Hi all.
Just got new job driving a 3.5 ton van, occasionally I will have to pull a trailer which puts me under tacho rules. Now I’m happy with the rules regarding driving hours, other work, rest, etc. Up to now I’ve not had to pull the trailer so no problem with tacho use yet. My query is the first time I use the tacho do I then have to use it everyday regardless of pulling the trailer or not. I’m only going to pull the trailer 3 or 4 times a month.
Thanks for replies in advance.
Every day for the rest of the fixed week.
Stagley:
Hi all.Just got new job driving a 3.5 ton van, occasionally I will have to pull a trailer which puts me under tacho rules. Now I’m happy with the rules regarding driving hours, other work, rest, etc. Up to now I’ve not had to pull the trailer so no problem with tacho use yet. My query is the first time I use the tacho do I then have to use it everyday regardless of pulling the trailer or not. I’m only going to pull the trailer 3 or 4 times a month.
Thanks for replies in advance.
If I remember correctly the tacho only has to be used for the shift(s) you come under EU regs but you are under EU rest regs for all of that fixed week
For shifts in that week where you do not come under EU regs then it does not have to be used but it is recommended that you do and simply select - out of scope - for those shifts
You must have a record for all non EU reg shifts so a diary is an acceptable good idea
Ye Zac speaks nonsense.
Its not a simply answer though. Because as ROG has said you need to keep a record of work.
Then there is the issue of manual entries if you only need to use a tacho a few times a month then thats a lot of manual entries to include.
I’ll get flamed to hell for saying this but I’d just set the tacho to rest until now. Or set it to rest until the start of your current shift. I’ve worked as a forklift driver before and have gone like a week to upto a month between driving jobs. Sure as hell not gonna put a manual entry in for all the hours I have worked that has been not as a HGV driver.
That being said speak to your employer. If the vehicle has a tacho unit fitted they may want you to use it all the time anyway.
I believe the answer is that there is no legal requirement to insert the card, just to keep a record of start and finish times, which shows that you have had sufficient daily and weekly rest.
In terms of what entry to make when you do enter the card, it would be incorrect to specify rest for the entire time if you have completed other work in between. You can use the question mark symbol (as opposed to poa, rest, other work) to record time as unknown, which means your manual record then comes into play. If you don’t do an entry, the entire time since the card was last ejected will be recorded as unknown.
Having said this, I was required to insert my card when driving bin lorries that were only picking up from residential addresses (out of scope) and download every day. I didn’t really question it and just did what was requested, as putting the card in was what I was used to anyway.
Just thought I’d give an update. Company policy is to use tacho card all the time so I’ve been doing that. I think it’s a bit of overkill personally, not towed once yet and as far as I can see on the work planner I wont be till end of June. Drove van today, 2.5 hrs out then back to base after 30 mins work. Sat in hartshead services for 45 mins was a pain, I’m on an day rate contract so was 45 mins later home than I could have been. Hey ho though, at least I have a job.
Hi All. Don’t mean to hijack this thread, just thought I’d raise my query on an existing thread rather than repeating it in a new one.
I have a similar scenario with passenger transport. I drive a minibus for school contracts which are tacho exempt but there’s talk of doing the odd trip out during school holidays, which would require the use of tacho’s.
There could be 6 weeks between the tacho’d trips, with 30 schools days in between, so I really don’t fancy putting all those manual entries in!
Been reading a lot of different info sources and struggling to decide which I should be following.
Should I be looking to leave the tacho as Out Of Scope without my card in during school days and then just log the trips on my card? Rather than print outs I could keep a manual diary? Or card in all the time regardless?
Any help appreciated!
Cheers
BusMan09:
Hi All. Don’t mean to hijack this thread, just thought I’d raise my query on an existing thread rather than repeating it in a new one.
I have a similar scenario with passenger transport. I drive a minibus for school contracts which are tacho exempt but there’s talk of doing the odd trip out during school holidays, which would require the use of tacho’s.
There could be 6 weeks between the tacho’d trips, with 30 schools days in between, so I really don’t fancy putting all those manual entries in!
Been reading a lot of different info sources and struggling to decide which I should be following.
Should I be looking to leave the tacho as Out Of Scope without my card in during school days and then just log the trips on my card? Rather than print outs I could keep a manual diary? Or card in all the time regardless?
Any help appreciated!
Cheers
Card in and select out of scope
Diary for out of scope trips
Sorry ROG, is that Out-of-Scope for everything ?
We have very rigid times for the school days and keep a log of the days I do, so I suppose that would be the diary for them. I’m wondering if I then just use my driver card for tacho’d day trips.
BusMan09:
Sorry ROG, is that Out-of-Scope for everything ?
We have very rigid times for the school days and keep a log of the days I do, so I suppose that would be the diary for them. I’m wondering if I then just use my driver card for tacho’d day trips.
It would be good practice to do so but not a legal need to use out of scope
No problem in just using the tacho for the long trips in your case
I would try and use out of scope for any week where you do a long trip in that week