I did my CPC a few months ago where I had one afternoons training on tacho usage.
I had some holiday from my daytime job so I thought I would out it to good use by joining an agency to gain some experience driving 7.5 tonne as I am training for HGV class2.
I was allocated a job driving west of London to east with 4 drops scattered around going to places I was unfamiliar with. I lost a lot of time trying to find the 1st call and got there after midday, however due to my inexperience and lack of knowledge on how a digitacho works, when I eventually got back at 5.30, the guy puts my card in the downloading slot and up pops in pink the words ’ Not enough break time’ !
I know there is a ‘heavy fine’ for this kind of thing, so how do the authorities find out about it??
Does it work like a speeding ticket? where you get a letter in the post a few days later? Will this info stay on my Digitacho for a month, then disappear? How much is a ‘Heavy fine’ ?
Is there any kind of leniency towards newbies in the industry? as opposed to people who have used one for years?
Please let me know as I starting to get worried, when all I want to do is work hard and earn a bit more money.
Thank You
Paulzy
I’m afraid I’m the eyes of the DVSA being ignorant of the rules whether intentionally or not will land you in trouble regardless of whether you are a newbie or have been going it for 50 years!
By going out and earning money from this you are agreeing to abide by the rules,Should you get caught you may get let off or you may get a fine…the fine itself won’t come to your automatically like a speeding ticket would so you may never have to worry about it,just make sure for next time you are 100% clear of what is expected of you because you really don’t want anymore anytime soon.
And they certainly won’t accept you not having a break because you were too busy.
If that is going to be the only time then IF IF IF you get a roadside stop then it is likely to be a slap on the wrist and some advice for a new driver
“The authorities” (i.e. DVSA or Police) will only get to discover your infringement if you are unlucky enough to be pulled over for a check. It will however remain on your digicard for several months (or even years, if you only use it occasionally). The good news is that if you get your act together and ensure that from now on, every time you drive you abide by the Regs, it’s unlikely they’ll penalise you for a one-off transgression.
Did you actually take your breaks (but fail to record them properly) or did you simply plough on through the day without taking a break?
Without knowing how long you worked or drove without a break it’s hard to know whether the infringement is of any consequence or not.
If you went a few minutes over 4.5 hours driving time without a break being a new driver will most likely get you off at a roadside check, on the other hand if you worked 15 hours and did 9/10 hours driving without a single break you may well get shafted hard at a roadside checkpoint.
Saying you got an infringement for insufficient break doesn’t really tell us a lot, a bit more information about how long you worked and drove and what breaks you had would let us tell you whether or not you should be bothered about the infringement.
By the way, infringements stay on your driver card until the card data is overwritten which for a full time driver will usually take several months, for a part time driver could be years.
The good news is that after 28 days the DVSA won’t be very interested anyway 
I won’t add anything to the comments on the infringement but… not enough break time!
There are not many jobs going where break time is written so strictly into your daily routine as driving! Have a brush up on the rules if you’re uncertain about them, or ask on here, but one thing you’ve got to get used to is being firm about your breaks.
Some drivers look at a break as something to “squeeze in” - maybe squeeze in a 15 on the pumps, or squeeze in a 30 whilst tipping etc etc. Push push push and cram more work into the day by minimising working time lost to breaks. Thy will proudly tell you that they can get in an extra load here or an extra run there. Or, you can look as breaks as a part of your working day. You’ll get paid the same amount for both approaches.
It’s up to you whether you want to work your arse off and risk denting you bank account and your licence by bending or breaking the rules for your employers advantage… or whether you want to take it steady and use the rules to your advantage.
I apologize for the thread highjack I’m about to commit, but I’m in a similar situation as the OP. After my 2nd day out alone I put my card into the little scanner in the transport office and had an “Infringement - Insufficient daily rest”.
My last shift before that was 35ish hours ago, ie before my weekly rest. At the end of my last shift there were no issues when I scanned my card. The only thing I can think of is I messed up the manual entry at the start of my 2nd shift since the truck had a tacho different from the one I was shown how to operate. I may have put “other work” between the end of my last shift?
Will I get fined and what kind of money am I looking at losing?
All this at the end of a day where I saw the fresh aftermath of 2 accidents (1 car roof up and a few minutes later a head-on collision between 2 cars), a 15 hour shift (9hrs 40mins driving) and a fine by DVSA (VOSA?)…on my 2nd day of driving a truck ever.
If you made a mess of the manual entry, that’s what it will look like. Whether you get fined for it or not is a matter for the men with clipboards to decide.
Next time you do a manual entry just slow down a bit and make sure you understand what it’s showing you and what you’re about to input.
Getting an infringement isn’t the end of the world, you will get the odd one here and there. The key is that it’s only the odd one…
What did you get fined for?
