No law on how much time you show your checks take as long as they take
It is a condition of the operators licence that vehicle checks are completed at the start time of taking over a vehicle…
I think it is “defective tyres” that the authorities are most likely to PG9 people over.
After all, the authorites can drive up alongside an offending truck - and pretty much see how badly some of these blighters are taking the ■■■■…
To do the checks properly. Get your kit out. Your satnav set up and plugged in. The desintation checked on google maps street view. And for you to have coffee takes well over 15 minutes. Anyone who does it quicker than that is not doing it right.
jakethesnake:
Most important thing is to make sure you do them properly.
More wise pontifications from our resident safe driving prophet Jake.
We are not worthy.
It calls for one of those rare occasions where we should all join hands in a circle and sing ‘■■■ By Ah’.
Thanks for that pearl Jake, none of us would have known.
I should think nowadays with cameras all over lorry’s you have to do a thorough walk round because if anything happens and you didn’t theyve got you by the nuts.
dave docwra:
It is a condition of the operators licence that vehicle checks are completed at the start time of taking over a vehicle…
It does, but only indirectly - veh kept fit and serviceable and that drivers record and report defects promptly.
dieseldog999:
thats the reason that putting your card in before putting the kettle on and going for a pee is so vitally important every day.
Which is fine if your employer allows you to do so, because if they’ll allow you to do that then they’ll clearly allow you time to do checks.
The main reason for showing time at the beginning of the shift is not to “prove” that checks have been done, since you can always waste the time on something else (as you demonstrate).
It is to avoid the implication, when no time at all is shown, that you either jumped in to go and couldn’t possibly have done the checks (at all, or to any reasonable standard), or that you haven’t recorded the time spent doing them (which, for those operators who take everything to the wire on drivers hours, would otherwise be a common practice).
Rjan:
dieseldog999:
thats the reason that putting your card in before putting the kettle on and going for a pee is so vitally important every day.Which is fine if your employer allows you to do so, because if they’ll allow you to do that then they’ll clearly allow you time to do checks.
The main reason for showing time at the beginning of the shift is not to “prove” that checks have been done, since you can always waste the time on something else (as you demonstrate).
It is to avoid the implication, when no time at all is shown, that you either jumped in to go and couldn’t possibly have done the checks (at all, or to any reasonable standard), or that you haven’t recorded the time spent doing them (which, for those operators who take everything to the wire on drivers hours, would otherwise be a common practice).
^^^^^^^^^^^
which is why…thats the reason that putting your card in before putting the kettle on and going for a pee is so vitally important every day.
not so applicable if your starting your shift in your yard or rdc for the big companies,whereas if you wake up in the cab,then card in,kettle on,round the back for a pee before scurrying back in just as the microwave dings suffices.
if it took anyone more than 5 mins to actually do a quick check even kicking the tyres,then your hanging it out in reality,but going through the motions and keeping your bum covered does the job.
lots of places give you 45 mins to hook up and go,so you have to pass the time to your best advantage.
your not doing a physical mot check,your meant to give things an eyeball and a shoogle where required and leave the wheeltapping to vosa. 
robroy:
jakethesnake:
Most important thing is to make sure you do them properly.More wise pontifications from our resident safe driving prophet Jake.
We are not worthy.
It calls for one of those rare occasions where we should all join hands in a circle and sing ‘■■■ By Ah’.
Thanks for that pearl Jake, none of us would have known.
Pure Class 
edd1974:
If your in same truck every day checks will be quicker.
If they are then you’re not doing them properly. You still need to do them properly even if you took the keys home. I did a daily check on one I drove the following day and found a lump of tread missing off one of the drive axle tyres. When the tyre fitter took the wheel off the tread I had seen was the only bit left on the tyre, the rest had come off. Never noticed a thing driving it the previous day.
Doing checks is so boring with warnings popping up for every little thing - bulb out - WARNING! (■■■) LIGHT MALFUNCTION! Tyre underinflated? WARNING! (POSITION) TYRE UNDERINFLATED! Door unlocked? Sure will be a warning light somewhere…Break linings, oil pressure, even clutch wear - everything displayed neatly as %. All you have to actually check for is body damage/tyres dmg/nuts/thread. Everything else can be checked from driver’s seat
ETS:
Doing checks is so boring with warnings popping up for every little thing - bulb out - WARNING! (■■■) LIGHT MALFUNCTION! Tyre underinflated? WARNING! (POSITION) TYRE UNDERINFLATED! Door unlocked? Sure will be a warning light somewhere…Break linings, oil pressure, even clutch wear - everything displayed neatly as %. All you have to actually check for is body damage/tyres dmg/nuts/thread. Everything else can be checked from driver’s seat
Agreed. Besides what can be seen of the tyres and wheels from a standing or leaning position, and other than bodywork or equipment which at a glance is obviously out of order (e.g. a boom on a crane left up, back doors left open, serious collision damage, etc.), there is nothing much else to check on a modern motor. If you change vehicles regularly, there may be settings to make - like mirrors, seats, etc. - but if you’re in the same wagon these aren’t relevant.
I’ve seen some drivers shimmy under wheels and all sorts, but in my view that is not reasonably practicable or generally safe to perform.
A proper MOT mechanical check requires a pit or elevating ramps indoors (uniformly lit and protected from the weather to allow the mechanic to see properly and to concentrate on his task), as well as the training and experience of being a full-time mechanic, and that is not expected nor part of my responsibility as a driver.
Unless you are accustomed to regularly seeing a variety of defects or working intimately with particular parts, many things are impossible to spot for the average person even though they may seem quite obvious once already found.
It’s not just a case of looking long enough. Even with the “Where’s Wally” comics, you are at least familiar with what Wally looks like, and it’s just a question of finding him. Once found, it is quite obviously him, he was in plain sight all along.
On a vehicle, a defect could be all manner of things in all manner of places, and nearly all defects you’ll never have seen before, and certainly not regularly and repeatedly (unless you have worked for a particularly bad operator).
It’s like someone asking “find me a defect with this haystack, and I don’t just mean needles”.
I am not getting this 10 minute thing. The proof of a walk round check is a completed check list ticked off and signed nil-defects. Something I do every morning. How else can you cover yourself?
Janos:
I am not getting this 10 minute thing. The proof of a walk round check is a completed check list ticked off and signed nil-defects. Something I do every morning. How else can you cover yourself?
^^^^^^^^^
not everyone works for companies with mandatory check sheets,hence bung your card in for 5 mins or so before moving down the road.
theres no proof you have done one,theres no need for a manual at start or end of shift unless your company says its mandatory,and 5 mins minimum before you move means you cant get a dig from vosa for either not doing one,or doing it without recording it.
whether you actually do one,or pee up the wheel and put the kettle on makes no difference,its just your ■■■ covering meaningless proof that you can say you did one if you need to.
There’s proof that you ain’t done your checks - if you get handed a PG9 after being pulled up at the bottom of the service road on your way out “for having bald tyres”, so obvious that you didn’t even need to be stationary for those tyres to be visible to the vosa/plod vehicle alongside/behind…
Other things that the authorities might notice pretty quickly are “lopsided loads”, “Blown Bulbs”, and of course “tail lift not up and secured for departure” - all things one can easily overlook IF one just sticks a card in, and goes…