Saw an ad for an app in truck news on how to check your hours for £5 thought to myself who buys this kind of rubbish then got to the letters page and there was someone writing in asking where he could get the app. Fair play to the guy who invented the app £5 a time for playing on drivers fears over tachos, but answer me this what is so hard about put the card in drive for 9 hours a day take an 11 hour break you may drive for 10 hours twice a week if you wish or reduce your break 3 times a week again if you wish take a 24 or 45 hour break at the weekend. Unless you are in a specialised sector or using boats reguarly that is all you need to do to keep the card straight surely this does not require you to spend £5 on an app which you then have to fiddle about with filling it in each time you do something. If you want an idiots guide to driver hours vosa will give you one for free (and an idiots guide)
Mazzer, all is not so prescribed in the real world ! I myself use ‘truckerTimer’ and it does help, keeps you on top of WTD and driver hours tells you how much rest is needed daily and weekly. Why get your calculations wrong when this can keep you on the right side of the law for £2.99. It gets my vote…
Tangray:
Mazzer, all is not so prescribed in the real world ! I myself use ‘truckerTimer’ and it does help, keeps you on top of WTD and driver hours tells you how much rest is needed daily and weekly. Why get your calculations wrong when this can keep you on the right side of the law for £2.99. It gets my vote…
Agreed about the real world but as someone who has spent more than his fair share of time in checkpoints 4 pulls in the last year and all ok i just think that people are exploiting drivers fears over tachos agree there are some grey areas but these do not apply to the majority of drivers who do not leave the Britain and tied in with the thread about appearance this and a good attitude will help you far more when pulled than an app
mazzer:
Tangray:
Mazzer, all is not so prescribed in the real world ! I myself use ‘truckerTimer’ and it does help, keeps you on top of WTD and driver hours tells you how much rest is needed daily and weekly. Why get your calculations wrong when this can keep you on the right side of the law for £2.99. It gets my vote…Agreed about the real world but as someone who has spent more than his fair share of time in checkpoints 4 pulls in the last year and all ok i just think that people are exploiting drivers fears over tachos agree there are some grey areas but these do not apply to the majority of drivers who do not leave the Britain and tied in with the thread about appearance this and a good attitude will help you far more when pulled than an app
You drive a skip wagon?
I’ve not been pulled by VOSA since I was driving coaches and only by the plod once in a truck - for a scratched long vehicle plate on the rear of the trailer 
Norfolk Police
In the real world things aren’t so idiot proof, keeping on the right side of the drivers hours can be as challenging as navigating London for the first time, whilst I have trucktimer on my phone I never use it as I’m confident enough to use pen & paper and happy enough to scroll through the tacho when necessary. Things start to get complicated when you use POA (I use it and I don’t want an argument) which can inconveniently reset your driving time, or what about finishing 13 hour shift at 6pm and starting at 4:30am the following morning 
. Whatever method people use to stay on the right side of the law, surely that is better than the guess and hope method. As for the cost, unjustified infringements cost me £10 of my bonus, and could have further reaching consequences so it would be money well spent IMO, as was the HourGuard I bought off Davey at ~£60 iirc when I was a noob on agency and mainly on analogue tacho.
With regards to apps, one I would recommend is Road Pal. Locates where you are via GPS and tells you where the nearest motorway is. It then tells you how far each junction and services are and what you will find at them. Very handy for trying to work out if you can make a certain services for a break.
Good for newer drivers who don’t know every inch of every motorway. And it’s free.
Is the Stobart one still on the go.
There was a thread on here whuich seemed to have died
Me and the boys wanted to track a few and ro…errr spot them guv honest:-)
waynedl:
mazzer:
Tangray:
Mazzer, all is not so prescribed in the real world ! I myself use ‘truckerTimer’ and it does help, keeps you on top of WTD and driver hours tells you how much rest is needed daily and weekly. Why get your calculations wrong when this can keep you on the right side of the law for £2.99. It gets my vote…Agreed about the real world but as someone who has spent more than his fair share of time in checkpoints 4 pulls in the last year and all ok i just think that people are exploiting drivers fears over tachos agree there are some grey areas but these do not apply to the majority of drivers who do not leave the Britain and tied in with the thread about appearance this and a good attitude will help you far more when pulled than an app
You drive a skip wagon?
I’ve not been pulled by VOSA since I was driving coaches and only by the plod once in a truck - for a scratched long vehicle plate on the rear of the trailer
lol no drive an irish lorry through europe despite being on a green light with vosa we still get our fair share of tugs 
You dont need a app especially if you have a digi tacho head, all you need is a diary if your hours are complicated.
Thats why that hour guard died on its arse no need for it.
merc0447:
You dont need a app especially if you have a digi tacho head, all you need is a diary if your hours are complicated.Thats why that hour guard died on its arse no need for it.
+1 exactly my point people are just exploiting drivers fears and making money from them
nothing better than using the brain that we all have been given and a pen and paper at hand for working out your duty equations
mastesallan:
nothing better than using the brain that we all have been given and a pen and paper at hand for working out your duty equations
In my diary when I was tramping, I’d put my start time and my end time. I’d then put either a # or a * if I’d gone over 9hrs driving or reduced my daily rest, easy to spot and easy to keep on top of.
The digi used to take care of everything else, although, like others, I’ve had a couple of infringements where the driving time has been reset by either 315 min breaks or some POA recorded.
My current digi doesn’t reset under these conditions (well, not under the 315’s or a 30+ a 15 etc - not tried the POA, no time)
working driving and none driving jobs for different employers I have slightly different hours issues to keep track of but as has been said, I find the old grey matter is the only tool I need to do the job, even as a comparative newbie to drivers hours.
That said, I still need to record all of this both for VOSA should they ask and to let both employers know what my EWTD averages are over a 17 week rolling period. This is where I fall back on technology, I created and popular an excel spreadsheet with all the information and running totals and store it on Dropbox. That way I can access it from the iPad, my phone and my works computer. In reality it is no different to working it out in a diary and carrying I with you.
Bought the truck timer app the other day and used it for two days now.
Works well and easy to use with warning settings etc.
Well worth the few pound if you like help tracking your hours. I have one of those new hour guard things and never used it but would find this app worth the price.
Good if you were doing long distance work or a new drive.
I use trucker timer too. Outstanding little app, makes keeping WTD and other breaks easy to keep an eye on. I’m still in the world of paper and as far as I can see for a few quid if it helps keep the wheel tappers off my case it’s worth it.
I too use the trucker timer app,well worth the money for keeping within the laws if you can’t co arsed to use your brain,like moi.
any other good helpful apps out for drivers ■■?
I found a great app it’s called easy books,produces balance sheets,profit and loss etc,very handy.i think a a truck timer app with voice commands in it would be great eg.
You download the app ,lets say truck timer with voice command and gps,then you can record commands with your own voice or whatever ,and when you stop the app shouts at ya DON’T FORGET YOUR MODE SWITCH DRIVER…
I use an incredible app on my phone. Everyone I know is allocated an unique number, I can then enter this number via the keypad and talk to them !
triple-tango:
I use an incredible app on my phone. Everyone I know is allocated an unique number, I can then enter this number via the keypad and talk to them !
I’d like one of those, where can I find one and how much do they cost pls?