I went accross to France in the truck for the first time on Friday. The plan was to recover a unit and trailer, that had been on it’s side, back home. The job went ■■■■■ up but we got there and back without incident. Cut a long story short we’ve got to go back Tuesday or Wednesday. The driving time isn’t an issue but what’s going to cause problems is the time we’ll lose from our 15 hour spreads on the two ferry crossings and the ammount of work we need to do when we get to Marcoing just off the A26 near Cambrai. What we want to do is stagger our start times so one of us drives to the destination, we get the vhicle ready to roll and then the other of us drives home. Would this be legal if we are genuinely resting while the other one’s driving?
Any advice appreciated. We’re on digi cards also.
Rusty Nail:
I went accross to France in the truck for the first time on Friday. The plan was to recover a unit and trailer, that had been on it’s side, back home. The job went ■■■■■ up but we got there and back without incident. Cut a long story short we’ve got to go back Tuesday or Wednesday. The driving time isn’t an issue but what’s going to cause problems is the time we’ll lose from our 15 hour spreads on the two ferry crossings and the ammount of work we need to do when we get to Marcoing just off the A26 near Cambrai. What we want to do is stagger our start times so one of us drives to the destination, we get the vhicle ready to roll and then the other of us drives home. Would this be legal if we are genuinely resting while the other one’s driving?
Any advice appreciated. We’re on digi cards also.
Your journey there will be other work or POA regardless of how you get there.
Article 9 - (EC) 561/2006
- 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.
However as you’re double manning you’re not restricted by a 15 hour spread-over.
Whilst multi-manning you should have a rest period of at-least 9 hours completed within 30 hours from the start of shift so you effectively have a 21 hour spread-over from the start of shift to the end of shift.
Article 8 - (EC) 561/2006
- By way of derogation from paragraph 2, within 30 hours
of the end of a daily or weekly rest period, a driver engaged in
multi-manning must have taken a new daily rest period of at
least nine hours.
deleted out of date regs. 
Thankyou Tachograph!
Now a question regarding the length of the outfit. We’ll be running at approximately 27 metres grossing about 38 tonnes. Over here that’s perfectly legal under the recovery special types regs. Anyone know how the French view things? I know people who have done it on many occassions but just wonering if they are of the same opinion as us?
Rusty Nail:
Thankyou Tachograph!
Now a question regarding the length of the outfit. We’ll be running at approximately 27 metres grossing about 38 tonnes. Over here that’s perfectly legal under the recovery special types regs. Anyone know how the French view things? I know people who have done it on many occassions but just wonering if they are of the same opinion as us?
It is a closed shop in France, you are not allowed to recover vehicles from the motorways, so I would make some calls before you go out with a wrecker.
translate.google.co.uk/translate … ml&act=url
Its a poor translation but may make you smile 