So, I usually work 2pm - 11:30pm and am contracted to work a set number of bank holidays which I can choose. Previously, we’ve come in at around midday and just done a shorter shift - half the places are shut so usually we still manage to get all the clients that are open.
However, they now want us to work the full 9.5 hours due to several drivers being off and extra workload. The office staff are only going to be in until 5pm so they want us to start at 9am which is five hours earlier than usual.
This means I can take a reduced rest period as it’s 9.5 hours between finishing at 11:30pm and starting at 9am. However, I’m rarely home before 12:30 between handing in my paperwork, changing out of my dirty clothes and doing the 30 min drive home. I then need to shower etc when I get home, have some food etc, and then allow time to get ready in the morn and 45 mins to do the return commute in the traffic. So really by the time I get to bed I’m probably only looking at 5-6 hours sleep.
Maybe I’m being a bit precious but I like to get a good 7-8 hours nowadays as being around the city centre in a dustcart all afternoon in busy traffic and doing dozens of tight reverses takes a lot more concentration than when I was doing general haulage and I’m usually pretty knackered by the end of my shift, even though I often used to do much longer days at other places.
Are they taking the ■■■■ a bit or do I just need to ■■■■ it up?
Do you work Sundays? How many times a year is this going to come up? Once or twice
Many drivers are on minimum legal rest all week long, forever, at flat rate.
What’s the complaint? That you are being asked to work the hours you are paid for?
Sounds pretty cushty there for you tbh princess
I have some pretty strong opinions about using reduced rests when you’re not nighting out. Unless you’re nighting out I’d tell them to shove their reduced daily rest where the sun don’t shine. Reduced rests are supposed to be for when you’re kipping out in the lorry, not when you’ve got to travel home and back to work again as well.
Whilst yes it’s legal under drivers hours regs it wouldn’t be legal for the people working in the office under the WTD. I’d point out everything you have in your post about how your time off would break down, point out that you’re not going to feel fit to drive with 5-6hrs sleep and ask them if they thought it reasonable to expect you to pilot a 17/22/32 tonne lorry arond a busy city centre with insufficient sleep.
If they still insist I think I’d be turning up, declaring myself unfit to drive through fatigue and then leaving the ball in their court as to what they get you to do for the rest of the day. World ain’t gonna end just because a few bins don’t get emptied.
I dont have anything less than 11 hours rest when I am back to base for all the reasons you have mentioned. Its just not reasonable to expect a driver to just get 5-6 hours sleep.
Just tell them as a compromise you will start at 10;30 am
Is pants when you finish then are expected in 9 hours later. As said by time get home had tea then a shower your refreshed and not tired.
I’ve known some drivers sleep in there truck at the yard over night because they CBA driving home.and back again. Thed rather do without a decent meal and a shower . Instead they want a good night’s sleep.
I personally wouldn’t take only 9 off at home, especially when part of that time is commuting back and forward, it just aint enough…despite what the ‘‘heroes’’ will tell you, those d/heads would work 24 hours if they could without question… …do as I do, treat them with contempt.
On the rare occasions in the past that I’ve got back to yard, it’s home and minimum 11 off.
I’ve got back late before, and told them I’d be willing to kip in yard on a 9 off if they paid me a night out, they refused so ■■■■ em.
Stick to your guns tell them it ain’t on.
Ask them if they would fancy coming back in at 1am after their 5 pm finish, to work a potential 15 hours.
I was told by a planner manager that the company had a agreement where by drivers start / finish times could be moved +/- 2 hrs ,he was informed I don’t work for his company ,and I only now move my start time on a thurs ( start earlier ) so I get a earlier finish on my last shift , he said he would take it up with my agency , never heard anymore
Tailschwing:
So, I usually work 2pm - 11:30pm and am contracted to work a set number of bank holidays which I can choose. Previously, we’ve come in at around midday and just done a shorter shift - half the places are shut so usually we still manage to get all the clients that are open.
However, they now want us to work the full 9.5 hours due to several drivers being off and extra workload. The office staff are only going to be in until 5pm so they want us to start at 9am which is five hours earlier than usual.
This means I can take a reduced rest period as it’s 9.5 hours between finishing at 11:30pm and starting at 9am. However, I’m rarely home before 12:30 between handing in my paperwork, changing out of my dirty clothes and doing the 30 min drive home. I then need to shower etc when I get home, have some food etc, and then allow time to get ready in the morn and 45 mins to do the return commute in the traffic. So really by the time I get to bed I’m probably only looking at 5-6 hours sleep.
