scanny77:
That is precisely what annoys me about the 9 hour rest Rob. Its fine if your bed is 6 inches behind your seat but not for those of us who live a fair distance from work and go home between shifts. My argument is that it is 9 hours REST and not 9 hours between shifts. Commuting is not working time per say but I dont regard it as rest either. 9 hours rest means 9 hours athome in my book
But it is just the same for trampers, unless of course you are the work/sleep only type that frequent lay bys only, which I aint If you are crack on you’re welcome to it.
You park up, unwind for 15 mins. Go for a shower, or wash.
Out for a meal pint, chill a bit, back to cab…approx 2 and half to 3 hrs.
In bunk, you don’t just switch off like a light, so you get about 5 to 5 and half hrs real sleep to re.start a 13/15 hr shift.
That is why I treat the 9hrs as a minimum as it is, …not a maximum/target.
I know guys that genuinely believe that they only have 2 options of rest period, 9 or 11, and they can not go over it, I kid you not.
I know a lot will disagree, but I don’t treat the job like some endurance excercise.
Health and safety my arse.
If I night out then its at the ferry terminal at cairnryan and there is nothing there at night. I get up and get a shower half an hour before I start work which is usually spot on. I used to have a can of lager and wind down time when I nighted out every Sunday but I dont drink now so half an hour of reading then lights out does me. Any tramping I have done was layby parking due to the job requirements. Too much hassle for me but the odd night at cairnryan is quite pleasant so I am quite happy to do that when required
scanny77:
If I night out then its at the ferry terminal at cairnryan and there is nothing there at night. I get up and get a shower half an hour before I start work which is usually spot on. I used to have a can of lager and wind down time when I nighted out every Sunday but I dont drink now so half an hour of reading then lights out does me. Any tramping I have done was layby parking due to the job requirements. Too much hassle for me but the odd night at cairnryan is quite pleasant so I am quite happy to do that when required
is that since the change to the limit ? I would often have a couple of tinnies if overnighting, but since the lower level I don’t touch a drop the night before driving. (even if I am south of the border)
scanny77:
If I night out then its at the ferry terminal at cairnryan and there is nothing there at night. I get up and get a shower half an hour before I start work which is usually spot on. I used to have a can of lager and wind down time when I nighted out every Sunday but I dont drink now so half an hour of reading then lights out does me. Any tramping I have done was layby parking due to the job requirements. Too much hassle for me but the odd night at cairnryan is quite pleasant so I am quite happy to do that when required
is that since the change to the limit ? I would often have a couple of tinnies if overnighting, but since the lower level I don’t touch a drop the night before driving. (even if I am south of the border)
No. I had a 2 can limit 3 1/2 years ago which would have been fine the next day. I stopped doing nights out and didn’t really enjoy drinking at home (even 1 rarely got finished) so I just stopped drinking alcohol after that. I haven’t touched a drop in 2 1/2 years so the lowering of the limits never concerned me. My little pleasure now is a large latte with a flavour shot which I bring to work since BP chose to withdraw them. Now they are charging 30p for them so I buy my own from ASDA and add it myself. It does smell a lot like baileys though
But that was in the days when tory goverments were financed by old money , the labour party funded by unions and the liberal party bankrolled by homosexuals and the KGB .
Now all the parties are fighting for finance from the same source : big business .
Theres no going back to the good old days in that regard
Conor:
Well there is some hope to the end of the 15hr duty period. If we leave the EU then maybe we’ll return to GB Domestic Regulations and be back to a decent 11hrs.
Unless you have seen a different set of Domestic Rules to the ones I know - there isn’t even a required length of rest! All it realistically states is that rest must be adequate!
Of course it does limit the driver to a maximum 11 hours duty and only 10 hours driving but does not specify rest periods at all - and 7 days a week working is also possible.
I’ll agree the EU Rules could potentially be written better but would likely hinder the industry if they were. Domestic rules seem better on the face of it, and may only need a quick bit adding to stipulate rest periods and … oh we’ll end up back at EU Rules again!!
Don’t worry all you work shy guys out there,I’m gonna run for government if I get in I will bring in a special directive for you all to follow,it will be known as the WSTD (work shy time directive),after one hour of driving you will have to take 36hrs rest and every 4 days you will take a minimum of 10 years break from all work.
