sammy:
Basically if I’m on a bay I put it on POA, if I filling with diesel or tipping myself or washing I put it on other work and if I’m taking a brake or finished for the day obviously it’s on break. What’s wrong with that? Sounds alright to me that I’m using all the modes when I’m supposed to rather than putting it into break every time I stop.
At the end of the shift you go on rest, not break. Break and rest are different things. Putting it on POA while on a bay doing nothing isn’t legal unless you know how long you will be. There is nothing illegal with putting it on break when ever you aren’t driving or working. In the course of a day there are only three modes you have to use. Driving, obviously and done automatically unless you have a really old tacho, other work for checks, loading, unloading fuelling and so on and break for required breaks. POA is optional and often cannot be used if the period doesn’t meet the criteria for POA.
Those driver’s who lost a weeks pay for not using POA only had to say to the company that they couldn’t use it as they did not know the length of the wait in advance and there would be nothing the company could do about that.
Fixed that for you
Thank you.
In my defence I got my shopping delivered today and I had ordered 3 of the small, 18 or so cl, bottles of red wine at £1.67 each as I find them a handy size for cooking. They were out of stock of the ones I ordered so the picker did a substitution, which I had already said on my order was okay. However they substituted them for 3x 75cl bottles that were supposed to be £5.48 each and I got all 3 for the grand total of £5.01, they always give you substitutions at the price of the item(s) you ordered if it is cheaper. I opened one to use some of it for cooking my meal tonight and well you can’t let the rest go to waste can you. It was very nice wine, very moreish, so I’m now well into the second bottle, and I am also taking pain medication at the moment, so that Your Honour is the case for the defence.
sammy:
They were in trouble for not using the modes on their tacos properly despite warnings, I don’t know the ins and outs of it but that’s what one of them told me. As far as I knew until I was corrected this evening was that sitting waiting for/on a bay should be regarded as POA and that’s what I thought they got into trouble for.
So the company penalised them for showing only driving and break, which is fair enough but is not a case of them being done for not using POA.
This is how I was told the story, me and this driver were both tipping in Scunthorpe one morning, he got into my lorry as I was putting it on break while waiting on a bay, he asked was I putting it on POA and I said no. He told me that I should put it on POA because himself and another driver were suspended for a week for constantly putting it on break everytime they stopped.
He was the one who told me, as I now know incorrectly that it should be on POA while “not working but available to work” ie. pulling on/off a bay. Sorry for any confusion. If I see him Monday I’ll give him a grilling
sammy:
This is how I was told the story, me and this driver were both tipping in Scunthorpe one morning, he got into my lorry as I was putting it on break while waiting on a bay, he asked was I putting it on POA and I said no. He told me that I should put it on POA because himself and another driver were suspended for a week for constantly putting it on break everytime they stopped.
He was the one who told me, as I now know incorrectly that it should be on POA while “not working but available to work” ie. pulling on/off a bay. Sorry for any confusion. If I see him Monday I’ll give him a grilling
Pulling on or off a bay it will switch automatically to driving and when you stop it will default to other work
I know that but what I was told made sense to me, POA means your not working but are available for work, if that is correct than it would make sense to me to use it while waiting to be loaded/unloaded cos your not working but your available for work ie pulling onto or off a bay. That’s just my interoperation of POA.
sammy:
I know that but what I was told made sense to me, POA means your not working but are available for work, if that is correct than it would make sense to me to use it while waiting to be loaded/unloaded cos your not working but your available for work ie pulling onto or off a bay. That’s just my interoperation of POA.
I dont use POA, tried it once but couldn’t find any use or need for it, possibly company policy to use it.
Coffeeholic:
Putting it on POA while on a bay doing nothing isn’t legal unless you know how long you will be.
Has anyone ever been caught for using POA when they didn’t know how long they’d be?
I’d imagine it would go something like this:
VOSA man: Did you know how long you’d be for this period of availability? Driver: Yes Mister, I most certainly did. VOSA man: Okay, I’m now going to enter your mind to see if you’re a lying scoundrel.
VOSA man looks deep into the driver’s eyes.
VOSA man: You sir, are a lying scoundrel. Go straight to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect £200. Driver: ■■■■■■■■.
I can’t see how you can be prosecuted for something that is in your mind. How do they prove you didn’t know? How do you prove that you did know? Have VOSA got the power to enter your mind and read your inner thoughts?
As I said before I doubt you would get into trouble for using POA whilst waiting on a bay.
However you could possibly get done for it if you were ignorant of the requirements for POA and told an inspecting officer that you had no idea how long you would be waiting but thought it a good idea to use POA.
If you’re going to bend the law you should be aware of the law
sammy:
Not trying to bend the law if I shouldnt be using POA on a bay unless I know how long I’ll be, then I won’t use it.
Sorry Sammy I wasn’t referring to you, I was pointing out to the two posters above that whilst it’s unlikely that anyone would get into trouble for using POA they could inadvertently drop themselves in it if they’re not aware of the regulations.
Telling people they should know the length of time they will be waiting if they use POA may come across as somewhat pedantic, but as I said if you don’t know the regulations it’s very easy to get yourself into trouble and in the case of POA end up paying a nice little fine of £30 for “incorrect use of mode switch”.
As for knowing how long you are going to be waiting, it is simple, who was first there when the gates opened, how long was he there before he got tipped and left?
You can base your POA on that, it doesn’t matter if you cut it short because you got tipped or pulled on the bay quicker.
The question “How long will I be?” is kept in the same drawer as the string
