers who has always got 4hrs to run Just like 2 tacho ■■■■
You suspect wrong. In fact these days it is unusual for me to drive more than 4 hours in a shift.
When we used to use TAKTRACS (do drivers still use these?) back in the 90’s we were advised by “the men from the ministry” in those days to always let it run over the extra minute to ensure that you had the full 15, 30 or 45 as you could never be certain if you had begun your break dead on the dot. We did this and never had any problems, after all an extra minute isnt going to affect things much in the long term.
bigvern1:
Right, make sense of this…If you start your break at say, 1000, and it’s 1000 and 13 seconds real time.
So at the end of your 15/30/45 whatever…It doesn’t completely add up to the full minute does it?
So at the end of a week, all of those “lost seconds” must add up to minutes. And this is the basis VOSA stated his case to me, when my card was analysed.
So that’s the reason I go over by at least a min or two.
With a digital tacho if you look at the current mode display display, bottom left corner, when that shows 15, 30 or 45 that is the amount you have had, and is the amount that will be recorded into the data and show on a printout. Doesn’t matter if you started your break at 10:00:13, it has taken that into consideration so if you want to crack on ASAP then you can do without waiting around for extra minutes.
i expect you are 1 of those drivers who has always got 4hrs to run 
Just like 2 tacho ■■■■