Hi Guys,
I’m still fairly new at this, passed my class 1 end of may and started working for a local firm on days the day after I passed. Only passed class 2 a month before so had no previous experience driving.
Been lurking on here a while, but something happened this week and I would like some input from you guys with some experience as I’m not sure if I should be bothered by it.
So, office knew I only had a 13h day available, started at 5am, I left the yard sent to a drop a 4h drive away to a place that is well known for taking ages to tip, turned out taking 3hours, then I was to do a trailer swap 1h30mins down the road and back to the yard which would be a 4-5 hour drive minimum.
All this on a Friday, with Friday traffic, ended up taking me 14.5hours to get back to the yard. Only had a 13h but had done a 13h2min shift on Monday and guy in the office suggested I print tacho putting this as the reason for going over WT hour.
So main question is, is this normal or should it have been planned better especially as this was the first time I had been to any of these places?
Should and can I refuse the run unless I have s 15h available?
Yes, your right I should have, but I needed to get home and didn’t want to be stuck out on a Friday night, any other night any I would have. The question thou was is it acceptable for jobs to be planned like this on a Friday when I had only 13 suift left or should I be annoyed?
Dave73-UK:
Yes, your right I should have, but I needed to get home and didn’t want to be stuck out on a Friday night, any other night any I would have. The question thou was is it acceptable for jobs to be planned like this on a Friday when I had only 13 suift left or should I be annoyed?
We’d all like to get back on a Friday mate, but if you run out of hours you run out of hours. If you only had a 13 hour day left, you should’ve parked up for 11 hours daily rest.
Failing that, stretching your 1.5 hour wait out to 3 would’ve enabled you to take a split daily rest and work a 15 hour day, providing you get 9hrs rest in between the time you stop and 24 hrs after you started work.
“I needed to get home” won’t wash with VOSA mate.
All good and well all the do gooders saying you should of took a daily rest but being a Friday and you “only” going over your reduced rest by 2 mins the other day I can totally understand why you ran back . Out of curiosity, Does your cab have a bunk and did you have overnight gear with you?
That being said dont do it again, yes as your aware it’s naughty and can get you in the mire, and I’m sure you wanted to get home as you have a life and don’t want to spend Saturday morn “running in” like some strange individuals i know, but the reason being they will start taking the Mick out you. Your new and trying to impress and hold down the job, but nip it in the bud now before it escalates and your bending rules for them left right and centre.
If they start stitching you up every Friday with this sort of will I /, won’t I get back run, definitely switch jobs as they have no respect for you whatsoever.
Another way would have been to phone the office and arrange for someone to come out to you and drive the lorry back while you returned in whatever vehicle the other driver came to you in.
Done correctly you could have been back to base in the 13 hour period.
Yes, did have a bunk, and I did have overnight gear with me just in case. However for personal reasons( wife and kids had been away all week) I really didn’t want to get stuck out, as I said any other night it wouldn’t have been a problem, and most Friday nights I would have prolly stopped anyway, just this Friday was a bad time for me.
Did call the office they said they couldn’t send any one out to rescue me.
Think I’ll keep my gob shut for the time being see how the next few weeks pans out, if they keep doing it I will have a word with somebody.
As for leaving and getting another job, while I have been looking and there is no shortage of opportunities for class 1 around here I was planning on doing minimum of 3 months and probably more like 6-12 months here so I have some experience and new employees wouldn’t think I would just move on again so I’m kinda half stuck where I am for a little while.
I’d of done exact same mate on a friday. Flip it the other way, if you’d done your 3 reduced rests prior to Friday and needed exactly 13h02 to get back home on a Friday night, own bed good food maybe your on a promise, you telling me there’s anyone out there that would park up and take a night out?
Actually yes I know there’s plenty that would, some freaks amongst us.
I’ve done it a couple of times but it’s swings and roundabouts at our place, the next week they may give me a early Finnish. But make sure you take as much as you are giving…
Technically you haven’t actually done anything wrong. You can do as many 15 hour days as you like, the rule is that you can only reduce daily rest twice a week. You reduced on Monday and then again during the week, but you’re off on Saturday, so when you finished on Friday you’ve started your weekly rest.