ETS:
I apologize for the thread highjack I’m about to commit, but I’m in a similar situation as the OP. After my 2nd day out alone I put my card into the little scanner in the transport office and had an “Infringement - Insufficient daily rest”.My last shift before that was 35ish hours ago, ie before my weekly rest. At the end of my last shift there were no issues when I scanned my card. The only thing I can think of is I messed up the manual entry at the start of my 2nd shift since the truck had a tacho different from the one I was shown how to operate. I may have put “other work” between the end of my last shift?
Will I get fined and what kind of money am I looking at losing?
All this at the end of a day where I saw the fresh aftermath of 2 accidents (1 car roof up and a few minutes later a head-on collision between 2 cars), a 15 hour shift (9hrs 40mins driving) and a fine by DVSA (VOSA?)…on my 2nd day of driving a truck ever.
Next time you’re in a vehicle with a digital tachograph do a printout for your 2nd days work (the one you got an infringement for), check it to see that you did indeed put other work for the rest period then write an explanation on the printout and sign it.
If I’m understanding correctly you had 35 hours rest before the shift in question, it’s fairly obvious what’s happened so as long as you can provide a printout showing your mistake you’re unlikely to get fined but you will get an infringement notice off the company, sign it learn from it and forget it 
Normally I would suggest doing 2 printouts and handing one in when the card is downloaded but as that’s already happened there’s probably no point.
As slowlane said, when doing manual entries go slowly and double check everything, soon it will become like second nature
slowlane:
What did you get fined for?
I’d rather not say yet however I believe I got the sack tonight for it even though I paid my fine on the spot and was let go with “no further consequences for you or your boss”.
Will call my agency in the morning who didn’t even have the decency to text or call me to let me know not to waste time getting up at 1a.m. and traveling to work and back home.
ETS:
slowlane:
What did you get fined for?I’d rather not say yet however I believe I got the sack tonight for it even though I paid my fine on the spot and was let go with “no further consequences for you or your boss”.
Will call my agency in the morning who didn’t even have the decency to text or call me to let me know not to waste time getting up at 1a.m. and traveling to work and back home.
Whos fined you ?
If its the firm/agency I’d be demanding money back pronto!
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dcgpx:
Whos fined you ?If its the firm/agency I’d be demanding money back pronto!
No, the fine was issued to me personally by the DVSA so I paid for it myself immediately without contesting. The company however was unhappy with the fact that I committed an offense in one of their vehicles (my personal guess) and cancelled all my shifts only mentioning “the issue with the thing”. Agency won’t even pick up the phone to tell me what the H is going on and won’t return any of my calls/texts. My skin grew a bit thicker after this whole ordeal.
I have had a good few infringements but no fines, some company software is not fit for purpose or the tea boy doesn’t understand the information
If you ever get pulled it’s yes sir no sir 3 bags full sir the attitude test is a big one for these guys they get alot of ■■■■ of drivers and if you start gobbing of to them they will go out there way to use there powers against you where if you show a good attitude it’s like a breath of fresh air ( as long as your not constantly infringing that is. [emoji23] )
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Back in the early part of last month (August), I had the rep from one of the agencies spitting feathers at me about leaving my card on other work throughout one weekend (60+ hours) even through I took it out on the preceding Friday, and as a result he lost one of his best clients! 
The lesson I learnt from then on is to ALWAYS put the tacho mode onto rest before taking the sodding card out and being more careful with my manual entries.
stop doing manuals and theres no need to be carefull or otherwise…theres simply no need for a manual entry unless its to cover up lies to suit yourself.
Garbo2018:
Back in the early part of last month (August), I had the rep from one of the agencies spitting feathers at me about leaving my card on other work throughout one weekend (60+ hours) even through I took it out on the preceding Friday, and as a result he lost of his best clients!The lesson I learnt from then on is to ALWAYS put the tacho mode onto rest before taking the sodding card out and being more careful with my manual entries.
Lost one of his clients…■■■■■■■■ to that.
He’s just saying that to make you feel guilty. If he would loss clients due to his staff causing a limited number of infringments, he could stuff his buisness.
I know that some hauliers don’t like even 1-2 infringments and don’t book you for a certain time, but
a. be careful and watch some Youtube Videos about “How to do manual entries”
b. the same haulier books you again but with another agency
c. A little of Infringments can happen, especially as a Newbie.
d. Don’t listen to some agency wimp who probably never used a tacho or know what it looks like.
Otherwise and thats referering to “manual entries” > Do it like Dieseldog and carry on with out them.
dieseldog999:
stop doing manuals and theres no need to be carefull or otherwise…theres simply no need for a manual entry unless its to cover up lies to suit yourself.
Unless you’re on agency work (or even a full time employee) and paid by what’s on your card…