Hi all.Now I obviously know about driving time and the required breaks surrounding this but am a bit hazy in the following.If I start work at say 7.30 and finish at 5.00 how much break would I legally need ? For example I’ve done under the 4.5 hours driving time and the rest is down as other work.
Thank you…Cleared that up then
If the shift is between six and nine hours work (breaks and POA aren’t working time) you need at least 30 minutes break, if the shift exceeds nine hours work you need at least 45 minutes break in total.
In your example of starting at 07:30 if you taken 30 minutes of break then finishing at 17:30 would be exactly nine hours work, so 30 minutes would be sufficient. But if you went a minute over nine hours you would need another 15 minutes break.
No breaks at if don’t work more than 6 hours. Total of 30 minutes of breaks in one go or 15 minutes each if you work 6 to 9 hours. As Just_Dave said 45 minutes if you go over the 9 hours as you example does. From what I understand even a minute over the 6 hours you would need to take 15 minutes even before you finish your shift.
Again the 45 can be split into a 30 and a 15 or three lots of 15. Spread over the shift. Don’t forget that your driving breaks if you need them can be used as well to cover the RTD. Lot of people call it the WTD but from what I understsand it is the RTD that applies to drivers.
You also need to remember not to exceed 6 hours throughout your shift without taking a 15 minute break.
Lot to take in.
I need the practice for my theory in a few weeks so I thought i’d give my answer as helps me to digest it all even though Dave already dealt with the matter.
Hopefully i’ll get there one day and need to start following the rules myself.
One thing passing a theory test another ball game doing it for real.
Batedbear:
Hi all.Now I obviously know about driving time and the required breaks surrounding this but am a bit hazy in the following.If I start work at say 7.30 and finish at 5.00 how much break would I legally need ? For example I’ve done under the 4.5 hours driving time and the rest is down as other work.
For your example you need a total of 30 minutes break/breaks but if you was to finish any later you would need a total of 45 minutes break.
Your total shift is 9.5 hours so if you have 30 minute break/breaks it only leaves 9 hours working time, you only need a total of 45 minute break if you exceed 9 hours working time which you won’t if you have a 30 minute break.
ContainerBoy:
No breaks at if don’t work more than 6 hours. Total of 30 minutes of breaks in one go or 15 minutes each if you work 6 to 9 hours. As Just_Dave said 45 minutes if you go over the 9 hours as you example does. From what I understand even a minute over the 6 hours you would need to take 15 minutes even before you finish your shift.Again the 45 can be split into a 30 and a 15 or three lots of 15. Spread over the shift. Don’t forget that your driving breaks if you need them can be used as well to cover the RTD. Lot of people call it the WTD but from what I understsand it is the RTD that applies to drivers.
You also need to remember not to exceed 6 hours throughout your shift without taking a 15 minute break.
Lot to take in.
I need the practice for my theory in a few weeks so I thought i’d give my answer as helps me to digest it all even though Dave already dealt with the matter.
Hopefully i’ll get there one day and need to start following the rules myself.
One thing passing a theory test another ball game doing it for real.
You’re confusing shift time with working time, breaks for the WTD are based on how much working time you do not how much shift time you do.
Breaks and POA do not count towards working time.
WTD breaks cannot be taken at the immediate start or end of the shift, they must interrupt the working time.
Breaks for the WTD must be at-least 15 minutes in length but do not have to be taken in 15 minute segments, for instance a 45 minute break could be taken in two breaks of 25 minutes and 20 minutes.
Messed that up then 
I just looked at the hours over 9. I should have realised that he would have already taken at least a 15 minute. Counting from there another 15 would have been enough?
Good to know. Was I wrong as well about it being RTD rather than WTD?
0/2 how the hell did I get top marks on the cpc theory 
[that’s right I had no questions on drivers hours. had 3 on cpc hours requirments. got lucky me thinks]
So if I was sitting on a POA for a few hours (which might be applicable to me quite often going by the line of work i’m wanting to get into) and had worked for 3 hours before POA then I won’t need a break for another 3 hours maximum?
But this POA business doesn’t alter the maximum length of shift does it? I would still need to finish no later than the daily rest needed whether 11 hours or 9 hours. Maximum shift would still be either 13 or 15 hours irregardless of how many breaks or POA taken?
Thanks Tachograph.
ContainerBoy:
Messed that up thenI just looked at the hours over 9. I should have realised that he would have already taken at least a 15 minute. Counting from there another 15 would have been enough?
The driver would have taken at-least 15 minutes break before exceeding 6 hours working time so as long as the shift wasn’t over 9.5 hours another 15 minutes would be enough.Having said that I doubt it’s that often anyone does precisely 9.5 hours from start to the end of the shift
Good to know. Was I wrong as well about it being RTD rather than WTD?
No you wasn’t wrong about that, for some reason I don’t understand people sometimes refer to the drivers hours as the WTD, some people refer to the drivers hours as the RTD but as far I’m aware there’s no such thing as a Road Transport Directive, I generally refer to the driver hours regulations as either the drivers hours regulations or the tachograph regulations.Having said that, the only one that’s really confusing is when people refer to the drivers hours rules as the WTD.
0/2 how the hell did I get top marks on the cpc theory
So if I was sitting on a POA for a few hours (which might be applicable to me quite often going by the line of work i’m wanting to get into) and had worked for 3 hours before POA then I won’t need a break for another 3 hours maximum?
That’s correct, though you wouldn’t usually leave it to the last minute before having the required breaksBut this POA business doesn’t alter the maximum length of shift does it? I would still need to finish no later than the daily rest needed whether 11 hours or 9 hours. Maximum shift would still be either 13 or 15 hours irregardless of how many breaks or POA taken?
Absolutely correct, the maximum length of the shift is arrived at by the length of daily rest period that must fit into the period of 24 hours from the start of the shift.Thanks Tachograph.
Well that’s confusing 
Don’t teach you this on your test do they or cpc
Thanks Tachograph. You the man .
Well that’s confusing
Nope, not in the detail that you need for work purposes. I didn’t have any questions on hours in the cpc so good for me.
What they should do is change the mod 2 theory test for one on the regs alone
What they should do is change the mod 2 theory test for one on the regs alone
Mine was just too easy. I realise some guys probably fail it but some of the questions were just silly. One about eating pasta . I don’t even like pasta. Don’t mind a bit of minestrone soup. I bet catering students not asked questions on drivers hours.
It the details like your breaks during the 24 hour hour then the rest period between shift an reduced rest, weekly and carry over oohh gawd!!!