mickfly:
Too many rules and regs, one of the reasons I hung up my keys in the UK.
I recently ran from Fargo ND to Walsh AB, flat out all the way, with an oversize load… 740 miles/1200ks all legal, which would have been impossible in Europe!
The rules are way too complex in the EU.
Neither country is perfect but the more relaxed way of doing things over here (until electronic logs come in) is far preferable in my opinion.
I think I would actually prefere the UK over north America if it were not for the insane amount of rules and regulations that govern every part of your working life in Europe.
I am running on Elogs in Canada, the leg of the trip I mentioned was done using electronic logging, I have no problem with it and the sooner everyone is on them in North America, the sooner the problems here can be sorted out on a level playing field.
mickfly:
Too many rules and regs, one of the reasons I hung up my keys in the UK.
I recently ran from Fargo ND to Walsh AB, flat out all the way, with an oversize load… 740 miles/1200ks all legal, which would have been impossible in Europe!
The rules are way too complex in the EU.
Neither country is perfect but the more relaxed way of doing things over here (until electronic logs come in) is far preferable in my opinion.
I think I would actually prefere the UK over north America if it were not for the insane amount of rules and regulations that govern every part of your working life in Europe.
I am running on Elogs in Canada, the leg of the trip I mentioned was done using electronic logging, I have no problem with it and the sooner everyone is on them in North America, the sooner the problems here can be sorted out on a level playing field.
I have no enthusiasm for a piece of equipment that would see me stranded in not only un-suitable but downright dangerous places. Its alright parking in England because the tacho says stop but thats not the same as when the E-log says stop when you’ve been kept for 7 hours in Detroit for a meat inspection and then can’t move without being in violation.
Despite trying to run legal on paper logs, there have been several dozen times through circumstances out of my control where I’ve been held up all day, only to be deposited out onto the streets of Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Camden, Tampa etc etc etc with minutes left or totally out of time. My life is worth more to me than a clean e-log, yet with an e-log I wont be able to excercise common sense and drive to a safe place without risking fines and a CSA score that would make me unemployable. Talk about being put between a rock and a hard place. As usual, its the driver who will suffer and no one else.
Going back to the first few replies on the OP, Is it possible to take breaks like this and still comply with drive time and WTD?>>>>>>>>>>
START SHIFT/TACHO IN: 6:00am (from this time, count forward 6 hours----12pm)
DRIVETIME: 2.5hrs
WORKTIME: 3.5hrs
BREAK: 15mins (taken around the 12pm mark)
DRIVETIME: 2hrs
BREAK: 30mins
(start over with drivetime and WTD extended another 6hrs)
I know someone whos in Class 2 multidrop and does this
Thank [zb] for that, i had a barny with some bloke a few weeks ago cuz he said that if i got caught, i`d be neck deep!!
I have got a DSA book that i carry round in my bag and it gives you WTD and drivetime info, but this guy says the books full of crap.
If thats the case then my instructor taught me illegaly and the test centre performed a void test, due to wrongly supplied info.
As gor WTD, I read somewhere that after 6hrs working, you have to take 15mins break but if you work over 6 hrs (upto 9 max) you have to have 30mins break between 6 and 9hrs…anyone else heard of this?
Stonehouse69:
Thank [zb] for that, i had a barny with some bloke a few weeks ago cuz he said that if i got caught, i`d be neck deep!!
I have got a DSA book that i carry round in my bag and it gives you WTD and drivetime info, but this guy says the books full of crap.
If thats the case then my instructor taught me illegaly and the test centre performed a void test, due to wrongly supplied info.
As green456 said the example you gave was perfectly legal so it’s the bloke you was talking to that was full of crap not your book
Stonehouse69:
As gor WTD, I read somewhere that after 6hrs working, you have to take 15mins break but if you work over 6 hrs (upto 9 max) you have to have 30mins break between 6 and 9hrs…anyone else heard of this?
Not quite right, the break doesn’t have to be between 6 and 9 hours it can be any-time as long as the breaks interrupt the working time and you don’t exceed 6 hours working time without a break of at-least 15 minutes.
The regulations require that you do not exceed 6 hours working time without a break of at-least 15 minutes, if your working time is more than 6 hours but not more than 9 hours you should have a break of at-least 30 minutes, however this break can be split into two separate breaks of at-least 15 minutes each.
So if your working time totalled between 6 and 9 hours in the shift and you had a 15 minute break at or before reaching 6 hours working time you would need another 15 minute break before reaching the end of the shft.
You should note however that the WTD breaks should interrupt the working time so they cannot be at the immediate start or immediate end of the shift, there has to be some working time before and after the breaks even if it’s only 1 minute.
If your working time is more than 9 hours then you should have a total of at-least 45 minutes break, again this break can be split into separate breaks of at-least 15 minutes each.
As you clearly already know the WTD breaks also count as driving breaks if they’re appropriate and vice versa.
Panther Collection:
Just thought I’d get a few opinions on the max 4 1/2 hour rule then 45 break…
What is your take on it?
Do you feel it is too much driving and not enough break or too little driving and too much break or other??
