I was sent to pick a fellow driver up in a company truck, because his truck had broken down.
He was on 14 - 1/2 hours duty when i picked him up and it was a 2 - 1/2 journey back to our deopt.
This put the driver on 17 hours total duty ! was it legal to take him back to the depot or should he had been taken straight to his home address.
Under extenuating circumstances like that, perfectly legal to return him to base. He’d only run out of time due to the vehicle breaking down, not maxing out his card
I would have thought if i took him straight home he could have ended his duty at 141/2 hours.
If im taing straight back to the depot transport office where he had his card dowloaded that puts him on 17 hours duty and that could have been avoided.
You took him over his duty time which is quite a serious offence.
You should both report to the nearest VOSA station where you will both be shot at dawn for such a heinous crime.
A.
Looks like its open to abuse this 15 hour lark, just get someone to pick you up and if vosa did happen to stop you just tell them your truck broke down.
Jobs a goodun 17 hours pay in the bank no questions asked.
Technically it was illegal for him to be recovered back to base or home, when you’ve done 15 hours that’s it.
Having said that, if I didn’t want a night out I’d have got taken home or back to base anyway, sometimes you just have to do what you need to do.
He would have popped his card whilst waiting for the pick-up driver to arrive. Technically, that’s bent because he knows damned well he’s not going to be booking off until he gets home/back to base - which surely isn’t going to happen in the last 30 minutes of his legal working day.
In my mind, each and every run out after being on duty 10 hours already should have 2 hours of slack in it, so if a breakdown happens - there IS enough time to run a pick up driver out there, and bring them back.
Don’t even go there with “…But he’s 2 hours out at 14.5 hours into the duty” - because that smacks of “fail to plan=plan to fail” territory!"
I often worked 15 hours on agency. The trick is to “not take a run ten hours in” that’s more than about an hour’s drive away from base. That means that if you are now 13-14 hours in, and break down on the way back - it won’t take more than an hour to pick you up, and legally book off before 15 hours are up back at the depot.
I’ll avoid being planned for a second long run on top of a flat duty.
Some outfits like to try and swing it so you finish your first run “a bit too early to let you go” (eg. get back from first run 7 hours in) but alas, there’s only another 7 hour run left, or we can have you sit in the rest room until 9 hours in, and then you can go home) NO extra pay for doing this - just the yard being spiteful to the “Minimum pay 8 hours” agency guy)
Bit of a grey area really,if the motor was going to be off the road for a couple of days in some garage somewhere then yes he had to get home.
If it was possibly going to be repaired for the next morning or by mid day the next day ,its night out,and then review the situation in the morning.
Night out nearest B&B or Travelodge or similar.
Providing it was the breakdown which caused him to be delayed and unable to take his daily rest when required then they are extenuating circumstances.
The best course of action seems to have been taken, assuming it was a day cab and didn’t have overnight gear, then get him back to the yard, then start his required daily rest (9 or 11 hours) from then. Do the usual printouts with explanations and nobody is going to get in trouble.
scw74:
Looks like its open to abuse this 15 hour lark, just get someone to pick you up and if vosa did happen to stop you just tell them your truck broke down.Jobs a goodun 17 hours pay in the bank no questions asked.
Not really, since the tachograph record will show if you’ve been driving all day or have been waiting your be recovered. And DVSA aren’t going to believe you if you say you broke down every Friday.
Imagine this. On 14 hours duty after a heavy day of traffic with a thirty min drive left to a remote yard in a day cab. You breakdown in the hypothetical middle of nowhere. Even ringing for and waiting for a taxi would put you over fifteen hours before arriving at any place of rest. Waiting for a lift, would put you over fifteen hours by the time you arrive to the yard. You can’t overnight in the day cab. Never mind personal feelings of “you should’ve left earlier, bla bla”. That’s all by the point, we’re taking the black and white of the law, and this example is perfectly legal.
So what are you supposed to do in the eyes of the TC, sleep in the bushes?
I’m not talking about extenuating circumstances “we’ll consider it in a case by case”. Not good enough. That’s all very vague. In this case, its black and white. You followed the law, the law left you lacking. You shouldn’t be left sitting in the unknown legally due to not fit for purpose regulations. What the hell would they have you do? I had a discussion with a vosa man over their phone about this hypothetical years ago and the answer was very uninspiring. Essentially the hgv regs lack a legal protection of “discretion” that exists in defined terms (2 hours for example in one other transport industry and it has to be reported) to define a barrier for these instances. Instead of the half baked waffle that exists in Eu driving regs.
I think you can get away with 10 or 15 minutes but after that you should have killed him and dumped the body.
I don’t see what the problem is here, what else can you do? You can’t have a night out in a truck that’s broken down. I wouldn’t want to have a lift home because I wouldn’t have any transport for work the next day. The day goes pear shaped at the end of your shift so you go over your hours due to circumstances beyond your control, I for one ain’t going to lose any sleep over that. It’s just common sense, which sadly does seem to be lacking these days.
knight2:
I don’t see what the problem is here, what else can you do? You can’t have a night out in a truck that’s broken down. I wouldn’t want to have a lift home because I wouldn’t have any transport for work the next day. The day goes pear shaped at the end of your shift so you go over your hours due to circumstances beyond your control, I for one ain’t going to lose any sleep over that. It’s just common sense, which sadly does seem to be lacking these days.
I don’t think so. Common sense dictates the obvious as to be done, it’s more the discussion how the regulations are lacking.
As a one off it is unlikely to cause any issues
Did the same driver go back to the broken down lorry the next day to recover it when fixed 
Freight Dog:
knight2:
I don’t see what the problem is here, what else can you do? You can’t have a night out in a truck that’s broken down. I wouldn’t want to have a lift home because I wouldn’t have any transport for work the next day. The day goes pear shaped at the end of your shift so you go over your hours due to circumstances beyond your control, I for one ain’t going to lose any sleep over that. It’s just common sense, which sadly does seem to be lacking these days.I don’t think so. Common sense dictates the obvious as to be done, it’s more the discussion how the regulations are lacking.
Point taken and understood 
scw74:
Looks like its open to abuse this 15 hour lark, just get someone to pick you up and if vosa did happen to stop you just tell them your truck broke down.Jobs a goodun 17 hours pay in the bank no questions asked.
Very common occurance over here where some drivers want to be home for the weekend, throw someone a drink and its done…
scw74:
I would have thought if i took him straight home he could have ended his duty at 141/2 hours.If im taing straight back to the depot transport office where he had his card dowloaded that puts him on 17 hours duty and that could have been avoided.
I hope you don’t think any of this information makes any difference to the outcome, especially the card downloaded bit. He’s either working or not, the destination makes no difference.
What I dont get is if your double manning u can do a 21hr shift. So if your picked up in the truck and driven home on poa whats the difference? When is it ok to say your double manning and when cant you? Ive never read anything that says you can only say your double manning if your doing it all shift and not just part of it.