I will be driving a truck in about two weeks for the first time, and there are a couple of questions regarding the tacho and wtd i am unsure about.
Firstly i know you can drive up to 10 hours twice a week, is this also the case if you work the night shift or is it just the day shift. Secondly the tacho if i drive for 2 hours then have a 15 minute break then drive for another 1 hour then have a 30 break does the tacho reset it self after i have driven another 1 and a half hours, or after the 30 minute break.
I will be driving a truck in about two weeks for the first time, and there are a couple of questions regarding the tacho and wtd i am unsure about.
Firstly i know you can drive up to 10 hours twice a week, is this also the case if you work the night shift or is it just the day shift. Secondly the tacho if i drive for 2 hours then have a 15 minute break then drive for another 1 hour then have a 30 break does the tacho reset it self after i have driven another 1 and a half hours, or after the 30 minute break.
Thanks.
Day or night makes no difference to the regs
Tacho will reset the 4.5 max driving time after the 30 break but you do not lose that 1.5 hours
Example
drive 3 hours
Break(s) reset the 4.5
drive 4.5 hours
break(s) reset the 4.5
drive 1.5 hours or 2.5 if got a 10 available
My tip would to be record all your daily and weekly activity in a diary , I know the tachograph will record the data but when you are home and the boss rings to say can you work on Saturday or Sunday, with the diary at hand , you can say yes to either day and get the legal weekly rest period .
Another use , is a query , such as a pallet missing, what time did you leave so and so , or if involved in or accused of being in an accident, the diary will say that you were not there.
For example, start and end time , driving time , name of person signing for the POD or delivery notes, any discrepancies, any delays and so on .
Failing all the above, you could just rely on the tracker .
Regarding night work there is rule that isn’t commonly talked about, but nonetheless does exist.
In terms of the Road Transport Working Time Regulations, a mobile worker working with goods vehicles between the hours of midnight and 4am is limited to working time of 10 hours in the 24 hour period. However, this can be overridden by collective agreement for a particular group of mobile workers.
The driving hours is a separate issue and there isn’t a distinction between night and day regarding that as such. The working time rules are a separate set of rules, but if you go by the book and there isn’t a collective agreement, you technically shouldn’t be working more than ten hours working time if you are working at all between midnight and 4am.
I echo keeping your own manual written record of any hours driven, worked etc. I also keep records of anywhere I’ve parked up for the night with local facilities. Not been able to park up at truck stops since I got my licence in various jobs so having records of useful parking up spots and facilities is very useful. As for the hours, the records can come in very handy