Hi peeps, first post etc.
The company I work has made the managers very happy by telling them that it IS NOT the drivers choice to reduce to 9 hours but the company’s choice. Mind you, ask for proof, i.e. something in writing, and they become very defensive. Any one here ever heard of this. I believe it is my right to reduce (or more importantly have the 11 hours off ). I know I can stand my ground on need rest before I’m safe to drive etc if I want to but I’d love to know if they really have he power to force a driver to take a 9 hour break. What say you?
If you need 11 then take 11 …
A company should not be forcing it’s hand on how much rest a driver gets .
If they try to demand you take 9 tell them you are too tired to drive and you will be taking 11 .
Not much they can do about it (Vosa and the police wouldn’t be happy at a company forcing a tired driver to reduce to 9 
)…They might get funny but then screw them , I hate companies that try to flog it’s drivers over daily and weekly rest .
A lot of these so called decision makers wouldn’t work to the same conditions so why should you .
I remember a conversation in our office when the reduce to 24 weekly came in , people noting it might be useful to cover the weekend work …
I just sat there laughing and told them to never expect me to reduce to 24 , it would never happen and even if they rostered me in at a reduction of 24 they would be waiting a long time for me to come in 
In fact an extra 21 hours for me to come in
The drivers Hours Regs are Cleverly Written to Avoid putting the onus on anyone as to who decides whether a 9 hr reduction is taken or not.
But Ultimately the Decision is down to the driver as he has the final say on his responsibility to the safety of himself and other Road Users.
When I was employed by TDG I recieved a call off the assistant Transport Manager at 4pm on the Thursday Night whilst in Harlow, telling me to get back for 7am as he wanted me to do locals. I refused pointing out it was the middle of summer and I would need to take a 9hr reduction and could not just go to bed and switch off
Anyway his final words were “I’ll see you at 7am”, my final words were I’ll see you around 10am
When I rolled into the yard at 10.30am he went ballistic, I merely phoned Graham Bird the URTU Union man and he pointed out it was my decision on the grounds of safety.
Needless to say I heard nothing more about it but did get a bit of the crappy jobs for a couple of weeks, but I sharp put paid to that by ensuring delivery times were not being met, I.E rolling up to an important customer in Glasgow at 11am instead of 9 am Marvellous how you found out where all the traffic jams were on the CB
I think it lasted about 3 weeks in total and he realised he was backing a loser
Neither a Driver nor an employer could produce anything from the Regs that states “They” make the final decision because of the way it’s written.
a caluna driver was sacked a while ago because haveing done his work he was told to do some more although he said it would take him close to his 15 hours and would mean him not getting home until 11 pm i think this made no diffrence to them if i remember they said in court the job was only 20 miles away and would only take him 25 minutes ( no motorway ) road, he went to court but he still got sacked,
fuse:
he went to court but he still got sacked,
All I can say is, his solicitor was crap if he had one, if he didn’t he wants his backside kicking for not researching his defence prior to the hearing.
Simply producing the drivers hours regs with the Drivers Responsibilities highlighted for the Tribunal Chairman would be sufficient to show that he refused on grounds of safety.
im with you davey the fact they said a job 20 miles away coud be done in 25 minutes with no motorway road unles my maths is wrong can not be done
I think it’s a balance…it all depends on how much you like the job…and availablity of agency work if you leave…
If you can do a 9hr rest…then be helpful and do it…
If you are genuinely to knackered…warn them in advance…that they don’t want their vehicle back in a cubic form…with you head sticking out of it…
Always works… 
Take the 9 hour break, get up and after about 2 hours or so stop for a good kip, as you were to knackered to continue driving, I’ve had it before, and always made them see sense, they hate to have claims coming through the door for accidents that are caused due to fatigue
the driver has only got to say that they are tired and need 11 hours rest, or more, and the company can do nothing about it.
Cheers for that. I’ll enjoy standing my ground if they try it with me.
the culina case did show they can do somthing ,the driver got no support and was sacked he had worked there 6 years. this case was in truck and driver or comercial motor a few months back by the way is it possible to do 20 miles in 25 minutes on non motorway road
"by the way is it possible to do 20 miles in 25 minutes on non motorway road "
not at 40 miles an hour its not at 50 on dual carriageway you would be struggling coz no doubt there would be at least a roundabout or traffic lights so would be slowing down and doing less than speed limit.
simple maths, to work out the speed required
(Distance in miles/specified time in minutes) x 60 = SPEED required in MPH
(20/25)x60 = 48 MPH
So, assuming you can [ LEGALLY ] mantain average speed of 48MPH
throughout the entire journey
the answer is YES.
But here an important point everyone appears to have missed
20 miles is ONLY ONE LEG… What about the RETURN [FLIP]
SO everything changes when we take this into account
recalculating for 40 miles in 25 minutes
(40/25)x60 = 96 MPH : (
Regards 2xQ
DoubleQ:
simple maths, to work out the speed required(Distance in miles/specified time in minutes) x 60 = SPEED required in MPH
(20/25)x60 = 48 MPH
So, assuming you can [ LEGALLY ] mantain average speed of 48MPH
throughout the entire journey
the answer is YES.But here an important point everyone appears to have missed
20 miles is ONLY ONE LEG… What about the RETURN [FLIP]SO everything changes when we take this into account
recalculating for 40 miles in 25 minutes
(40/25)x60 = 96 MPH : (
Regards 2xQ
And that only works if your truck can do 0 - 48 in less than 000.00000.1 secs
I will never reduce to a 9 hr rest at home. I will on a night out but 9 hrs at home equals about 4-5 hrs sleep.
1 hr to de-breif and get home
1 hr meal.
1 hr Shower catch up on events
1 hr to get to sleep and wake up time (Half hour each min)
1 hr to get to truck and do safety checks.
DoYouMeanMe?:
I will never reduce to a 9 hr rest at home. I will on a night out but 9 hrs at home equals about 4-5 hrs sleep.1 hr to de-breif and get home
1 hr meal.
1 hr Shower catch up on events
1 hr to get to sleep and wake up time (Half hour each min)
1 hr to get to truck and do safety checks.
Your 9 hours wouldn’t include the de-brief or the safety checks, they are Other Work and not Rest. Your rest period would not begin until after the de-brief and would end end before the safety checks.
I know it should, but when they want you on a quick turn-around, they tend to want to break all the rules to get you out again… Also with some companies, the truck is out again before you have had a de-breif with another card in it which kind of confused the system doesn’t it.
DoYouMeanMe?:
I know it should, but when they want you on a quick turn-around, they tend to want to break all the rules to get you out again…
It’s like drugs, just say NO. 
DoYouMeanMe?:
Also with some companies, the truck is out again before you have had a de-breif with another card in it which kind of confused the system doesn’t it.
No, that’s exactly what manual entries are designed for.