I always clip a 20 or 50 euro note on the inside of my vehicle document wallet… 
BuzzardBoy:
TheBear:
I should have added that whenever I had to take a weekly rest abroad, I did always put a card in … even if it was for more than 24 hours. I have had a Gendarme look at one of these said cards and he picked up that the total time the card had been in was 32 hours. He was pleased to see I had had a 32 hour break and never commented on the fact that the card had been in more than 24 hours.
I am sure it all depends on the level of intelligence of the Gendarme that pulls you that determines whether you get fined or not (of course, that is reliant on the driver being legal and not trying to pull a fast one)This is about the size of it… And the co-operation of the driver too goes a long way as well…
I actually typed something similar at the bottom of my last post, but thought I would be shot down in flames. 
So we all know what we should do, sometimes it is just easier to go along with the French, Belgians, Germans whatever, even Vosa have different rules to other countries enforcement agencies.
“When in Rome”
kerbut:
…as from 1 July this year it is law that your truck/car must have reflective waistcoats for vehicleand passengers …
Neville:
Good Day,
We hade a similiar problem with a sub-Contractor a couple of months ago and of course he did not carry large sums of cash which they insisted upon and would not accept various cards. A frind of mine in the business gave me the following companies detials who paid the fine for us and I transferred the money to them.
www.cashadvancedebonnet.comRue de la Patrouille 2
B-7760 Celles-lez-tournai
Belgium.They have agents all over… Helped us out big style.
While this information is very good. I am not sure it works in all circumstances in France.
I was nicked for no seat belt, no excuses, no-ones fault except mine. I was fined 1400 Euro which was eventually reduced to 500 Euro iirc.
Anyway. I work for a French Company, Im in France so I think, no problem, quick call to my planner, let him talk to the gendarme and I will be on my way. Doh!
France do not seem to have any way of transferring money quickly from Bordeaux to Maine-et-Loire. I had to wait 5 hours until one of our trucks was diverted towards me with the cash.
At the same time there was a Jan de Rooy driver who was also captured, his fine was paid by the local DAFAID dealer but the French mechanic had to bring the money to the gendarmerie.
bullitt:
kerbut:
…as from 1 July this year it is law that your truck/car must have reflective waistcoats for vehicleand passengers …
Is that why they put them on the passenger seat backs 
TheBear:
I should have added that whenever I had to take a weekly rest abroad, I did always put a card in … even if it was for more than 24 hours. I have had a Gendarme look at one of these said cards and he picked up that the total time the card had been in was 32 hours. He was pleased to see I had had a 32 hour break and never commented on the fact that the card had been in more than 24 hours.
I am sure it all depends on the level of intelligence of the Gendarme that pulls you that determines whether you get fined or not (of course, that is reliant on the driver being legal and not trying to pull a fast one)
If you leave a card in for multiple rest days then I cant see the problem, yes it overwrites, but what are you supposed to do - keep putting new cards in?
You can bet that if you showed 3 cards for 3 days continuous rest some dipstick would claim that you were actually working by operating the tacho and completing new cards.
You can bet that if you showed 3 cards for 3 days continuous rest some dipstick would claim that you were actually working by operating the tacho and completing new cards.
When we parked at Gate 11 at BASF in Ludwigshafen, the German drivers actually did this, they would come back to the trucks in cars over the weekend and change the cards over. I know this to be true because there were a couple of English blokes living there at the time.
Wheel Nut:
You can bet that if you showed 3 cards for 3 days continuous rest some dipstick would claim that you were actually working by operating the tacho and completing new cards.
When we parked at Gate 11 at BASF in Ludwigshafen, the German drivers actually did this, they would come back to the trucks in cars over the weekend and change the cards over. I know this to be true because there were a couple of English blokes living there at the time.
Now thats dedication to the job for ya!!!
How many of us would do that!!!
kerbut:
Another one people might be caught out on ,as from 1 July this year it is law that your truck/car must have reflective waistcoats for vehicle and passengers and it is now compulsory to carry a triangle in case of accident/breakdown. The Gendarmerie were doing controls yesterday checking if cars had these and were handing out 90 eur fines to those who had not.
They are very quick the French arent they at handing out the fines left right and centre, sneeze when driving on an autoroute u will probably get fined, its another RIP off country, raking it they must be
TheBear:
I am sure it all depends on the level of intelligence of the Gendarme that pulls you that determines whether you get fined or not
yes but that’s what pees me off - them interpreting the rules differently between themselves and coming up with Euro 600 fines - the job’s tight enough these days without those 
as coffee said in an earlier topic,he should have refused to pay and got the grand chef down.
its cant be right.
i have been using my digi card this year,all of feb/mar/april.
i havnt driven hgv since then.
if i go next week,which i will be doing,will i have a similar prob if stopped by the gendarme.
i know it was an card job with harrys company,but the french like many more can and do make the rules up as they go along.
talk about moving the goalposts.
