At the start of each duty, working for Royal Mail through Manpower agency we are required to fill in a form - “Driver’s declaration of employment outside of Royal Mail”
Information they ask for is:-
Last day of work
Last daily rest period
Last weekly rest period
Total duty hours for previous week (excluding breaks)
Total driving hours for previous week
Is this type of form standard across other employers, or is it just a Royal Mail thing ?
If there are other companies that use these forms I’d be interested in seeing some other examples
To view the form I’m referring to select the DECLARATION PRINT sheet from the following site joebloggs.drivinghours.com/
login is required - user = joebloggs password = joebloggs
I’ve never had to fill one in that required the previous weeks driving time, but I’ve driven at companies that require agency drivers to complete a declaration of when the last daily and weekly rest periods ended.
I wouldn’t say the practice is standard in the road transport industry but it’s certainly not uncommon.
It’s just a box ticking exercise to cover the company, nothing to bother about.
tachograph:
I’ve never had to fill one in that required the previous weeks driving time, but I’ve driven at companies that require agency drivers to complete a declaration of when the last daily and weekly rest periods ended.
I wouldn’t say the practice is standard in the road transport industry but it’s certainly not uncommon.
It’s just a box ticking exercise to cover the company, nothing to bother about.
thanks for the response, it’s never bothered me before completing these forms as I have everything already calculated for me. I’ve witnessed an incident where a new driver was asked to complete the form but then said he had no idea of his total driving hours for the previous week nor his total work time for the previous week. They said he wouldn’t be allowed to drive until he filled in the form, he said ok, i’ll just make something up. They sent him home, wouldn’t let him work.
How do drivers get this kind of information when they just keep written entries in diaries of previous work ?
tachograph:
I’ve never had to fill one in that required the previous weeks driving time, but I’ve driven at companies that require agency drivers to complete a declaration of when the last daily and weekly rest periods ended.
I wouldn’t say the practice is standard in the road transport industry but it’s certainly not uncommon.
It’s just a box ticking exercise to cover the company, nothing to bother about.
thanks for the response, it’s never bothered me before completing these forms as I have everything already calculated for me. I’ve witnessed an incident where a new driver was asked to complete the form but then said he had no idea of his total driving hours for the previous week nor his total work time for the previous week. They said he wouldn’t be allowed to drive until he filled in the form, he said ok, i’ll just make something up. They sent him home, wouldn’t let him work.
How do drivers get this kind of information when they just keep written entries in diaries of previous work ?
Some people are just too stupid to survive.
If you keep a record of your working/driving time in a notebook it’s not hard to calculate the totals for the week.
tachograph:
I’ve never had to fill one in that required the previous weeks driving time, but I’ve driven at companies that require agency drivers to complete a declaration of when the last daily and weekly rest periods ended.
I wouldn’t say the practice is standard in the road transport industry but it’s certainly not uncommon.
It’s just a box ticking exercise to cover the company, nothing to bother about.
How do drivers get this kind of information when they just keep written entries in diaries of previous work ?
It’s the drivers responsibility to monitor his hours. Especially if agency it would be something you should keep an eye on and make a note of after each shift. Firstly to make sure you get paid properly and secondly so you don’t turn work down because you think you might be out of hours.
As for RM, each site is different with different procedures. Some will just ask if you have completed any work since you last worked for RM. If no, then there’s no form filling.
alix776:
Never had to do one but they would be told sorry you me to drive it form fill its not getting filled out
The places I’ve had to complete the form you wouldn’t be working if you refused to complete it, and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get paid anything either.
I honestly can’t see a problem with it myself, as I said before it’s just a box ticking exercise to satisfy VOSA that they’ve done what they can to ensure drivers stay within the rules.
Its nothing to do with vosa at all my view and practice is sorry that’s commercially sensitive information and no i wouldn’t be working then if want it moved. That’s up to them
alix776:
Its nothing to do with vosa at all my view and practice is sorry that’s commercially sensitive information and no i wouldn’t be working then if want it moved. That’s up to them
It is to do with VOSA (now DVSA) should they get an inspection then they can show they’ve taken reasonable steps to ensure drivers working for them are operating within drivers hours.
They also treat agency as their own with drivers having to sign for infringements (whilst working for RM) to show that they’re not getting ignored and try are acting upon any infringement noticed.
alix776:
Its nothing to do with vosa at all my view and practice is sorry that’s commercially sensitive information and no i wouldn’t be working then if want it moved. That’s up to them
It is to do with VOSA (now DVSA) should they get an inspection then they can show they’ve taken reasonable steps to ensure drivers working for them are operating within drivers hours.
They also treat agency as their own with drivers having to sign for infringements (whilst working for RM) to show that they’re not getting ignored and try are acting upon any infringement noticed.
This ^^^
It’s very much to do with covering their backside in case they get checked by DVSA, and generally making sure that drivers they use are compliant, there’s nothing commercially sensitive about what rest periods a driver has had.
It’s going to take a while to get used to calling VOSA DVSA
A DHL distribution centre I did some agency shifts in asked for declaration forms to be filled out by all agency drivers at the start of every shift, they also photocopy both parts of your licence & DCPC card and put your driver card in a reader. They also download your driver card at the end of the shift. I have no objection to them making sure I was running stright. As far as I’m concerned, this is all being done while I was getting paid and all concerned I knew I was legal.
alix776:
Its nothing to do with vosa at all my view and practice is sorry that’s commercially sensitive information and no i wouldn’t be working then if want it moved. That’s up to them
8. I understand that, if my Other Employer asks for information about my work for Royal Mall, I may supply only the following information:- (a) Starting time; (b) Finishing time; (c)Total time on duty (excluding meal & rest relief's); (d) Total time spent driving; (e) Details of vehicle driven. I also understand that if additional information is required, it may be obtained only by application to my Royal Mail supervising officer / Operations Manager.
9. I understand and agree that details I have supplied on this declaration may be checked with my Other Employer, if considered necessary by Royal Mail.
10. I understand that failure to advise Royal Mail of any Other Employment may result in a breach of drivers hours legislation (the rules of which have been explained to me and which I am fully aware of) and that I may become liable for resultant legal action. I therefore agree to notify my Manager if at any time I obtain additional employment outside Royal Mail
I confirm that I am legally available to work the hours for which I am being employed by Royal Mail. Details below are a true and accurate summary of my previous work. (Please Initial)...........
Doesn’t section 8 of the declaration cover any issues and worries about commercially sensitive information ?
Its nothing but and area covering excerise and unessecery most agencies know whether there drivers can cover it or not fortunately i don’t work through agencies so don’t have to suffer such dumbing down of the job
The initial here bit would he signed none of your business