Maybe I’m being a bit precious but I like to get a good 7-8 hours nowadays as being around the city centre in a dustcart all afternoon in busy traffic and doing dozens of tight reverses takes a lot more concentration than when I was doing general haulage and I’m usually pretty knackered by the end of my shift, even though I often used to do much longer days at other places.
Are they taking the ■■■■ a bit or do I just need to ■■■■ it up?
My mind boggles at what your trying to get at,from what your claiming are you saying they want you to work from 09.00 am until 11.30 pm a total of 14.30 hrs or start at 09.00 and finish after 9.30 hours. From your saying you get paid for 9.30 but do less
Conor:
I have some pretty strong opinions about using reduced rests when you’re not nighting out. Unless you’re nighting out I’d tell them to shove their reduced daily rest where the sun don’t shine.
^ This.
If it’s regular reduced daily rest and it’s not tramping then it means commute time etc etc has to come out of that reduced daily rest on a compounding scale.Complying with hours regs is no defence against driving while tired.
Tell em you’ll start at 9am but you’ll be back in the yard and finished by 9pm no ifs no buts.Your contract says working agreed bank holidays it doesn’t say that it overrules road safety and your life.
Suprising what may come with a change in routine , you see a person youve not seen in years [and never would have ] and she offers you a dream job -somethings happen at times like that that on the surface is a cruppy deal , go for it is my experience
It’s a couple of times a year just get on with it. Why create a fuss over nothing. It’s not their problem you choose to change at work and have an hour round trip travel to work. A 9 hour break is legal so for them to ask you use it a couple of times a year is not too unreasonable. All our hours are at our prerogative to use as we please but it’s a company’s prerogative not to employ some who won’t use them with some flexibility.
I decide when and if I reduce my break. My hackles rise whenever some office wallah tells me I can have nine hours off. My usual response is “yes indeed I can, but I’ll make you a deal, I’ll match your commitment to the company and have exactly the same time off tonight as you do, what time are you starting tomorrow?”
chester1:
It’s not their problem you choose to change at work and have an hour round trip travel to work. A 9 hour break is legal so for them to ask you use it a couple of times a year is not too unreasonable. All our hours are at our prerogative to use as we please but it’s a company’s prerogative not to employ some who won’t use them with some flexibility.
Whether they choose to change at work or choose to get changed and showered at home it takes the same time so that’s a non-discussion. A 30 minute commute is normal for most people, even those working in the same city and I suspect most of the people in the office have a similar commute so again, a point you’re making that’s got no worth.
A 9hr break is legal but fitting in travelling home, having a shower, eating your tea, 8hrs sleep, getting up, getting washed, dressed, having breakfast, doing your packed lunch and driving to work does not fit into 9hrs so the thing that takes the hit is sleep. And contrary to belief even as a one off that has detrimental effects and no you can’t just have a lie in later in the week to make up for it, it doesn’t work that way.
I cannot think of any other job covered by the Working Time Directive where having a 9hr daily rest is legal. Under the Working Time Directive the rest of the country is covered by it’s 11hrs.
Clearly you’re one of those people who feels they have to do what the boss tells them to do and you think you’re a hero for doing stuff like this so I doubt you’ll give a toss about what any of the rest of us have said. But when you’re stood there one day talking to someone when you’ve just got home or even just back to the yard and they ask you where you’ve been today and you really struggle to remember the name of the place, it’s doing stupid stuff like that and not getting sufficient sleep over the years that is the cause as short term memory is one of the very first things to suffer from sleep depravation.
chester1:
It’s not their problem you choose to change at work and have an hour round trip travel to work. A 9 hour break is legal so for them to ask you use it a couple of times a year is not too unreasonable. All our hours are at our prerogative to use as we please but it’s a company’s prerogative not to employ some who won’t use them with some flexibility.
Whether they choose to change at work or choose to get changed and showered at home it takes the same time so that’s a non-discussion. A 30 minute commute is normal for most people, even those working in the same city and I suspect most of the people in the office have a similar commute so again, a point you’re making that’s got no worth.
