Today I had a long drag down south. Got to where I wanted to be & my mate (a worker from the company Im hired to) got out, said might as well have your lunch… Anyway about 20 min laiter he needed my help & to switch the engine on to operate the HiaB. I switched the tacho back to other work. Then for the next 1 1/2 hours I did odds & sodds helping him where needed. When we finished we set of back & I asked him where do you want to stop for lunch & he said ‘oh but we usually count that time as lunch’.
My thinking is that Im out helping him some of the time (hardly much but it counts + he has the HiaB licence so he was operating it) so other than the first 20 minutes was rest. The engine makes a racket & the exhaust is under the drivers door so its hards relaxing either. I was right so put the time as Other work.
He seemed to think different & it sounds like other drivers did put that time down to rest. Now I dont really care what he thinks (or what the hirer thinks) If it was a decent truck with a quiet cab I probably might of put it down to rest.
I reckon you are right to do what you did, the shock will come to your mate when he gets a pull. If the pto is in gear im sure it makes a trace on the card.
The other part about it is if you get a pull and there is only driving and rest, the police tend not to believe that you dont ever unload or load the truck.
Its different if you are sat on a loading bay with a container I suppose!
I may be wrong but I think you’ll find that the tacho records 3 traces - speed, mode selected and distance. It should not matter ( to the tacho) whether the engine is running or not, as long as the vehicle is stationary then it should record a break.
Having said that your actions were correct, if you are doing other work then that’s what the tacho should be set to. What you could do in the future is pull up, leave engine running with pto engaged then bog off for 45 for your break, leaving your mate in charge of the vehicle. If they are not happy with that - tough - drivers hours and tacho regs are the laws that apply to you so you have the final say
Yes but Im sure that if the pto is engaged the gearbox is turning and does mark a trace on the bottom of the card. Im not saying every tacho has this but it is certainly an option.
My Man had a service indicator and you could pull up info on idling time, pto hours and distance / time, If a mechanic can find this info, I reckon the ministry could
There is a way around these little tacho chart problems. As what you did, Rallysport, is correct. If the engine is running, someone has to be in charge of the vehicle.
All you have to do is use 2 charts as is done for 2 drivers. While you are in charge of the truck (ie driving), your card is in the front position for the driver. When you pull up to unload, your mate is in charge of the vehicle/crane, swap the cards over so that yours is in the back, on rest. You then disappear for your lunch break. After unloading is completed, you will then be in charge of the vehicle to drive it to your next destination, swop the cards back again to record the driving etc, as per normal.
You can run your engine if you are on a break. It doesn’t register unless you move the wagon. Otherwise if you ain’t got a night-heater you would freeze when taking a 45 in the winter.
My boss keeps telling me to take my breaks when I am unloading. I just go yeah-yeah, but ignore him. It’s hard enough doing a 12-14 hour shift without getting sleepy when you have taken breaks, never mind working through them.
If he keeps going on about it I’m gonna come to blows with him. I ain’t gonna do it. He’d be the first to have a pop if I fell asleep at the wheel and smashed his motor.
Guess why we have driving, break & something called other work on the tacho ■■?.
If you are paid breaks then its lost earnings & you are not then its done for free. For my part a minute or two lost here & there when paid is onething But no pay no work & I take the unpaid break after I have taken my legal requirement.
Ive looked at the tacho & its all other work. I take it it reads driving when the truck is moving only. (not when in gear or handbrake off waiting at lights etc…)
I was the only driver so I am responcible for the viehicle (just wander who is responcible if the HiaB hit something?) & Presubably I cant leave the viehicle while he operates the HiaB with the engine running.
ralliesport:
I was the only driver so I am responcible for the viehicle (just wander who is responcible if the HiaB hit something?) & Presubably I cant leave the viehicle while he operates the HiaB with the engine running.
As your mate is the Hi-Ab operater, when the Hi-Ab is being used and presumably the truck isn’t moving, I would say that HE was in charge of the crane/vehicle.
I take it that he can’t/doesn’t drive a wagon and you can’t operate the crane . However, as an adult, you should be able to leave him in charge of the complete rig.
That leaves you free to do your own thing (like going somewhere fairly close for some piece to have your lunch) and is what I was thinking when I put my earlier post up.
I hope this helps.
ralliesport:
Presubably I cant leave the viehicle while he operates the HiaB with the engine running.
It is illegal for a driver to leave a vehicle with its engine running even with its brakes and hazard warning lights on (even if you leave it in the charge of another person unless the other person has a licence to drive the Vehicle)
I know because I was cautioned by the boys in blue for doing the very same thing!
I only left the truck for a few mins to pick up paperwork and I left the truck with a drivers mate with engine running!
I was told that it was an offence to leave a running engine unless a licence holder was able to control the vehicle at all times after a good ticking off he let me off but I was told I would not get another chance!
Yes officer said I…I wont do it again!
. However, as an adult, you 
.