Just to be safe in the future though, if you go over your 13 by a few minutes, take 11 hours off. As an example, if you start at 0600 and finished at 1903, don’t put your card in the next day until 0610, then your daily rest hasn’t been reduced.
CookieMonster:
Technically you haven’t actually done anything wrong. You can do as many 15 hour days as you like, the rule is that you can only reduce daily rest twice a week. You reduced on Monday and then again during the week, but you’re off on Saturday, so when you finished on Friday you’ve started your weekly rest.
Just to be safe in the future though, if you go over your 13 by a few minutes, take 11 hours off. As an example, if you start at 0600 and finished at 1903, don’t put your card in the next day until 0610, then your daily rest hasn’t been reduced.
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Every day you work more than 13 hours counts as a reduced rest because you’re getting less than the full 11 hours rest in a 24 hour day.
Alfa1M:
All good and well all the do gooders saying you should of took a daily rest but being a Friday and you “only” going over your reduced rest by 2 mins the other day I can totally understand why you ran back . Out of curiosity, Does your cab have a bunk and did you have overnight gear with you?
That being said dont do it again, yes as your aware it’s naughty and can get you in the mire, and I’m sure you wanted to get home as you have a life and don’t want to spend Saturday morn “running in” like some strange individuals i know, but the reason being they will start taking the Mick out you. Your new and trying to impress and hold down the job, but nip it in the bud now before it escalates and your bending rules for them left right and centre.
If they start stitching you up every Friday with this sort of will I /, won’t I get back run, definitely switch jobs as they have no respect for you whatsoever.
So should he breaking the law like “some strange individuals” or not?
Bear in mind this is a new driver.
You forgot to mention the potential roadside fines for exceeding working hours and that they can be fished out for up to 28 days after the date of the offence.
CookieMonster:
Technically you haven’t actually done anything wrong. You can do as many 15 hour days as you like, the rule is that you can only reduce daily rest twice a week. You reduced on Monday and then again during the week, but you’re off on Saturday, so when you finished on Friday you’ve started your weekly rest.
Just to be safe in the future though, if you go over your 13 by a few minutes, take 11 hours off. As an example, if you start at 0600 and finished at 1903, don’t put your card in the next day until 0610, then your daily rest hasn’t been reduced.
Just about everything you’ve said is wrong.
You can have 3 reduced daily rest periods between weekly rest periods.
If your shift is more than 13 hours and you’re not having a split daily rest period you’re having a reduced daily rest period regardless of whether you have 9 hours rest or 99 hours rest.
Regardless of the fact that you’re starting a weekly rest period you still need to have the correct daily rest period after the last shift of the working week.
CookieMonster:
Technically you haven’t actually done anything wrong. You can do as many 15 hour days as you like, the rule is that you can only reduce daily rest twice a week. You reduced on Monday and then again during the week, but you’re off on Saturday, so when you finished on Friday you’ve started your weekly rest.
Just to be safe in the future though, if you go over your 13 by a few minutes, take 11 hours off. As an example, if you start at 0600 and finished at 1903, don’t put your card in the next day until 0610, then your daily rest hasn’t been reduced.
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
Every day you work more than 13 hours counts as a reduced rest because you’re getting less than the full 11 hours rest in a 24 hour day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Either this has changed since I did my cpc, or I was taught wrong. Either way, turns out I was wrong. Ignore me!
CookieMonster:
Technically you haven’t actually done anything wrong. You can do as many 15 hour days as you like, the rule is that you can only reduce daily rest twice a week. You reduced on Monday and then again during the week, but you’re off on Saturday, so when you finished on Friday you’ve started your weekly rest.
Just to be safe in the future though, if you go over your 13 by a few minutes, take 11 hours off. As an example, if you start at 0600 and finished at 1903, don’t put your card in the next day until 0610, then your daily rest hasn’t been reduced.
