Hi
I have a query regarding ferry crossings. I have had trouble in both France and Germany after interrupting my daily rest for a ferry crossing outside of my 15 (or13) hour spreadover.
Do I have to ensure that any interruption is within my spreadover & if so does that spread need to be 13 rather than 15?
And if not does that apply to both daily and weekly rests?
Example - If I start work on a Friday in France at 5am then board the ferry at 5pm (booking off) I then arrive in England at 10pm and drive half an hour to the yard and finish work for the week so my interruption has occurred after my 15 hour spreadover. If this is allowed, does that apply to both daily and weekly rests and if only the daily rests can I do a printout and write on it that I have started an 11 hour (interrupted) daily rest when I boarded the ferry and didn’t commence my weekly rest until after that daily rest was finished so the interruption has been on the daily rather than the weekly rest. AND if any interruption has to be within the spreadover does that spread have to be 13 hours rather than 15 to accommodate the 11 hour break?
When the foreign authorities download a digicard an infringement automatically flashes up and doesn’t recognize our right to interrupt a break which is where the problem starts.
K2Buddha:
Hi
I have a query regarding ferry crossings. I have had trouble in both France and Germany after interrupting my daily rest for a ferry crossing outside of my 15 (or13) hour spreadover.
Do I have to ensure that any interruption is within my spreadover & if so does that spread need to be 13 rather than 15?
And if not does that apply to both daily and weekly rests?
Example - If I start work on a Friday in France at 5am then board the ferry at 5pm (booking off) I then arrive in England at 10pm and drive half an hour to the yard and finish work for the week so my interruption has occurred after my 15 hour spreadover. If this is allowed, does that apply to both daily and weekly rests and if only the daily rests can I do a printout and write on it that I have started an 11 hour (interrupted) daily rest when I boarded the ferry and didn’t commence my weekly rest until after that daily rest was finished so the interruption has been on the daily rather than the weekly rest. AND if any interruption has to be within the spreadover does that spread have to be 13 hours rather than 15 to accommodate the 11 hour break?
When the foreign authorities download a digicard an infringement automatically flashes up and doesn’t recognize our right to interrupt a break which is where the problem starts.
Only a regular daily rest period of 11 hours or more can be interrupted for ferry/train movements, the regular daily rest period still has to be completed within the period of 24 hours from the start of the shift, so the maximum length of a shift when the daily rest period is being interrupted is actually less than 13 hours.
In fact the maximum spread-over from the start of the shift to the end of the shift when an interrupted daily rest period is being taken is 13 hours less the total length of the interruptions.
Also be aware that you must still have at-least 11 hours rest which does not include the interruptions, so if you was using the full 1 hour of interruptions your maximum spread-over would be 12 hours (12 hour shift + 11 hours daily rest + 1 hour for interruptions = 24 hours).
You cannot interrupt a weekly rest period
Welcome to Trucknet-UK by the way 
edit: There’s no need to do a printout to explain that your weekly rest will commence when the interrupted daily rest has been finished because the uninterrupted weekly rest period will be shown on your card.
Also, you probably already know this but legally you can only interrupt a regular daily rest period if you have access to a bunk or couchette while on the ferry.
Many thanks for that, not what I wanted to hear but it’s good to have it clarified
with regard to the authorities download not recognising the ferry movement this is because the download software has not been designed to pick this up. Always write down in a diary your ferry movements and where they were ie 26/05/14 Portsmouth to Caen, the reason behind this is so that when you are stopped and the infringements come up you can instantly point out what they were and generally after pointing out 1 or 2 the authorities will accept that the others are boat movements too
Keep the ferry tickets or boarding passes as proof of a movement.
K2Buddha:
Hi
I have a query regarding ferry crossings. I have had trouble in both France and Germany after interrupting my daily rest for a ferry crossing outside of my 15 (or13) hour spreadover.
Do I have to ensure that any interruption is within my spreadover & if so does that spread need to be 13 rather than 15?
And if not does that apply to both daily and weekly rests?
Example - If I start work on a Friday in France at 5am then board the ferry at 5pm (booking off) I then arrive in England at 10pm and drive half an hour to the yard and finish work for the week so my interruption has occurred after my 15 hour spreadover. If this is allowed, does that apply to both daily and weekly rests and if only the daily rests can I do a printout and write on it that I have started an 11 hour (interrupted) daily rest when I boarded the ferry and didn’t commence my weekly rest until after that daily rest was finished so the interruption has been on the daily rather than the weekly rest. AND if any interruption has to be within the spreadover does that spread have to be 13 hours rather than 15 to accommodate the 11 hour break?
When the foreign authorities download a digicard an infringement automatically flashes up and doesn’t recognize our right to interrupt a break which is where the problem starts.
K2Budda As someone who get up to 8 boats a week, 4 of which are overnight( Dublin/Liverpool & Hoek to Killingholme) I too have had problems with infringements popping up for the boat interruption. You are not alone as this issue seems to affects most drivers doing this type of work.
