Drivers' Hours

 

New EU Drivers' Hours Q&A: Your questions answered

  • I have been led to believe that when operating a digital tachograph there is no facility to record a break in the 2nd man position, if that is the case what is the correct procedure?

There is no facility to record a break in the 2nd man position whilst the vehicle is moving, so it is recommended that a printout is produced at the end of the journey and a hand written entry showing the breaks is made on the reverse of the printout in the grid provided.

  • I understood that the digital tachograph was designed to warn the driver when a break from driving was required, however I am now told that if a driver has recorded a PoA during the journey, this is calculated as a break and therefore the warning would not be activated.

Providing the PoA is equivalent to a valid break this is identified as a break in the system therefore under these circumstances the driver cannot rely on the digital tachograph to warn driving times effectively.

  • I operate a coach company whereby my vehicles are double-manned for part of the journey, as one driver picks up another on the route. This results in not being able to take advantage of the double manning facility for daily rest. I am led to believe that under the new rules from the 11th April that there are changes that allow for this contingency.

From the 11th April 2007 the presence of another driver for the first hour is optional. This allows greater flexibility at the beginning of a journey. Note that the requirement for the amount of daily rest required changes to 9 hours within 30 hours from the end of a previous daily or weekly rest period.

  • Could you please confirm that when the new Drivers’ Hours regulations come in on the 11th April, that it will be legal to do the following?

W1                        Work Monday to Saturday and finish at 12 noon

Total of 41½ hours weekly rest

3½ hours to compensate to make weekly rest up to 45 hours

W2                        Commence Monday 5.30am, finish 14.00 hours

Total of 14 ½ hours daily rest only 11 hours required 14 ½ taken

3½ hours owed for weekly rest compensation

11 + 3½ hours = 14½ hours 

Commence Tuesday 4.30am

Work Wednesday Thursday and Friday

Commence Saturday 5am, finish 8am

W3                         Commence Monday 5am

Total of 45 hours taken

The regulations state that a weekly rest must start no later than at the end of 6 x 24-hour periods from the end of the previous weekly rest.

In any two consecutive weeks you should take at least two regular weekly rest periods of at least 45 hours, or one regular weekly rest period and one reduced which must be a minimum of 24 hours.

Any reduction must be compensated by the end of the third week following the week in question.   

Any rest period taken as compensation must be compensated en bloc and attached to another rest period of at least 9 hours.

You have compensated en bloc the 3 ½ hours owed from week 1 by adding to another rest period of at least 9 hours. You have also compensated the time within the time limit of no later than the third week after the week in question. In addition you have complied with the requirement that in every two consecutive weeks only one reduction in weekly rest is permitted, in week 2 the driver has then taken a full 45 hours.

Therefore the example above complies with the regulation, however to state that a driver can regularly work a 6 day week would depend very much on the amount of compensation required and the times of the drivers’ shifts.

It is important to note that because of the definition of a ‘week’ in Drivers’ Hours regulations (which is 00.00 hours Monday to 24.00 hours Sunday), when compensation is left until the third week following the week in question this must be achieved by midnight on the Sunday

Please remember that during a rest period a driver must be free to dispose of his time therefore any type of work carried out in this period, whether for a transport or non-transport operations, would be classed as work under Drivers’ Hours rules.

  • Can you advise how the regulations have changed in respect of ferry crossings?

The new regulation states that a regular 11 hour rest must be taken, which means that a driver can no longer take a reduced daily rest ie minimum 9 hours on that day.

The new regulations stipulate that this 11 hours rest can now be interrupted twice providing the interruption does not exceed 1 hour. (NB under the old regulations this was only permitted once.) 

The old requirement that rest must be increased by 2 hours and that part of the rest must be taken on land has been dropped from the 11th April. However drivers must still have access to a bunk or couchette.

  • When the new rules come in on the 11th April can I still take reductions in daily rest?

Yes, the new rules still allow for three reductions of daily rest between any two weekly rest periods, from 11 hours (regular) to a minimum of 9 hours (reduced). However, there is no requirement to compensate for any reduction from the 11th April 2007.

As the wording of the new regulations has changed allowing this facility in a “week” to between any “two weekly rest periods” this has eliminated the facility to take six consecutive reductions in daily rest during a working week that spans a Friday to Wednesday.

(NB any reductions taken before that date must be compensated by the end of the following week as stated in the current regulation.)

  • I work as a driver for an agency, therefore work with several different companies each week. I hand in the original discs to whichever office I finish at on a particular day, because I am sometimes not back there for days. I have Do I need to carry the original discs or would photocopies do?

The legislation does not indicate that photocopies of charts are acceptable and our advice would be that the original records should be carried. It may be accepted that under certain circumstances you could have some defence in law, but our suggestion would be that you keep the original and the companies involved have the photocopy. The operator and the agency you work for must have the correct procedures in place to ensure the originals are handed in by the allotted time. The new regulation puts a much wider interpretation on the transport undertaking and with effect from the 11th April, agencies will have the same responsibilities as operators in respect of the key obligations such as keeping records.

  • I work for a major bus company as a driver, on Express Work. They normally comply with the 11 hour daily rest period but do automatically, as a matter of course, reduce this rest at their own volition to the 9 hour limit. I feel that this should be the driver’s choice, but they insist that they can reduce this as they see fit three times a week. Who is correct?

The law is designed to be flexible and the new regulations to be introduced on 11th April 2007 remove the necessity for compensating for any reductions in daily rest. The driver will be permitted to take a minimum of 9 hours, 3 times between any two weekly rest periods. Drivers from the 11th April can choose whether they wish to take a daily rest and reduced weekly rest period away from base in a stationary vehicle, but the law does not state that reductions can only be scheduled with the express wish of the driver.
  • My driver works around the yard shunting vehicles. When the new regulations come into place on the 11th April will he need to use a tachograph chart and keep records?

Operations that take place entirely off a public road are not subject to tachograph rules, however if during any one day the driver carries out driving both on and off a public road, all the driving counts toward the 4 ½ hour driving rule and the daily totals and should be recorded by the tachograph.

  • How often is the driver card and the VU (Vehicle Unit) data to be downloaded?

Currently there is no legislation in place detailing the specific download intervals, however the government’s recommendation is that this should be carried out at least every 21 days for the driver card and every three months for the Vehicle Unit. This specific element is going through industry consultation at this time, however, operators must make regular checks to ensure drivers are complying with the law and to download data at sufficient intervals to ensure it is not overwritten.

  • I have been told that some time in the future the number of records a driver has to carry for roadside checks is changing again, is that correct?

Yes, from the 1st January 2008 drivers must be able to produce, at the roadside, tachograph records for the day in question and the previous 28 days.

  • I work for a company transporting products around the country, and want to know if the grid on the back of digital tachograph printouts should be used in the same way as the back of analogue charts. I have been told NOT to write anything on the back, is this correct?

The law requires the driver to make manual entries under certain circumstances such as when invoking the emergency rule, when away from the vehicle and not able to make the mode changes via the tachograph. The back of the digital printout is designed in a similar way to the back of an analogue chart and it is therefore appropriate to enter any information that has not been recorded by the instrument that is relevant to the journey. As long as the printout is not damaged or defaced in any way, and the information recorded both by the instrument and manually is legible, then this is an acceptable practice.


This page will be updated as new questions arise. If you have a question on this or any other aspect of transport law, email us.



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