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
Every day you work more than 13 hours counts as a reduced rest because you’re getting less than the full 11 hours rest in a 24 hour day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Either this has changed since I did my cpc, or I was taught wrong. Either way, turns out I was wrong. Ignore me!
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
It hasn’t changed, but you’ve highlighted why (in many cases) the dcpc is a complete ■■■■■■■ farce!
Your guy in the office who said sign a printout , is a Muppet of the highest order and needs sacking on the spot .
The reason why is he is talking Betty Bollax , to sign it as WT as you put it , or WTD Working Time Directive , its NOT WTD .
It’s EU tachograph regulations that is the issue.
Sorry to sound harsh but DVSA enforcement won’t care about you getting home with a sob story about a wife or kids.
Its an hour and half over time , in court , the Crown Prosecution Service will say as a driver that has a Driver CPC card would know the rules.
Without sounding dramatic , what if you had an accident and somebody died ,your looking at porridge.
I think your employees took advantage of your naivety.
Dave73-UK:
So main question is, is this normal or should it have been planned better…
Should be ideally yes, but its a bit of guesswork for planners since they don’t know how long you’ll be waiting for loading / tipping. Even slow places can be quick somedays.
In this job, well most versions, you have to assume the stuff will hit the fan unless its local pallet work. Anything class 1 I would assume is going to go pear shaped.
In this case, if you’d gone 2 mins over one day then you might be able to “not realise” if asked then you had enough time. Not saying you actually do this naturally, honest gov.
As for complaining or refusing, you could but you wouldn’t have a job very long in this game unless running on a job where nights out are defo not expected, eg: local pallet work.
Finally, the 15 hours being seperate from 9 hour reduced - have had that from an experienced transport manager so wouldn’t be surprised if it appeared in CPC.
Alfa1M:
All good and well all the do gooders saying you should of took a daily rest but being a Friday and you “only” going over your reduced rest by 2 mins the other day I can totally understand why you ran back . Out of curiosity, Does your cab have a bunk and did you have overnight gear with you?
He wasn’t 2 minutes over on the Friday, he was 1.5 hours over, the 2 minutes was earlier in the week, but still meant a reduced rest.
I suppose if stopped he could try and claim he didn’t realise he was over earlier in the week, (a decent DVSA type might just think not a regular thing, not worth worrying about, they have with me before, but I’ve always been polite and put my hands up to known infringements) but to try and get away with an hour and half just won’t wash with them.
As for signing anything, doesn’t mean anything for this, just there to explain going over time due to unforeseen circumstances, but that doesn’t include poor planning, long tips and only allows you to get to the nearest safe place to park.
To the OP, I know it’s not always possible, but I always tried to keep a 15 back for Fridays. however don’t accept going over you time for the company again, tell them as soon as you realise you’re going to run out of hours to come up with a plan B.
CookieMonster:
Technically you haven’t actually done anything wrong. You can do as many 15 hour days as you like, the rule is that you can only reduce daily rest twice a week. You reduced on Monday and then again during the week, but you’re off on Saturday, so when you finished on Friday you’ve started your weekly rest.
Just to be safe in the future though, if you go over your 13 by a few minutes, take 11 hours off. As an example, if you start at 0600 and finished at 1903, don’t put your card in the next day until 0610, then your daily rest hasn’t been reduced.
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
Every day you work more than 13 hours counts as a reduced rest because you’re getting less than the full 11 hours rest in a 24 hour day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Either this has changed since I did my cpc, or I was taught wrong. Either way, turns out I was wrong. Ignore me!
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
Don’t take it too personally, I was at a new operators seminar last year, far more informative than any DCPC course I’ve ever done, the DVSA chap said it was a common mistake they picked up on roadside checks.
I would have got within 4.5hr drive of the yard, parked up to get the 11hr break started as early as possible and started early AM back home to see the family at breakfast
You shouldn’t be getting planned for 13, 14 hour days as a day driver full stop regardless of what hours you have done, rests you have taken or what part of the week it is.
As said above you can’t predict what’s going to happen, those hours should be left for the things that can’t be planned.
A firm I worked for planned me in for a 15 on a Friday - and it was the last shift I did for them.