I drove down to newcastle the other day from Glasgow via Edinburgh and nearly ran out of drivers hours after my drop. Pulled over to take my break but kinda just wanted to keep driving to get back home (another 2 hour drive) but had to occupy myself for 45 mins.
happy enough with 99 % of it,just like the option to do 7 days a week every week like they can in factories,shops etc,often get asked to work o/t and have to turn it down,hate the thought of loosing money
mickfly:
Too many rules and regs, one of the reasons I hung up my keys in the UK.
I recently ran from Fargo ND to Walsh AB, flat out all the way, with an oversize load… 740 miles/1200ks all legal, which would have been impossible in Europe!
The rules are way too complex in the EU.
Neither country is perfect but the more relaxed way of doing things over here (until electronic logs come in) is far preferable in my opinion.
I think I would actually prefere the UK over north America if it were not for the insane amount of rules and regulations that govern every part of your working life in Europe.
I am running on Elogs in Canada, the leg of the trip I mentioned was done using electronic logging, I have no problem with it and the sooner everyone is on them in North America, the sooner the problems here can be sorted out on a level playing field.
I have no enthusiasm for a piece of equipment that would see me stranded in not only un-suitable but downright dangerous places. Its alright parking in England because the tacho says stop but thats not the same as when the E-log says stop when you’ve been kept for 7 hours in Detroit for a meat inspection and then can’t move without being in violation.
Despite trying to run legal on paper logs, there have been several dozen times through circumstances out of my control where I’ve been held up all day, only to be deposited out onto the streets of Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Camden, Tampa etc etc etc with minutes left or totally out of time. My life is worth more to me than a clean e-log, yet with an e-log I wont be able to excercise common sense and drive to a safe place without risking fines and a CSA score that would make me unemployable. Talk about being put between a rock and a hard place. As usual, its the driver who will suffer and no one else.
I ran bent almost every day that I drove for H&R (fridge work), but the company I am with now (flatdeck) on e-logs does not leave me stranded anywhere!
mickfly:
I ran bent almost every day that I drove for H&R (fridge work), but the company I am with now (flatdeck) on e-logs does not leave me stranded anywhere!
Exactly. H&R sounds like most of the jobs around here, except our trips are shorter so we have even more waiting and messing around. E-logs are a one rule fits all thing that wont work for reefer work while drivers are on milleage pay, which is what the vast majority of work in the maritimes is. Can you imagine trying to work it on H&R but doing it on the eastern seaboard where trips are only a day in each direction. Or doing meat inspections in Detoit every week and running out of time because they’ve taken your load off and kept your paperwork for 6 or 7 hours. You’ll have no choice but to make that 7 hours into 10 hours and then drive all night tired because once the clock starts ticking your 14/16 hour window starts, just like on a tacho.
If you look at the replies on this thread then the only conclusions you could come to are, 1. The drivers hours rules are too complicated, or 2. The DCPC is inadequate for the purpose it’s supposed to serve.
The amount of crap being quoted as rules is unbelievable, we really need to shape up, or VOSA will make a friggin fortune out of all of us.
If a switched on reporter were to read whats been put in writing on this thread can you imagine the headlines, “Ignorant truckers drive juggernaughts with no ideas of the rules, no wonder there’s slaughter on the roads” .
mickfly:
I ran bent almost every day that I drove for H&R (fridge work), but the company I am with now (flatdeck) on e-logs does not leave me stranded anywhere!
Exactly. H&R sounds like most of the jobs around here, except our trips are shorter so we have even more waiting and messing around. E-logs are a one rule fits all thing that wont work for reefer work while drivers are on milleage pay, which is what the vast majority of work in the maritimes is. Can you imagine trying to work it on H&R but doing it on the eastern seaboard where trips are only a day in each direction. Or doing meat inspections in Detoit every week and running out of time because they’ve taken your load off and kept your paperwork for 6 or 7 hours. You’ll have no choice but to make that 7 hours into 10 hours and then drive all night tired because once the clock starts ticking your 14/16 hour window starts, just like on a tacho.
Sounds like I would be changing jobs (and provinces) if I were you. My average trips are between 5,000 and 7,000 miles… usually one load and one reload, all legal and relatively stress free.
schrodingers cat:
If you look at the replies on this thread then the only conclusions you could come to are, 1. The drivers hours rules are too complicated, or 2. The DCPC is inadequate for the purpose it’s supposed to serve.
The amount of crap being quoted as rules is unbelievable, we really need to shape up, or VOSA will make a friggin fortune out of all of us.
If a switched on reporter were to read whats been put in writing on this thread can you imagine the headlines, “Ignorant truckers drive juggernaughts with no ideas of the rules, no wonder there’s slaughter on the roads” .
Or it could also be used to our benefit if a lorry friendly reporter wrote that the new European driver training standard can be sat by a flipover goldfish as the attention span needed is nil.
Has any driver actually ever been done for WTD infringments?
One or two of the local routes at our place (multidrop) take around 6 hours to do (start at 6am, finished about 12/12.30) with less than 4.5 hours driving. Its job and knock so I just work straight through and get finished, don’t lose any sleep over it tbh. Am I a bad person?