Vote for me guys!
xichrisxi:
As said I’d rather do 15hrs that sleep in a tiny can all night,having to [zb] in a carrier bag and ■■■■ in a old bottle,you would get better sleeping facilities in prison that you do nighting out in a tin can.
No mate, just because it’s known as ‘tramping’ it does not literally mean that you live and behave like a [zb] tramp
(Well most of us anyway)
You always get the old ‘[zb] ing in a carrier bag’ chestnut from somebody who actually knows [zb] all about tramping, and if they have sampled it and done it that way, they have been doing it wrong, so should not judge others by their own methods.
As for the 15 hr thing, I tend to agree with the o/p.
I only do them when it suits me.
If others want to do them let them crack on, but I think a 13hr working day is enough for anybody in this day and age.
xichrisxi:
Don’t worry all you work shy guys out there,I’m gonna run for government if I get in I will bring in a special directive for you all to follow,it will be known as the WSTD (work shy time directive),after one hour of driving you will have to take 36hrs rest and every 4 days you will take a minimum of 10 years break from all work.
Vote for me guys!
Ok mate, maybe you are joking. But have you not read the last 4 pages
Who tf on here is workshy
You crack on maxing out for a fraction of what you ought to be making, with 6 hours kip every night mate, you will definitely go far with your company boss.
But don’t knock the guys that have also done that and more in the past (t.shirt AND sweatshirt hoodie ) but are clever enough to see the REAL picture, and certainly do not accuse them of being ‘workshy’
xichrisxi:
Don’t worry all you work shy guys out there,I’m gonna run for government if I get in I will bring in a special directive for you all to follow,it will be known as the WSTD (work shy time directive),after one hour of driving you will have to take 36hrs rest and every 4 days you will take a minimum of 10 years break from all work.
Vote for me guys!
Ok mate, maybe you are joking. But have you not read the last 4 pages
Who tf on here is workshy
You crack on maxing out for a fraction of what you ought to be making, with 6 hours kip every night mate, you will definitely go far with your company boss.
But don’t knock the guys that have also done that and more in the past (t.shirt AND sweatshirt hoodie ) but are clever enough to see the REAL picture, and certainly do not accuse them of being ‘workshy’
Unless you consider yourself as one of the workshy moaning that 15hrs is too much then it doesn’t apply to you hence my comment “to all you workshy guys out there”
Oh and I earn plenty thank you very much
xichrisxi:
Don’t worry all you work shy guys out there,I’m gonna run for government if I get in I will bring in a special directive for you all to follow,it will be known as the WSTD (work shy time directive),after one hour of driving you will have to take 36hrs rest and every 4 days you will take a minimum of 10 years break from all work.
Vote for me guys!
Ok mate, maybe you are joking. But have you not read the last 4 pages
Who tf on here is workshy
You crack on maxing out for a fraction of what you ought to be making, with 6 hours kip every night mate, you will definitely go far with your company boss.
But don’t knock the guys that have also done that and more in the past (t.shirt AND sweatshirt hoodie ) but are clever enough to see the REAL picture, and certainly do not accuse them of being ‘workshy’
Unless you consider yourself as one of the workshy moaning that 15hrs is too much then it doesn’t apply to you hence my comment “to all you workshy guys out there”
Oh and I earn plenty thank you very much
That is the whole point mate, I do think that 15 hours is too much, if that makes me a moaner, and worse, workshy in your eyes I couldn’t give a flying one.
I would say it was more a case of seeing the true picture and not swallowing the official line/bs that is fed to me.
If you are interested at all in the least what I mean by that, read my previous posts as I can not be arsed to repeat myself to somebody that does not take into account the opposing point of view of others, but instead chooses to make ridiculous and crass comments. eg ■■■■■■■■ in bags/ workshy drivers etc etc
So here I am reading this thread whilst half way into a juicy 3 hour rest period, trucks being loaded and im totally free to dispose of my time etc. For those keeping count im on my 2nd tommy tank this week. In fact for a change I sat on me todger for 5 minutes till it went numb and it felt like I was giving somebody else one, but I digress.
