Hi guys,
Yesterday I had a run to do from west London to Hailsham in East Sussex. I started at 12:30 having been working since 7:30am, so I knew I was due for my half-hour working hours’ break even though not my 45 min break (as I’d only driven a short distance but had been helping with a long offload, in the hot sun). So I stopped at Cobham services for 45 minutes.
When I got back, I discovered that the tacho had been recording work. I realised that this must be one of the tachos which zeroes your break if you turn the key. Usually it’s when you turn it to position 2, but I tried it again and it set it back to ‘work’ when I turned it to position 2 and back off again. I sat there another 45 minutes. When I explained the situation, the boss was furious. (I then got stuck for four hours on the M25 because of the junction 8 crash and had to abandon the run.)
I told my agency and explained that this was a problem I’d seen before on DAF trucks from around 2007 and I suspect the regular driver knew about the issue, but I hadn’t been told about it. The tractor was a 58-plate Axor. He said I should have gone on and recorded in a note on the back of the tacho printout what had happened. But if I’d gone on I’d have been recorded as being in breach of the WT rules if I’d been stopped.
The boss (and my agency) know about the problem now but I won’t be back at that company. But what should I do if I encounter this problem and find my break hasn’t been recorded?