All our Belgian registered trucks are parked at the yard all weekend,but,they are moved around by either the lads who wash them,the mechanics who repair or service them or the yard men who load them.So there are always missing km’s.
I will have to mention to our boss about this,he won’t be impressed about having to hand out attestation letters to everyone every week,though it will be cheaper than a fine.
KW:
All our Belgian registered trucks are parked at the yard all weekend,but,they are moved around by either the lads who wash them,the mechanics who repair or service them or the yard men who load them.So there are always missing km’s.I will have to mention to our boss about this,he won’t be impressed about having to hand out attestation letters to everyone every week,though it will be cheaper than a fine.
I had the ministry man in from Brussels doing our annual check up the other week.I mentioned this to him about missing kms when the truck was moved in the yard at the weekend,for the same thing,washing off etc,he says as long as it is private property,you do not need a card in.But you try explaining that to the Bag or the likes.
Bag fined one of the drivers 15 euros for this.Talk about being petty!.I would have told the Bag guy to go forth and multiply,fair enough if there is 5 or 10 kms adrift,but when you are talking maybe 200 metres,they just have to take something off you for the effort.
What these prats seem to forget is that is EU tacho regulations,and not the German,French or whoevers interpretation of the rules and regs.Believe me i have quoted this on several occasions and walked away from there imaginative offences scott free.
Coffeeholic did a post about what Euro drivers either need to carry to be legal, or what they would want to carry, to keep the various authorities happy.
Link to that thread here → DOCUMENTS & EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR INTERNATIONAL JOURNEY
It also has an attestation document very similar to the one I’m given every weekend I’m not on my wagon.
(every weekend 
)
Hi everybody
We operate a French registerd company & do quite a bit of exhibition work where we run on bank holidays & load over the weekend when they are stripping down stands. We are always inthe “catch 22” syndrome where the drivers park up on Friday in Cannes for example & then set off on Sunday night.
When pulled by the law they don’t have any discs for 48 hours. If they put in a disc for the two days they are not legal because each disc is for 24 hrs & if they go & change a disc they are effectively working to change a disc. They should have “une attestation de repos” from our office but sice we are 1200 kms away we can’t issue one unless it in advance, which, you’ve guessed it is illegal.
It’s a European law that is also applied in the U.K. by the VOSA, who when asked if we can fax one through to them usually appreciate that the law is impractical, give us their fax number & our vehicle is released.
I think we have the only industry that has to work under such controls where everybody is spied upon 24hrs a day 365/366 days per year. Why can’t we all pull together for a change and simply park up for a week to get our lives equal with everybody elses?
A driver I was chatting to a few weeks ago told me a rather disturbing story.
Apparently his boss got a tug in France, for a “routine check”.
Everything was in order, except for one minor transgression, which attracted a €1,000 fine. Yes, a mere One Thousand Euro fine.
His transgression?
He only took a 46 minute break, not a 1 hour break.
Simon:
A driver I was chatting to a few weeks ago told me a rather disturbing story.Apparently his boss got a tug in France, for a “routine check”.
Everything was in order, except for one minor transgression, which attracted a €1,000 fine. Yes, a mere One Thousand Euro fine.His transgression?
He only took a 46 minute break, not a 1 hour break.
More fool him for paying a 1000 euro fine, there is knowhere in any regulations I have seen that stipulates a 1 hour break
Wheel Nut:
More fool him for paying a 1000 euro fine, there is knowhere in any regulations I have seen that stipulates a 1 hour break
That was my reaction too.
I can’t see how a fine can be imposed for an alledged offence that may have been commited in another country.
If you think you’re in the right ask to see the chef.
If you have no joy tell them you will go to see the judge in the morning.
You will know they are trying it on when they back down.
The french system stinks of corruption, They go home when they’ve filled their quota.
If you know you’re in the wrong just pay the robbing gits.
Simon:
A driver I was chatting to a few weeks ago told me a rather disturbing story.Apparently his boss got a tug in France, for a “routine check”.
Everything was in order, except for one minor transgression, which attracted a €1,000 fine. Yes, a mere One Thousand Euro fine.His transgression?
He only took a 46 minute break, not a 1 hour break.
A golden rule of mine in France is always take at least 1 hour’s break in the middle of the day. Saves this kind of hassle.
Spot of scran, pull the curtains, bit of shut eye and job’s a good 'un
You can then barrel along the National on the limiter with impunity as long as you have the magic 1 hour break showing on your disc.
'Twas ever thus in France 