It seems some software does not recognize the interruption while others do. Eg. My company’s software shows an infringement for last Saturday/Sunday 17th/18th May yet, the software used by the Dutch vosa who pulled me the next day did not. He did see the movement. He also saw my diary, boat tickets, weightbridge tickets which showed I’d got an overnight boat and was happy with that. (was probably shocked he’d found an Irish driver driving for an Irish company was 100% legal 
)
K2Buddha… follow what has been said by others above this post and you’ll not go far wrong
Am I missing something here? I thought that simply using the tacho buttons and setting it to ferry/train movement was enough? ie we catch the Hook to Harwich a lot. I set the tacho to rest and ferry movement when parking on boat, pull off the boat usually about 8 hours later and park back up using the same settings on tacho. If you do a print out, it shows the picture of a ship by the rest periods indicating you have been on a ferry. I also use the ‘end country’ and ‘begin country’ settings to help explain this. ie parking on boat, enter NL as end country and when starting off from Harwich enter UK as begin country , saves all this keeping tickets malarkey.
TheBear:
Am I missing something here? I thought that simply using the tacho buttons and setting it to ferry/train movement was enough? ie we catch the Hook to Harwich a lot. I set the tacho to rest and ferry movement when parking on boat, pull off the boat usually about 8 hours later and park back up using the same settings on tacho. If you do a print out, it shows the picture of a ship by the rest periods indicating you have been on a ferry. I also use the ‘end country’ and ‘begin country’ settings to help explain this. ie parking on boat, enter NL as end country and when starting off from Harwich enter UK as begin country , saves all this keeping tickets malarkey.
Sort of Bear.
You only need to use ferry movement IF you are moving onto, or off, a ferry/train DURING a regular rest. It should flag up the movements, not the rest period. Or am I misunderstanding you?
Ferry/Train movement does indeed put a little ferry(?) shaped icon onto a printout.
I only use the North Sea crossings, any of the crossings from North Shields - IJmuiden
Hull - Europoort
Hull - Zeebrugge
Killingholme - Hoek v Holland
Killingholme - Zeebrugge
Killingholme - Europoort in either direction, so access to a bunk is not a problem. All crossings are over 11 hours, or at least parking up on the boat to rolling off is, so getting a regular daily rest in isn’t a problem (getting to the port in under 13 hours may be sometimes, but we’ll just gloss over that minor technicality ).
Strangely, your movement time, when it’s flagged up correctly as a ferry/train movement is not counted in that days driving time. So I use a ferry movement to get onto the ferry legally. (It is counted in your weekly/fortnightly driving time though)
Say I’ve done 9.55 driving to get onto the dock, from wherever I started.
As soon as I’ve booked in and parked up on the dock I sign off on my tacho. ie put it on rest and put in end country, usually NL. I then sit and wait to be called forward to board the ferry. That’s when I go through the menu to ferry/train movement and click on it, then I drive onto the ferry. With all the stopping and starting, this can add up to more than 5 minutes of driving time, but due to that strange anomaly I’m still legal. Once parked up in my slot on the ferry, I then put it back on rest and head for the bar, jobs a good un 
In the morning I sign on in UK and start the run home (doing any deliveries and collections on the way).
Normally I don’t bother signing off on the dock, just leave it till I’m on the ferry. I don’t use the ferry movement flag on those occasions. I just sign off in NL and sign on in UK in the morning.
I keep a diary of everything I do, including where I sign off and on, driving, deliveries, breaks. I also make notes if I’m in a major traffic jam, road, mile/km marker, time when I join the Q and when we get rolling again. All these sorts of things, including notes as written on my excuse printout if I make a timing error or am forced over my time by that traffic jam, so that everything ties together.
It can be difficult to explain, at a check point in a foreign country, what’s happened. If I’ve got written notes of times and distance travelled in a jam etc, then it’s so much easier.
I am glad I have called it a day and retired.
TheBear:
I am glad I have called it a day and retired.
You need to put the post of yours off the health and family page on here bear,i think a lot of people overlook that bit ,it will put more people in the picture.
Quite simply, you can’t use the “ferry mode” thing on the Dover-Calais/Dunkerque ferries because you don’t have access to a bunk. VOSA turn a bit of a blind eye to this, the French don’t.
seth 70:
TheBear:
I am glad I have called it a day and retired.You need to put the post of yours off the health and family page on here bear,i think a lot of people overlook that bit ,it will put more people in the picture.
Tis best where it is. I would have had to put it in the main forum otherwise and I just couldn’t put up with all the ■■■■■■ lawyers in there pulling me apart for not doing something after the first episode. Old school, me, and ■■■■■■ proud of it.
The amazing thing is the quack rang me yesterday. Told me if I pass the ‘ologist’ test later this month, I can have my licence back in 3 months!! I told her to keep it … I don’t want it back until they can find out what has caused the blackouts and successfully treated me.
