Hi folks, i have been offered a new job driving a jet vac 32t but they are off tacho they say. i have been on gov web site but cannot seem to find the rules or bits and bats but nothing clear. what are the max hrs on a daily shift ? i am a class one but i have been doing this job for 8 months now because they pay better than class one and less hrs, any help with the utilites rules would be a help.
Vehicles used in connection with sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity maintenance services, road maintenance or control, door-to-door household refuse collection or disposal, telegraph or telephone services, radio or television broadcasting and the detection of radio or television transmitters or receivers.
There have been a number of significant court rulings from the European Court of Justice and British courts dealing with this exemption. Common themes have included a direct and close involvement in the exempt activity; the principle of a general service in the public interest; and the limited and secondary nature of the transport activity.
It’s DVSA’s view that vehicles used in connection with sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity services must be involved in the maintenance of an existing service (rather than the construction of a new service) to claim the concession.
For vehicles used in connection with sewerage maintenance services the term “maintenance” also applies to the removal of waste from a system but only where the waste is removed directly onto the vehicle and immediately taken away for treatment. This would also include transporting partially treated sewage from satellite sites to main sites.
The derogation doesn’t apply to the movement of sewage sludge which has been treated to make a product which is then used for another purpose such as, for example, fertiliser.
The types of refuse collection and disposal operations likely to be exempt are:
the door-to-door collection or from communal waste points of domestic waste such as black bin bags, green waste, garden waste, newspapers or glass from households
the collection of sofas and household appliances from households within a local area
the clearing of a home following a bereavement, provided refuse collection and disposal is the core purpose
The derogation will also apply to the collection of the domestic type waste from commercial premises but would not extend to collecting commercial waste, for example, waste generated by a manufacturing process.
Vehicles used in connection with road maintenance services which:
are engaged on a journey directly relating to the maintenance services, for example, removing rubble or other materials or
are being used directly on the maintenance activity, for example, laying tarmac
These will fall within this derogation however journeys to a site for the purpose of positioning the vehicle in readiness for engaging in the maintenance activity or for returning to base after the maintenance activity has ended will not fall within this derogation.
Vehicles which are to be used or have been used that same day in connection with highway maintenance and control and don’t travel far from the site where the work of highway maintenance is being carried out will fall within the derogation.
On domestic regs the rules are 10 hours drive and 11 hours duty time in a 24 hour period. That doesn’t mean you can only do 11 hour days as breaks do not count as duty time.
Thanks chaps, Are you able to do a double shift if your not under working time, because sometimes the job can take all day and go into the night to get fixed ?
You can be at work as long as you like there is no minimum rest requirements. Being at work and doing work are two different things.
You could do a combination of driving and working which totals 8 hours of duty. You could then sit doing nothing for 6 hours on a break. You could then do a further 3 hours of working / duty. That’s a total of 17 hours at work but perfectly legal as your duty / working time was 11 hours.
Your 24 hour clock is not reset by having a daily rest like it is under EU regs. So if you start work on a Monday at 6 am and you do 10 hours of driving that day you cannot legal drive again until 6 am on Tuesday. I doubt you’ll be doing 10 hour drives on a vac anyway.
If you drive less than 4 hours a day , no records are required either
Under uk domestic regs you can do 1 hour on 2 hours off for 7 days a week 365 days a year 
Thankyou very much folks your always a massive help. a pleasure keep up the good work.
harrawaffa:
You can be at work as long as you like there is no minimum rest requirements. Being at work and doing work are two different things.
You could do a combination of driving and working which totals 8 hours of duty. You could then sit doing nothing for 6 hours on a break. You could then do a further 3 hours of working / duty. That’s a total of 17 hours at work but perfectly legal as your duty / working time was 11 hours.
Your 24 hour clock is not reset by having a daily rest like it is under EU regs. So if you start work on a Monday at 6 am and you do 10 hours of driving that day you cannot legal drive again until 6 am on Tuesday. I doubt you’ll be doing 10 hour drives on a vac anyway.
so i would just need the 11hrs rest. because i would still be under the driving rules but not the working time. please correct me if i am wrong.thanks in advance.
sweeper1gg:
so i would just need the 11hrs rest. because i would still be under the driving rules but not the working time. please correct me if i am wrong.thanks in advance.
No. You can have as much or as little rest as you like. There is no minimum legal rest outlined under domestic regs. Not sure where you’ve got the 11 hours from but the EU regs are completely separate from domestic regs so don’t confuse them or pick and choose rules from each. That link I posted explains everything you need to know.
sweeper1gg:
harrawaffa:
You can be at work as long as you like there is no minimum rest requirements. Being at work and doing work are two different things.
You could do a combination of driving and working which totals 8 hours of duty. You could then sit doing nothing for 6 hours on a break. You could then do a further 3 hours of working / duty. That’s a total of 17 hours at work but perfectly legal as your duty / working time was 11 hours.
Your 24 hour clock is not reset by having a daily rest like it is under EU regs. So if you start work on a Monday at 6 am and you do 10 hours of driving that day you cannot legal drive again until 6 am on Tuesday. I doubt you’ll be doing 10 hour drives on a vac anyway.so i would just need the 11hrs rest. because i would still be under the driving rules but not the working time. please correct me if i am wrong.thanks in advance.
ITS JUST CLICKED !! DEAR ME I CONFUSE MYSELF .
YOU ARE A TRUE GENT. A real pleasure.