A 9hr break is legal but fitting in travelling home, having a shower, eating your tea, 8hrs sleep, getting up, getting washed, dressed, having breakfast, doing your packed lunch and driving to work does not fit into 9hrs so the thing that takes the hit is sleep. And contrary to belief even as a one off that has detrimental effects and no you can’t just have a lie in later in the week to make up for it, it doesn’t work that way.
I cannot think of any other job covered by the Working Time Directive where having a 9hr daily rest is legal. Under the Working Time Directive the rest of the country is covered by it’s 11hrs.
Clearly you’re one of those people who feels they have to do what the boss tells them to do and you think you’re a hero for doing stuff like this so I doubt you’ll give a toss about what any of the rest of us have said. But when you’re stood there one day talking to someone when you’ve just got home or even just back to the yard and they ask you where you’ve been today and you really struggle to remember the name of the place, it’s doing stupid stuff like that and not getting sufficient sleep over the years that is the cause as short term memory is one of the very first things to suffer from sleep depravation.
And you clearly don’t know me. and W hat’s with all this hero crap about doing your job. I’m paid to do a job and luckily I’m not pushed but if once in a while the boss says hay Chester can you help us out we have a trailer that needs to be somewhere soonest I would do my best to oblige its called give and take just like when I ask to get back early on a Friday he does his best to oblige (actually with out fail) and if it’s less than my 10 hours guess what … i still get my 10. The bloke has been asked to start early and reduce a rest because its a bank holiday and it’s the only one to fall throughout the year with a working day in front of it and 3 days off after it. so it’s hardly a precedent for all the others is it.
chester1:
The bloke has been asked to start early and reduce a rest because its a bank holiday and it’s the only one to fall throughout the year with a working day in front of it and 3 days off after it. so it’s hardly a precedent for all the others is it.
Clearly you’re new to the industry or you’ve not worked for very many places. Odd one offs have a very nasty habit of becoming more frequent and then expected as the norm in this sector. And then once that’s happened it’s almost impossible to reverse it.
chester1:
It’s not their problem you choose to change at work and have an hour round trip travel to work. A 9 hour break is legal so for them to ask you use it a couple of times a year is not too unreasonable. All our hours are at our prerogative to use as we please but it’s a company’s prerogative not to employ some who won’t use them with some flexibility.
Whether they choose to change at work or choose to get changed and showered at home it takes the same time so that’s a non-discussion. A 30 minute commute is normal for most people, even those working in the same city and I suspect most of the people in the office have a similar commute so again, a point you’re making that’s got no worth.
A 9hr break is legal but fitting in travelling home, having a shower, eating your tea, 8hrs sleep, getting up, getting washed, dressed, having breakfast, doing your packed lunch and driving to work does not fit into 9hrs so the thing that takes the hit is sleep. And contrary to belief even as a one off that has detrimental effects and no you can’t just have a lie in later in the week to make up for it, it doesn’t work that way.
I cannot think of any other job covered by the Working Time Directive where having a 9hr daily rest is legal. Under the Working Time Directive the rest of the country is covered by it’s 11hrs.
Clearly you’re one of those people who feels they have to do what the boss tells them to do and you think you’re a hero for doing stuff like this so I doubt you’ll give a toss about what any of the rest of us have said. But when you’re stood there one day talking to someone when you’ve just got home or even just back to the yard and they ask you where you’ve been today and you really struggle to remember the name of the place, it’s doing stupid stuff like that and not getting sufficient sleep over the years that is the cause as short term memory is one of the very first things to suffer from sleep depravation.
Try the HMPS, start at 7am, finish at 21:00 … emergency hospital ■■■■■■ , back to the nick 1 am … and still expected back on shift at 7am next day. … same for police… look end of the day, he chooses to work 9.5 hour days his problem , don’t like it leave the industry.
chester1:
It’s a couple of times a year just get on with it. Why create a fuss over nothing. It’s not their problem you choose to change at work and have an hour round trip travel to work. A 9 hour break is legal so for them to ask you use it a couple of times a year is not too unreasonable. All our hours are at our prerogative to use as we please but it’s a company’s prerogative not to employ some who won’t use them with some flexibility.
That’s all fine and dandy, but when you read that the driver has to reduce his sleep so that the office staff aren’t slightly inconvenienced, you should start to understand how ‘this’ boss rocks…
…do as I do, treat them with contempt.
