You ain’t the only one who put their own personal slant on what they ‘thought’ the regulations actually say - ask about me and he will show you the gun that he kept shooting me with - stil does on occasion
Perhaps an explanation of WHY the rules are done this way may help…
The idea is a safety one to prevent drivers working too many hours in ANY 24 hour period.
By putting a rule in that says a driver MUST show at least a certain amount of rest in EACH 24 hour period, then restricts the actual time that can be worked in that period.
So that there is not too much work over a certain amount of 24 hour periods, it was deemed that a driver can reduce the ‘usual’ daily rest of 11 hours to 9 but only a certain amount of times.
The only way that the rest taken in a 24 hour period, in which a driver has worked, can be seen is on an official document or device such as tacho cards or the digi download/printout.
as long as you have a rest of 11 or 9 in a 24 hour period your next shift can start after you have finished your rest
you star work mon at 6 am and work till 6 pm have 11 off you can start tues at 5 am work till 8 pm have rest of 9 hours start work wed at 5 am work till 6pm have a 9 hour rest start at 3 am, and so on as long as you don’t do more than 3 reduced rest between weekly rest periods
the 24 hours start after you daily or weekly rest
its like this if you start work at 6 am work for 6 hours and took at 12pm a rest of 11 hours you can start your next shift at 11pm.
can drivers be dictated that "we (the company) can make you do 3 x 15 hour shifts a week
I would say that depends on your contract of employment and your normal working practice, but generally I would see nothing wrong with a company planning a 15 hour spread-over if it was needed as long as you’re given the opportunity to plan your week accordingly, though I suspect some drivers will disagree
The big question is how much rest will you be getting before the next shift, if they’re also planning a reduced daily rest between some shifts it may be a whole different ball game
By definition a 15 hour day will result in a reduced rest assuming you are expected to start at the same time every day !!. Whether the driver is prepared to do 15hr shifts and be back in the depot each night is a question for the individual to agree with their planners, as everybodys circumstances and preferences would be different. Morally it would depend on a variety of issues as to whether you should have a 9hr break at depot such as the distance and time taken to travel to and from work??. Should you be away from home then a 9hr rest is legal if not desirable but you must always remember that you the driver is responsible for the truck and as such if you dont feel able to drive because you havnt had enough rest then you should make these feelings known to your planners after all its your licence and freedom that counts to you.
Drivers should also be aware of the not inconsiderable amount of investment made by your employer in an industry where returns on investment are very low. Your planners will of course be trying to maximise usage and returns which hopefuly will secure your future with that company, after all if income doesnt exceed costs then the business isnt going anywhere except down the pan. The economy being what it is needs whole firms to pull together to survive.
It’s becouse of the Digi print out that I wanted clarification. If it’s going to show up weeks on their computer, it’d better be right. If I interpret a 14hr rest as an 11, when it is only counted as a 9, I could’ve ended up doing a 9 when I haven’t got one left.
On that same point about feeling fit to drive after a reduced rest. I would argue that the driver who has 9 hours break actually gets more sleep than the bloke who has an 11 at home. By the time you have kissed the dog and kicked the wife, watched corrie repeats it has gone midnight
berewic:
It’s becouse of the Digi print out that I wanted clarification. If it’s going to show up weeks on their computer, it’d better be right. If I interpret a 14hr rest as an 11, when it is only counted as a 9, I could’ve ended up doing a 9 when I haven’t got one left.
If you put on here exactly what you did then the site GURUs could tell you whether to worry or not . .
something like -
WEEKEND REST
Mon 0600 to 1930
Tue 0730 to 2100
Wed 0600 to 2100
Thu 0600 to 2100
Fri …
can drivers be dictated that "we (the company) can make you do 3 x 15 hour shifts a week
Mike-C:
yes and yes.
I’ll stand by my earlier post that gives a way out of doing such a long shift -
ROG:
YES, they can plan a 15 hour day BUT the over-riding factor for the driver is SAFETY.
If the driver considers that they are, or will be, too tired to do such a shift then that takes precedence over everything else.
