ROG:
Interesting post this…begs the question “What do you think ought to be the minimum rest period between shifts” - for me it would be 12 hours with no exeptions.
I would go down to 11. Three hours to unwind after work, get washed and eat and have some semblance of “a life”, and an hour to wake up and get focussed in the morning leaving seven hours for sleep.
ROG:
Interesting post this…begs the question “What do you think ought to be the minimum rest period between shifts” - for me it would be 12 hours with no exeptions.
That is your opinion, but last night I had a 9 hour break and arrived home from France at 20.30. With your rules I would have still been on my way.
9 hours rest is adequate because no-one except teenagers sleep for more than 6 or 7. Maggie Thatcher ran the country on 4 hours sleep 
I think it should be reduced to 4minutes at home with wife and children and the rest being on the road treated like Excrement its only fair really isnt it?.
Nice one Alex - but are you sure that isn’t being a bit generous? 
I would say being treated like ■■■■ but you dont allow reality on here.
Yes we do. Treated like crap. Easy.
Wheel Nut:
Maggie Thatcher ran the country on 4 hours sleep
Yebbut not very well though!
(Speaking as one of the three million) 
i suppose the people happy with the 9 hour break are happy with the weekly rest being reduced to 24 hours while at home my point being 36 hours was short enough evrey week reduced breaks never get made up not in my opinion /experience the point being we are now expected to be behind awheel even longer so does it really matter if you get back 2hours earlier
The problem with this job is that truck driving covers such a wide range things. I’m away all week and between Sunday night and Friday night or whatever I work, I couldn’t care less if I do 15 hours a day and 9 hours off three times a week, its totally irrelivent as I’m away from home and see no point in sitting around doing sod all in my lorry. On the other hand, for someone who does a day job, a 15 hour day and 9 hours off is no good at all, its nowhere near enough to get too and from work and have any sort of life at home. In the past when I first started out (I’m only 23 so it wasn’t all that long ago!) I just put my foot down and refused to do 9’s and that was that. No one can realistically make you have a 9 hour break, no matter how much they think they can. If you stick to your 11 hour break if you go home, I hardly think you’ll be sacked for it, and if you are, you were obviously working for the wrong company anyway.
Personally I’m in a fortunate position in that I can pretty much do my job the way I please so long as it gets done. Some days I do 15 hours, some days only 9 hours, some nights I have 9 hours off, some nights I have 16 hours off but what I always try and be is realistic. This job, especially a ferryfreight/tramping job where you’re away all week cannot be done with a 9-5 attitude and regulation men who’d rather fill in endless amounts of working time paperwork rather than drive the vehicle they’re paid to do. Also just because its 2007 it doesn’t mean that it takes any less time to load 33 europallets in Glasgow, get down to Immingham, change trailers and head back up to Aberdeen, distance equals time as it always has done and drivers have always and will always need to put the time in to drive the distance, anything less in uneconomical. I really do sympathise with those who have a wife/kids etc at home and dont want to be away but really if you want to be a truck driver, doing anything other than a glorified milk round, you’re gonna be doing long hours a lot of the time.
I’m not here to argue with anybody, we each have our own ideas about whats right and wrong and all this is just my opinion at the end of the day, and I know it will go down very badly here, but we cant all agree all of the time.
scania245:
i suppose the people happy with the 9 hour break are happy with the weekly rest being reduced to 24 hours while at home my point being 36 hours was short enough evrey week reduced breaks never get made up not in my opinion /experience the point being we are now expected to be behind awheel even longer so does it really matter if you get back 2hours earlier
yep I rarely used to do a full 45 hour rest, could easily cope with 36 at weekend and make up the rest during the week
however, I do live at my operating centre and never got anywhere near the 90 hours in a fortnight, so there was plenty of time to compensate for the reduced rest
I have to agree with the last post, all driving jobs are different, I live 5 minute drive from the depot, no nights away and get paid a weekly salary for an average 48 hour week so the shorter my days and longer the breaks the better it is for me. Plus theres never any need to rush about because your not going to earn any more! (unless you want to get home early).
scania245:
i suppose the people happy with the 9 hour break are happy with the weekly rest being reduced to 24 hours while at home my point being 36 hours was short enough evrey week reduced breaks never get made up not in my opinion /experience the point being we are now expected to be behind awheel even longer so does it really matter if you get back 2hours earlier
The 24 hour rest at home was the most stupid rule change but came in handy when you had been away for 2 or 3 weeks and let you take a short break on the continent to allow us to reach home.
And your post about what does it matter if you get back 2 hours earlier means the difference between Saturday night in the pub with wives and girlfriends or getting in after closing time.
Not all jobs are the same
The point is no one is forcing you to take a 9 hour break, it’s like drugs - Just Say No. However the option is there for those who are happy to or want to take a 9 for what ever reason. The way I see it, under those circumstances, everyone’s a winner.
Yes but the trouble is that if the legal minimum is 9, employers will always pressurise a driver to take 9, regardless of whether he wants to take 11.
Harry Monk:
Yes but the trouble is that if the legal minimum is 9, employers will always pressurise a driver to take 9, regardless of whether he wants to take 11.
Come on, we’re not sheep, we can think and act for ourselves. It isn’t that much of a big deal putting your foot down and taking 11 hours off. Whats the worst that can happen? the men in suits and ties have a little winge at you? The law as far as I’m aware says that you may reduce your rest 3 times a week, not that you must reduce it and that besides, only you can decide wether your too tired to drive or not, not some office wallah who plans your work on the computer.
its up to me how many hours i take off and im not really bothered if im late for a drop 
the point is for the future hours we work ie to many relates to the money we earn ie not enough the inconvienice of being away from home nite out rate rubbish its a forum for discussion and debate the job you have today may not be the one you have next week ask the 60 ex tesco drivers the rest time is the tip of the ice berg
I refuse to shorten my break to 9 hours, I always take at least 11 unless it suits me to shorten to 9 on a night out which on my job don’t happen very often… 
Thats why i stopped tramping for Pearce, a typical week was locals monday start at 4 am finish at 6pm, tuesday would require a 3am start and a 15hr shift which would see you back in the yard just before 6 pm and getting out the gate to drive home at about 20 past 6 (30 mins drive home) again start at 3am ish wednesday again doing nigh on a full 15hr and getting home then by nearly 7pm, thursday morning and again a 3 or 4 am start and guess what now i’d be caught out up the road coz i could only do 13hr shifts and have 11’s off so thurs and fri i would be night outing and running back in on the sat morn quite often only an hr away from the yard
The way i see it is 9 hrs off - 1/2 hr commuting - 1 hr sorting out your gear having a cuppa having a bath, then its eat some supper stare at the telly for 1/2 an hr while grunting replies to the wife who is convinced you want to know in full detail every naughty deed your toddler had done today which now leaves you with 7 hrs before you need to be back at work and turning the key it takes me an hr to come round have a cuppa make some sarnies and leave the house then the 1/2 hr commute to work again…
So take away all these 1/2 hrs and hrs and your left with barely 5 hrs actual sleep with a 15hr shift looming ahead of you and god help you if you have one of those nights when you just cant get straight to sleep
i see it like this …every night you need a reasonable time off
every weekend you need a reasonable time off
an office girl does 40 hrs and has lots of time off during the week 
what we need is the same time off en block
so what we should have is 6-8 weeks annual holiday