In a previous job I was asked by the TM to do another two hours driving after doing 9hr50 odd driving already and 14 odd hours on duty. It was so I could make it onto a boat that night. I just agreed and then parked up for the night, didn’t even let the ■■■■ know. Wasn’t sacked but boss seem to think it was wrong of me to not let them know I wasn’t gonna keep going 
■■■■ them.
I did see your comment Rob, but as somebody got their knickers in a twist over quotes I was trying to be a bit sparing with them.
I wouldn’t want to lose the option of a 15 hour day, as it’s useful for me, it means I can get out of a circuit after a days work and find a decent place to get to for the night, especially if it’s a good hotel with a decent restaurant. 
However as usual the bottom end of the haulage industry is so cut throat that they want every possible hour out of the truck and driver and drivers either go along with this because they’ve been brain washed in to the culture or because it’s the only way to make the money up.
I love me 15’s but not sure if it counts being a box jockey. Had a rough day last year though when a 3rd job was required of me.
The driver in this scenario was concerned about safety or had just had enough. No matter the company left itself wide open and should know better.
robroy:
DonutUK:
boredwivdrivin:
fair play to the lad .its only going to be a matter of time before a driver has an accident 14 hours into a shift , and claims that the fault lies with the employer for planning such a long day .
and wins .
cause if his run sheet plans the day for much over 12/13 the employer are behaving with no due regard to their employees safety or others
the bit after 12/13 hours should be to allow for unforseen circumstances , not as a regular route plan .
Rubbish.
The drivers hours limits are there for the safety of drivers and other road users…therefore companies are perfectly entitled to plan a driver to any work that can be completed within those legal limits.
I see what bwd means.
You can say what the hell you like bud 15 hrs is too long for anybody, ok we all do it (although in my case only to suit me) but a 13 hr working day is enough for anybody.Where is the h&s when you can do a 15 hr shift and take 9 off …not 9 hrs sleep either, maybe about 6 by the time you shower eat unwind and all the rest of it. Then head off again driving 44 tons for another 10 hrs.
Just because it’s legal does not mean it is safe.
Now bring on the Bigbollock heroes.
…‘Nowt wrong with 15hrs, I only need 5 hours kip in my lay by me, and I need to crack on’’
or the predictable and brainwashed…
‘‘That’s transport, if you don’t like 15hrs, you are in the wrong job’’
Heard it before guys save it.
i can never work you out! sometimes you’re the most old school anyone can be, then other times you become quite new school!
muckles:
I did see your comment Rob, but as somebody got their knickers in a twist over quotes I was trying to be a bit sparing with them.I wouldn’t want to lose the option of a 15 hour day, as it’s useful for me, it means I can get out of a circuit after a days work and find a decent place to get to for the night, especially if it’s a good hotel with a decent restaurant.
However as usual the bottom end of the haulage industry is so cut throat that they want every possible hour out of the truck and driver and drivers either go along with this because they’ve been brain washed in to the culture or because it’s the only way to make the money up.
Agree with that. I have two mates on a firm that specialise in teararsing where it’s an endurance test not a job.
One goes along with it, maxes out, parks in lay bys, starts ridiculous times, rushes to be first in queue and all the rest of it. I aint callling him btw, it is just his way and he’s a decent good lad…but does not listen to me
The other, also a good lad and driver, gets through the workload but does his job at a sensible pace, does 15s to get to a proper parking place (usually near a pub ) does not start before 0530, (in fact a lot like myself) the laughable part is they both get paid the same…on a salary!
stevieboy308:
robroy:
DonutUK:
boredwivdrivin:
fair play to the lad .its only going to be a matter of time before a driver has an accident 14 hours into a shift , and claims that the fault lies with the employer for planning such a long day .
and wins .
cause if his run sheet plans the day for much over 12/13 the employer are behaving with no due regard to their employees safety or others
the bit after 12/13 hours should be to allow for unforseen circumstances , not as a regular route plan .
Rubbish.
The drivers hours limits are there for the safety of drivers and other road users…therefore companies are perfectly entitled to plan a driver to any work that can be completed within those legal limits.
I see what bwd means.
You can say what the hell you like bud 15 hrs is too long for anybody, ok we all do it (although in my case only to suit me) but a 13 hr working day is enough for anybody.Where is the h&s when you can do a 15 hr shift and take 9 off …not 9 hrs sleep either, maybe about 6 by the time you shower eat unwind and all the rest of it. Then head off again driving 44 tons for another 10 hrs.
Now bring on the Bigbollock heroes.
…‘Nowt wrong with 15hrs, I only need 5 hours kip in my lay by me, and I need to crack on’’
or the predictable and brainwashed…
‘‘That’s transport, if you don’t like 15hrs, you are in the wrong job’’
Heard it before guys save it.i can never work you out! sometimes you’re the most old school anyone can be, then other times you become quite new school!
Ok …explain. 
It always has and always will be the drivers responsibility that they are fit and able to drive the vehicle,so after 12hrs work if the driver decides they are too tired ect to carry on upto 15hrs they relay that message back to their boss…the important part is how said boss receives the info and how he responds,in this case the driver was told to get on with it or lose your job,at this point the boss takes a portion of responsibility for Anything that happens it terms of the driver having an accident ect.
Employers have a duty of care to employees this was neglected/ignored in this case putting the driver and public at risk and then the driver was sacked leaving the company completely open to a claim for compensation,if the driver had walked straight into another job the next day he would of received at most £5000 from the tribunal,the 30k will be made up of the £5k plus loss of earnings plus stress ect whether the driver actually sought employment or not.
Whether the driver was wrong or right to take his ex employer to court the employer was in the wrong.