Simon:
TheBear:
Am I missing something here? I thought that simply using the tacho buttons and setting it to ferry/train movement was enough? ie we catch the Hook to Harwich a lot. I set the tacho to rest and ferry movement when parking on boat, pull off the boat usually about 8 hours later and park back up using the same settings on tacho. If you do a print out, it shows the picture of a ship by the rest periods indicating you have been on a ferry. I also use the ‘end country’ and ‘begin country’ settings to help explain this. ie parking on boat, enter NL as end country and when starting off from Harwich enter UK as begin country , saves all this keeping tickets malarkey.Sort of Bear.
You only need to use ferry movement IF you are moving onto, or off, a ferry/train DURING a regular rest. It should flag up the movements, not the rest period. Or am I misunderstanding you?Ferry/Train movement does indeed put a little ferry(?) shaped icon onto a printout.
I only use the North Sea crossings, any of the crossings from North Shields - IJmuiden
Hull - Europoort
Hull - Zeebrugge
Killingholme - Hoek v Holland
Killingholme - Zeebrugge
Killingholme - Europoort in either direction, so access to a bunk is not a problem. All crossings are over 11 hours, or at least parking up on the boat to rolling off is, so getting a regular daily rest in isn’t a problem (getting to the port in under 13 hours may be sometimes, but we’ll just gloss over that minor technicality
Strangely, your movement time, when it’s flagged up correctly as a ferry/train movement is not counted in that days driving time. So I use a ferry movement to get onto the ferry legally. (It is counted in your weekly/fortnightly driving time though)
Say I’ve done 9.55 driving to get onto the dock, from wherever I started.
As soon as I’ve booked in and parked up on the dock I sign off on my tacho. ie put it on rest and put in end country, usually NL. I then sit and wait to be called forward to board the ferry. That’s when I go through the menu to ferry/train movement and click on it, then I drive onto the ferry. With all the stopping and starting, this can add up to more than 5 minutes of driving time, but due to that strange anomaly I’m still legal. Once parked up in my slot on the ferry, I then put it back on rest and head for the bar, jobs a good un
In the morning I sign on in UK and start the run home (doing any deliveries and collections on the way).Normally I don’t bother signing off on the dock, just leave it till I’m on the ferry. I don’t use the ferry movement flag on those occasions. I just sign off in NL and sign on in UK in the morning.
I keep a diary of everything I do, including where I sign off and on, driving, deliveries, breaks. I also make notes if I’m in a major traffic jam, road, mile/km marker, time when I join the Q and when we get rolling again. All these sorts of things, including notes as written on my excuse printout if I make a timing error or am forced over my time by that traffic jam, so that everything ties together.
It can be difficult to explain, at a check point in a foreign country, what’s happened. If I’ve got written notes of times and distance travelled in a jam etc, then it’s so much easier.
LOL…Hey Simon…with the new check-in that Stena built at their Hoek-van-Holland terminal where you now have to scan the bar-code on your ticket, you definitely won’t make it in 13 hours. It’s such a ■■■■■■■ mess they are detouring half the drivers round the barrier just to get the boats away on time.
tachograph:
K2Buddha:
Hi
I have a query regarding ferry crossings. I have had trouble in both France and Germany after interrupting my daily rest for a ferry crossing outside of my 15 (or13) hour spreadover.
Do I have to ensure that any interruption is within my spreadover & if so does that spread need to be 13 rather than 15?
And if not does that apply to both daily and weekly rests?
Example - If I start work on a Friday in France at 5am then board the ferry at 5pm (booking off) I then arrive in England at 10pm and drive half an hour to the yard and finish work for the week so my interruption has occurred after my 15 hour spreadover. If this is allowed, does that apply to both daily and weekly rests and if only the daily rests can I do a printout and write on it that I have started an 11 hour (interrupted) daily rest when I boarded the ferry and didn’t commence my weekly rest until after that daily rest was finished so the interruption has been on the daily rather than the weekly rest. AND if any interruption has to be within the spreadover does that spread have to be 13 hours rather than 15 to accommodate the 11 hour break?
When the foreign authorities download a digicard an infringement automatically flashes up and doesn’t recognize our right to interrupt a break which is where the problem starts.Only a regular daily rest period of 11 hours or more can be interrupted for ferry/train movements, the regular daily rest period still has to be completed within the period of 24 hours from the start of the shift, so the maximum length of a shift when the daily rest period is being interrupted is actually less than 13 hours.
In fact the maximum spread-over from the start of the shift to the end of the shift when an interrupted daily rest period is being taken is 13 hours less the total length of the interruptions.Also be aware that you must still have at-least 11 hours rest which does not include the interruptions, so if you was using the full 1 hour of interruptions your maximum spread-over would be 12 hours (12 hour shift + 11 hours daily rest + 1 hour for interruptions = 24 hours).
You cannot interrupt a weekly rest period
Welcome to Trucknet-UK by the way
edit: There’s no need to do a printout to explain that your weekly rest will commence when the interrupted daily rest has been finished because the uninterrupted weekly rest period will be shown on your card.
Also, you probably already know this but legally you can only interrupt a regular daily rest period if you have access to a bunk or couchette while on the ferry.
once again spot on