So to sum up, if the story was true he wasn’t fined for not using the ferry selection. Simply because he didn’t explain his interruption whether it be using the ferry selection or doing a print out and writing on the back. 
Must admit I didn’t know we were supposed to write the reason on the tacho, I never bother. If I start London and finish Belfast I thought it was sort of obvious a ferry was involved. 
maurice:
So to sum up, if the story was true he wasn’t fined for not using the ferry selection. Simply because he didn’t explain his interruption whether it be using the ferry selection or doing a print out and writing on the back.Must admit I didn’t know we were supposed to write the reason on the tacho, I never bother. If I start London and finish Belfast I thought it was sort of obvious a ferry was involved.
It is obvious,
but the ferry selection or writing and explanation on the back of the card is do to with interupting your rest period to get on and off a ferry.
maurice:
So to sum up, if the story was true he wasn’t fined for not using the ferry selection. Simply because he didn’t explain his interruption whether it be using the ferry selection or doing a print out and writing on the back.Must admit I didn’t know we were supposed to write the reason on the tacho, I never bother. If I start London and finish Belfast I thought it was sort of obvious a ferry was involved.
You don’t know about the tunnel then mate? 
It is great when a bs merchant is caught out. Was in rugby truckstop last week and some clown was telling the bloke next to me about when he done china with Ralph Davies.
This guy was nodding yes mate no mate them said I worked for kepstowe freight for ages and we done more than Davies out there and I’m sure no one got that far. The blokes face was a picture and he drank up and made a quick exit. The other bloke was a proper nice and interesting fella.
bigvern1:
maurice:
So to sum up, if the story was true he wasn’t fined for not using the ferry selection. Simply because he didn’t explain his interruption whether it be using the ferry selection or doing a print out and writing on the back.Must admit I didn’t know we were supposed to write the reason on the tacho, I never bother. If I start London and finish Belfast I thought it was sort of obvious a ferry was involved.
You don’t know about the tunnel then mate?
I’ve not heard about the tunnel from Scotland to N. Ireland, I must google it when I get a chance.
jimboy124:
I have no idea of his reaction as I didn’t look back. Why are there so many [zb] knob heads on this job that have to force there bull crap. It drives me mad .…
It happens to us all Jimboy.
2 weeks ago i was on the Monday Morning 0600 DFDS and one of TAFT Shipping’s finest started chatting to me, telling me he was off to Italy etc etc
Well ■■■■ me i was on the boat that very afternoon and the same ■■■■ was on there too, heading home… I asked how his trip was, he just walked off…
Mmm … my understanding of this ‘ferry mode’ seems to be slightly different.
I always thought the ‘ferry/train status’ should be selected once the vehicle is ON the ferry (or train). So prior to this generally on ‘rest’ then vehicle is moved onto the ferry thus interrupting the rest. Once on the ferry select ‘ferry setting’ and go to bed etc leaving the ferry/train status selected - (you can still operate the mode switch and select rest, end country etc) but the little ferry symbol will be on the display. When the vehicle is then moved again it automatically comes out of ‘ferry setting’ into ‘drive’ then if needed the rest of the required 11 hour rest can be taken recording rest as normal.
The Siemens manual does say “You can mark the time, the vehicle is located on a ferry or on a train”.
So that kind of indicates to me that you park on the ferry or train - THEN select the appropriate setting (I keep wanting to type mode but that seems to annoy people 
) for ferry, then end country and rest mode etc. Later when you come back to the vehicle select begin country and drive off - Ferry mode is then cancelled.
I tried this on the Siemens simulator and it marks the print out with the ferry symbol at the time it is selected. Then it showed i selected REST and the period of that rest, then the vehicle was moved (getting off the ferry) and it shows the new country I selected then I selected rest again.
To me the print out made sense. I suppose this way you don’t get a ferry symbol to show the end of the ferry journey - whereas the way coffee described it you would have a start ferry and end ferry with some activities in between therefore clearly showing what happened.
Having looked at other brands of digi tacho instructions - they all seem to say selet the ferry/train option to mark the time located on a ferry or train.
There again - I dunno I aint never left the bleedin country 
shep532:
So that kind of indicates to me that you park on the ferry or train - THEN select the appropriate setting (I keep wanting to type mode but that seems to annoy people
Unlucky!! 
So I don’t need to use it on the IoW ferry like someone told me the other day?
dieseldave:
shep532:
So that kind of indicates to me that you park on the ferry or train - THEN select the appropriate setting (I keep wanting to type mode but that seems to annoy people
Aww shucks - ya got me
taft shipping only do pond hopping,
as the old saying goes if you pay peanuts you get monkeys,
shep532:
I tried this on the Siemens simulator and it marks the print out with the ferry symbol at the time it is selected.
There you go, the digital equivalent of a pen writing on a tacho chart explaining why the rest is being interrupted. That’s all it is.
shep532:
Then it showed i selected REST and the period of that rest, then the vehicle was moved (getting off the ferry) and it shows the new country I selected then I selected rest again.
You would only enter the begin country at that point if you have completed 11 hours of rest. If you still need to take another rest period once ashore to make up 11 hours then you don’t select the begin country at that point. Selecting the begin country means you are ending your rest period and your shift will start from that point. Doing it your way would leave you with insufficient daily rest and you could have problems later in the day when you run out of duty time.
shep532:
To me the print out made sense. I suppose this way you don’t get a ferry symbol to show the end of the ferry journey - whereas the way coffee described it you would have a start ferry and end ferry with some activities in between therefore clearly showing what happened.
But the ferry option is not used to indicate when the ferry journey begins and ends, there is no requirement in the regulations to record that fact, it is used to explain why the daily rest period is being interrupted. So, you use it just before you interrupt the rest period, for boarding, and use it again, if necessary, to explain a second interruption just before disembarkation. If you take say 3 hours rest before boarding, change mode and select the ferry option as boarding begins and then have another 8 hours rest on board the ferry so you can just begin your new shift and drive off, then the data will just show one little ferry symbol at the start of the interruption to board. That’s all that’s needed, a mark to explain the interruption to the daily rest period because nowhere in the EU Driver’s Hours Regulations is a section saying you must record/show the time you were on a ferry or train.
Since I started driving digital tacho equipped vehicles around 5 years ago I’ve been on hundreds of ferry and train crossings, 4 or 6 every week for about 3 of those years and then at least 2 or 4 a week for another year, and in all that time I had to use the ferry option once. On all the other occasions the crossing was during my shift and as I wasn’t interrupting my daily rest period I had no need to use it. The one occasions was when I was delayed on route to Holyhead and missed the afternoon ferry. I took the biggest part of my rest in Holyhead Port then completed it on board before arrival in Dublin and the ferry option was used to explain the interruption to my rest period when boarding the ferry.
starfighter:
So I don’t need to use it on the IoW ferry like someone told me the other day?
you can do if you want, it’s up to you.
limeyphil:
starfighter:
So I don’t need to use it on the IoW ferry like someone told me the other day?you can do if you want, it’s up to you.
You can also do it if you want on the woolwich ferry .
Fantastic post this, pmsl
Read it and tell me some drivers don’t need training…