The Polish employment bureau are doing 16 s as they have a waste license. Its unfortunate but true that before fatalities the unions will carry on bowing to bonus management pressure.I did a story about goole doing 17s claiming shunting off card. Mrs Bell can’t wait to act
Unions encouraging the pod scam meant I left and God forbid voted tory. In my opinion less scary than usdaw and labouring may they wallow in prehistoric inconpetence
It’s not if to can do 15 hours it’s if dereliction of duty breaking the law and vehicular manslaughter is worth a tenner an hour
As much as I like to see people sticking it to the man, in this case I’d say it’s a driver who spit his dummy out when asked to go beyond what he normally does. I bet it’s written into his contract that he must be willing to do this too. He quite clearly made it back well within his hours and would’ve got back sooner had he just cracked on with it instead of arguing on the phone.
There’s a difference between not wanting to drive tired and not wanting to do a one off longer shift.
stevieboy308:
robroy:
I see what bwd means.
You can say what the hell you like bud 15 hrs is too long for anybody, ok we all do it (although in my case only to suit me) but a 13 hr working day is enough for anybody.Where is the h&s when you can do a 15 hr shift and take 9 off …not 9 hrs sleep either, maybe about 6 by the time you shower eat unwind and all the rest of it. Then head off again driving 44 tons for another 10 hrs.
Now bring on the Bigbollock heroes.
…‘Nowt wrong with 15hrs, I only need 5 hours kip in my lay by me, and I need to crack on’’
or the predictable and brainwashed…
‘‘That’s transport, if you don’t like 15hrs, you are in the wrong job’’
Heard it before guys save it.i can never work you out! sometimes you’re the most old school anyone can be, then other times you become quite new school!
It isn’t a question of old school v new.The same argument,between guvnors who wanted the hours maxed to the limit and the idiots who were all too keen to go along with it,v those who knew better,applied 40 years ago just like today.On that note the excuse that the EU thinks that it’s all about time spent driving,not sleeping,won’t make the slightest difference,when yet another hero ploughs into something or someone or goes off the road because they haven’t had enough sleep as part of that ridiculous so called ‘legal’ hours regime.IE driving into something or going off the road through tiredness is an absolute offence and the fact that it might have happened as part of a so called ‘legal’ 15 hour day/reduced daily rest period is no defence against a charge of dangerous driving through tiredness. 
I know the headline makes a big deal of the 15 hours, and most of us do that regularly, but it also says he worked for 11 hours without a rest and driven for more than 10 so there is a definite breach of regulations.
Terry T:
As much as I like to see people sticking it to the man, in this case I’d say it’s a driver who spit his dummy out when asked to go beyond what he normally does. I bet it’s written into his contract that he must be willing to do this too. He quite clearly made it back well within his hours and would’ve got back sooner had he just cracked on with it instead of arguing on the phone.There’s a difference between not wanting to drive tired and not wanting to do a one off longer shift.
But if it was a Sprinter van or similar (or indeed anything under 3.5 tonnes), operating under GB Domestic Rules then he was NOT “well within his hours”…?
There should be no such thing as a planned 15 hour day. The additional 2 hours should only be to compensate for unforeseen delays.
I don’t think the reason this lad has gone all the way to tribunal is to winge at working 15 hours, I suspect this gaffer has expected him to break regulations in order to get the job done. Drivers got ■■■■■■ off, had a bit of a barny with the gaffer over the phone & it’s gone ■■■■ up from there.
Gaffer picked the wrong bloke to annoy & sack without following procedure.
Hats off to the lad.
Classic case of work place bullying, the manager having had time to rethink probably tried to cover his tracks by sacking the lad,also the threat any losses will need to be covered by the individual ,no employer has the right to make that demand for what is essentially bad planning. The 15 hours duty time may not be a problem but the suggestion is that the driving time was in excess of 10 hours with no break which is against the law and will have safety implications.
Fair play to the lad and I hope the so called manager gets his,as from where I stand he is a far bigger liability to the company than the driver ever was.
I can understand both sides to the story, the company never asked the driver to go over his hours, the hours are there to be used by all transport companies ( and they do ) and he got awarded handsomely for his troubles. They did wrong by no following the legislation about warnings and sackings and saw him as a trouble maker ( whistleblower ) Anyone in transport should expect to work a 15 hour day as that is the legal hours a driver can work, and many do, however, i feel that a 15 hour day is far too much, and have often said so, i have always said a 12 on 12 off should be the norm. As Rob pointed out, to work a 15 then take a 9 off, travel home, see the kids, eat, shower, bed, then travel in to work after 5/6 hrs sleep to do it all again is dangerous ( in my mind ) and be expected to work another 15 hrs.
Many drivers will say thats fine because they sleep in the truck all week, others will say a reduction in hours will lead them to losing money ( thats wrong ) and others will say a 15 allows them to get home for the weekend and thats why we need legislation or at least a voice to speak up for drivers to make conditions in this industry more bearable.
We don’t have the full story here so no one can say for sure. We don’t know if it was a van or a HGV or whether he drove for longer than 10 hours etc.
But, seeing as he was delivering food there’s a good chance he spent a lot of time hand balling. Anyone who has worked for Brakes and 3663 will testify to that.
The boss is a ■■■■ for suggesting he’ll be liable for any losses due to non delivery of goods but if this guy was driving a HGV and didn’t drive longer than 10 hours he has to take some of the responsibility himself. We’ve already seen his so called 15 hour day reduced to 13.5 hours without his commuting being added on. This suggests to me he had at least 1.5 hours spare to fit in any driving or WTD breaks he may have needed.
Face life no wife heart attack at 50 your not in Afghanistan. I’ve never seen a,desk jockey do a 15 but that must be why their at the bowling club with the shop steward come 60… Corporate manslaughter is the charge