This has probably been answered before but I was wondering how coach operators do long coach journeys, say to South of France, within drivers hours rules. I was trying to work out that even with 2 drivers on board it still doesn’t work if you follow the rule that the vehicle has to be stationary for the daily rest.
Just a bit curious how it works.
I don’t think they have to be stationary but I am prepared to be corrected
Young_AL:
I don’t think they have to be stationary but I am prepared to be corrected
To be on REST the vehicle must be stationary - its written in the rules
Many Coach operators often use a multi driver system where some drivers are not based in UK
Not sure how it works but those on the CDF coach driver forum do …
They used to pick drivers up on route,don’t know if they still work it this way.
The company I work for puts the drivers going over the water to Spain or Austria, into a hotel in Dover. A UK driver then feeds it down to Dover, and after relevant time returns to base. So the guys going across the water have 21 hours to pound the tarmac. 
^ that. A double shifted coach can get a long way in one stint, Europe isn’t that big. Different companies do it different ways, the likes of Ferris for instance had drivers based in Spain, they’d take coach over round the border, do drop off and collections and take it back to double man team that were in a hotel for rest. Most others have a driver do collections in UK and meet the double man team on route to ferry.
As mr switchlogic said, just like that.
Well I’ve seen some coach operators use a second vehicle when double manning, which is totally against the law…One bloke driving the bus/ coach and the other one is either ahead or following driving something like a Vauxhall Astra… they get to the services and switch over vehicles… that’s how they can cover great distances
Simple. Double manned.
When I go abroad I’ll go down night before to say south mimms (from Glasgow) and the following day jump on the boat.
You can do south Austria/north Italy or southern France/Barcelona in 21 hours easily.
Sometimes if it’s Spain you’d get the boat to Bilbao.
You can drive a company car outside your driving hours, but it must be within the duty time. When second manning, you can be on rest when sat in passenger seat
When second manning, you can be on rest when sat in passenger seat
You would be on POA with the first 45 minutes being assumed as break.
Pete 
When i did what we call “Shuttling” in the 90s to early 2000s the company used an agency “Bottom end driver” would use to do the last bit for you. For instance i worked at Shearings and all the shuttle drivers left from Exhall near Coventry after staying in the Novatel. For Diana Marina we would drive to a hotel just off the Orange junction and stay in a hotel there while an agency driver did the bottom end for you. Spain we stopped at Montpelier services and the Italian ones we stopped at Belinzona. At Club Cantabrica we did some of most journeys to the destination, except the Costa Brava resorts and the Italian resorts. They employed their own Bottom end drivers to do Italy and used the same agency for Costa Brava. In my day it was 22 hours too.
Great days, sadly a thing of the past now for me. (Siesta and Ferris also used the same agency company too. )
two drivers from st. petersburg to munich, 7 hours off in munich, back towards st. petersburg. that’s how ecolines.net do it, according to a report by a newspaper a few months ago
I went with Ferris to Salou as a passenger a few times about 12 years ago and from what I remember they changed drivers in France.
The first 2 start in Wales, go up to Manchester across to Leeds then down M1 and onto Dover, cross then changeover fair few hrs down in a services with a hotel.
The next 2 drive down with 3 or 4 drops, then load up the ones coming home and back to same changeover point where the first 2 are rested and then back to UK.
Sometimes it didn’t work like that and they had UK drivers that were based somewhere near Barcelona that would just just jump on there do the drops & pick-ups and back to there to hand over again.
mucker85:
As mr switchlogic said, just like that.
That’s how Tommy Copper died
It has been known for a driver to swap seats while the coach was in motion.
My Dad saw them swapping seats in the middle of the night when the passengers were asleep.
Some coaches have a drivers compartment that is not in view from passengers or there is a curtain obscuring driver swaps.
If the coach stopped to change driving seats,it would wake up the passengers.
The trick is to get in position with the foot on the accelerator being the first and last contact while swapping.Both hold the wheel in the swap.
Before digis and slacker control checks on tachos.double teams of truckers did the same.Husband and wife teams.
roughyed:
You can drive a company car outside your driving hours, but it must be within the duty time. When second manning, you can be on rest when sat in passenger seat
Rest on a moving vehicle…how wrong is that
5RRF:
roughyed:
You can drive a company car outside your driving hours, but it must be within the duty time. When second manning, you can be on rest when sat in passenger seatRest on a moving vehicle…how wrong is that
I think some peeps are getting confused, you have a “break” on the coach, the “Rest” is taken at the destination.
milodon:
two drivers from st. petersburg to munich, 7 hours off in munich, back towards st. petersburg. that’s how ecolines.net do it, according to a report by a newspaper a few months ago
The minimum rest on 2 man work used to be 8 hours, not sure if that`s changed.
neilg14:
I went with Ferris to Salou as a passenger a few times about 12 years ago and from what I remember they changed drivers in France.
The first 2 start in Wales, go up to Manchester across to Leeds then down M1 and onto Dover, cross then changeover fair few hrs down in a services with a hotel.
The next 2 drive down with 3 or 4 drops, then load up the ones coming home and back to same changeover point where the first 2 are rested and then back to UK.
Sometimes it didn’t work like that and they had UK drivers that were based somewhere near Barcelona that would just just jump on there do the drops & pick-ups and back to there to hand over again.
The bottom end drivers back then were all English and wore whoevers uniform they were working for, depending on the time they would have changed at either the Orange split or MontP. I cant remember the agencys name now, but the majority were good lads who got your motor back back on.
It was hard work tipping all those cases in the French and Spanish heat too!