No matter what the company says about it, you are no good to anyone DEAD.
There will be the usual comments of - you will lose your job etc if you do not comply but what’s the use of a job when you are dead or have killed/injured someone else because you tried to please the boss
can drivers be dictated that "we (the company) can make you do 3 x 15 hour shifts a week
Mike-C:
yes and yes.
I’ll stand by my earlier post that gives a way out of doing such a long shift -
ROG:
YES, they can plan a 15 hour day BUT the over-riding factor for the driver is SAFETY.
If the driver considers that they are, or will be, too tired to do such a shift then that takes precedence over everything else.
No matter what the company says about it, you are no good to anyone DEAD.
There will be the usual comments of - you will lose your job etc if you do not comply but what’s the use of a job when you are dead or have killed/injured someone else because you tried to please the boss
Oh i share your viewpoint, but they still can plan you for them type shifts. I’d guess standard answer if you can’t do them would be to ask you if you have health problems ? And if there’s other guys in the depot doing them no problem then someone saying they’re tired may not be quite fit and healthy enough to do the job?
Wincanton plan some of their drivers for 15 hour days, and when questioned over it and pulled up over the fact their drivers handbook says all drivers should have a 11 hour rest period inbetween shifts, their answer is…“thats in an ideal world” !!
berewic:
It’s becouse of the Digi print out that I wanted clarification. If it’s going to show up weeks on their computer, it’d better be right. If I interpret a 14hr rest as an 11, when it is only counted as a 9, I could’ve ended up doing a 9 when I haven’t got one left.
As already stated it’s easy to keep track simply by doing the following:
From the start of your shift Have you worked more than 13:00:00 hrs ? If yes then you’ve only had a reduced rest before your next shift starts regardless of whether the rest is 9 hrs 11hrs or even 19 hrs
If you’ve worked less than 13:00:00 then it’s an 11 hour rest regardless of whether its 13 hrs 15 hrs or 19 hrs unless of course you deliberately reduce your rest to less than 11 hrs.
It’s impossible to mistake a 14 hr rest for a reduced 9 hr rest if you follow the above
Wozzer:
Great thread, I am starting to understand the rules a little bit.
So the daily rest period in the case of digicards is the period of time the card isn’t inserted?
Currently peering at a very dubious tacho printout…
Not necessarily no, you can leave the card in and put the tacho on rest, likewise just because the card isn’t inserted in the tacho doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on a daily rest
Wozzer:
Great thread, I am starting to understand the rules a little bit.
So the daily rest period in the case of digicards is the period of time the card isn’t inserted?
Currently peering at a very dubious tacho printout…
Not necessarily no, you can leave the card in and put the tacho on rest, likewise just because the card isn’t inserted in the tacho doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on a daily rest
i thought you cant leave your digi card in to record your daily rest. this has been on another thread before and im sure lucy will remember cos it was her thought you could.
jessicas dad:
i thought you cant leave your digi card in to record your daily rest. this has been on another thread before and im sure lucy will remember cos it was her thought you could.
That’s interesting, I’ve always taken my card out but was under the impression that some drivers left their card in when on a night out.
jessicas dad:
i thought you cant leave your digi card in to record your daily rest. this has been on another thread before and im sure lucy will remember cos it was her thought you could.
Nothing says you have to take your card out at the end of your shift. All you need to do is scroll through the menu and enter country of finish then stick it on rest. In the morning stick it back on other work and scroll through menu to enter start country. Job done. I clocked off at 12:30 yesterday and resumed at 05:30 this morning and the card was in the whole time. Tonight I took it out at a little before 19:20 and in the morning it will go back in about 05:05. I will make manual entries to show I actually finished at 19:30 and started at 05:00 and the card will then remain in, as I am away in Dublin tomorrow night, until I finish work about 19:30 on Thursday.
i am of the opinion that reduced breaks should be down to the driver
have i got the stamina or inclination to do over 13 hours work then ok
or have i had enough rest so i start before a full 11
we dont get paid enough as it is without getting a premuim for working excessively long days
