Something has come up at work and people are saying if we are more than 15ft from the truck it needs to be turned off and locked? Is this law? I’m sure I remember something about it but after searching the Internet I cannot seem to get a straight answer! Has anyone any knowledge on the subject or a link to what I need to read? Many thanks
Probably more to do with insurance than anything it’s a bit hard to claim for a new truck by starting the conversation off my driver left it running and walked off. I leave mine open keys out if I can see it and I’m not far away. If I nip in a shop or fill up it gets locked I’ve come out a tesco express before to catch some toe rag trying the doors whilst it was parked outside on the road.
I’m not aware of it being an offence not to lock the vehicle but it is an offence to leave a vehicle running on a public road unattended, but I was under the impression that it has more to do with how long you leave it than how far away you are.
Driver fined for leaving engine running as car defrosted outside his home
That’s sort of what I’m trying to find out, sometimes we can be away from the truck for 5mins at a time but have to leave it running, I’m not happy about it incase someone wanted to help themselves to it! Just wandered where I stand legally!
Why do you have to leave it running ?
I wondered that why leave it running
tachograph:
Why do you have to leave it running ?
Seems strange you’d have to if I was away for 5 minutes it would be locked regardless I fancy a bollocking more for turning it off then something happening to it.
It’s a refuse truck so need the lifters/hopper to be working when we come back with bins, would be impossible to stop it and start it everytime! But sometimes we are on our own and asked to walk great distances to get to places the truck won’t get to and drag the bin to the truck and then take it back so the truck is left running unattended for quite sometime!
I see your point it would be a pain in the arse keep turning it on engaging your pto I assume it would have one but for leaving it unattended for a long while I’d rather keep getting in and starting it.
Yeah it would be a pain! We are trying to make things easier for our boss but he’s being awkward! I think I have found some stuff about “quitting” which is what we are doing! Will print this all off and show him tomorrow, thanks for your help
I agree with Karl86, I don’t think I’d be leaving any vehicle unattended with the engine running for 5 minutes, if your boss knows about this they need to change the working procedures.
What you’re doing seems wrong on many levels, from wasting fuel at a time when we’re all expected to be environmentalists, vehicle security, security of your personal belongings, and not least the safety issue, if some idiot got in and released the handbrake for a laugh the potential consequences could be extreme 
Yes that’s what we are worried about, we need either the way we do the job changed or a system fitted that means you can leave it running but noone can get in or drive it, they do exsist but are quite pricey so hopefully we can change the way we work so we can remain with the truck!
I used to do a round in Luton/Trade waste, 1100 & 660 bins. Most jobs we backed up to the bins & just tipped them but we had a few that were down alleys & behind shops. I would always switch it off & lock the wagon, then fetch the bin-switch the wagon on-tip the bin-then switch off & lock the wagon again, then return the bin. Bit of a pain, but if someone decided to take the wagon for a joy ride, with all your stuff in it- ie Iphone, satnav, bag, wallet, house keys, SARNIES 
Not only would you loose 5 or 6 hundred quids worth of technology, but you will loose your job as well.
You can get a something fitted that you can take your keys out and lock the cab and the engine still runs but if anyone gets in and dips the clutch or break with out the keys in the ignition the engine dies till you use the keys again
91 miles 
In the early 90s I left a 142 idling (locked) in the yard at 6pm jumped in the car and [zb]ed off home for a bit of “hows ya father”. Came back early next morning went and tipped it, then came back to the yard to have a new starter motor fitted (we had snatched it to get it started that night as no spare units or starter motors) 
Would of cost a fortune if it wasn’t running on cherry
The Highway Code:
123
The Driver and the Environment. You MUST NOT leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road. Generally, if the vehicle is stationary and is likely to remain so for more than a couple of minutes, you should apply the parking brake and switch off the engine to reduce emissions and noise pollution. However it is permissible to leave the engine running if the vehicle is stationary in traffic or for diagnosing faults.
[Law CUR regs 98 & 107]
However if the engine is used to drive auxilliary equipment there is no such law, there is also no distance from the vehicle or time limit if you are using the engine to drive some other equipment.
Here are a couple of examples.
The bloke in the cherry picker is washing the roof, the van has the pressure washer inside it, even the cherrypicker engine is a long way from the operator.
The driver of the pump truck is seen laying concrete in the front room and not near his vehicle