Anyway a 5 hour drive lays ahead of me to felixstowe and shortly the phone will ring asking what time I want a vbs booking for at the dock. Now the trick here is to calculate your times. So my eta (with a cushion) is approx 5pm, I have till 7.30 tonight so will most likely choose to tip and turn today. But I could say I want a longer rest period and go on in the morning. The choice is mine, sure I may get some pressure if the truck is needed for an early job, but the choice is still mine.
I say truck as even though its mostly for my sole use, the company I work for sees the truck as the most important thing but im the captain for now.
So theres no need to ban 15 hour days because that removes my choice, that ive got quite used to, always nice to start the week off on a 14 - 15 anyway.
Would I work less hours if I was paid more, nope because I like the right balance between work and rest. Lets face it im hardly breaking a sweat.
Sorry to ramble on but there you go a snapshot of my day, must dash as im getting aroused again…
keepthefaith:
fifteen hours working in a pressure cooker enviromment isn’t acceptable in this day and age
Speak for yourself. My job is about as stress free as driving gets. I can spend anything up to 30 hours per week on break and the rest isn’t much more stressful to be honest. I got a phone call last week while driving to ask if I minded taking a different trailer to the one I was scheduled to take. Before that I’ve forgot the last time my cab phone rang.
As a paid by the hour tramper 15 hours suits me fine. 9 hours off is enough when your bed is right behind you. I have to admit though, 15 hours when commuting home is too much and I find it far harder to get out the bed in my bedroom than I do the bunk in the cab.
I don’t think the daily limit needs reducing as much as the weekly limit. I’d like to see the weekly limit reduced. I think 14 hours max per day and 60 hours max per week duty time would be about right.
Even then we’d still be doing 1.5 times more hours than most 9-5 type jobs.
Whoever sanctioned off 6 x 15s as being legal is a complete tool
Dipper_Dave:
For those keeping count im on my 2nd tommy tank this week. In fact for a change I sat on me todger for 5 minutes till it went numb and it felt like I was giving somebody else one, but I digress.
You’re supposed to sit on your arm Dave, that way it feels like somebody else is giving you one
Dipper_Dave:
For those keeping count im on my 2nd tommy tank this week. In fact for a change I sat on me todger for 5 minutes till it went numb and it felt like I was giving somebody else one, but I digress.
You’re supposed to sit on your arm Dave, that way it feels like somebody else is giving you one
Allways get this wrong
I asked the wife once if I could sit on her hand till it went numb as this would count as a 3 some, but I got a slap.
Conor:
Well there is some hope to the end of the 15hr duty period. If we leave the EU then maybe we’ll return to GB Domestic Regulations and be back to a decent 11hrs.
Unless you have seen a different set of Domestic Rules to the ones I know - there isn’t even a required length of rest! All it realistically states is that rest must be adequate!
Of course it does limit the driver to a maximum 11 hours duty and only 10 hours driving but does not specify rest periods at all - and 7 days a week working is also possible.
I doubt many of those here who work through breaks have found the lack of rest period during the shift to be an issue. If I were to take no rests at all I’d still not end up driving constantly and I’d still have around an hour where I was doing nothing but twiddling my thumbs waiting for stuff to happen.
Dipper_Dave:
Anyway a 5 hour drive lays ahead of me to felixstowe and shortly the phone will ring asking what time I want a vbs booking for at the dock. Now the trick here is to calculate your times. So my eta (with a cushion) is approx 5pm, I have till 7.30 tonight so will most likely choose to tip and turn today. But I could say I want a longer rest period and go on in the morning. The choice is mine, sure I may get some pressure if the truck is needed for an early job, but the choice is still mine.
No mate, it isn’t - you’re just under the illusion that it is. You’ve already been conditioned to sub-consciously want to run the most you can as your first choice shows. Not having a go, most of us are the same. Over the years we’ve mostly all got conditioned so that our natural behaviour in the job is to want to do as much as possible and put getting the load there above everything else.
Conor:
Well there is some hope to the end of the 15hr duty period. If we leave the EU then maybe we’ll return to GB Domestic Regulations and be back to a decent 11hrs.
Unless you have seen a different set of Domestic Rules to the ones I know - there isn’t even a required length of rest! All it realistically states is that rest must be adequate!
Of course it does limit the driver to a maximum 11 hours duty and only 10 hours driving but does not specify rest periods at all - and 7 days a week working is also possible.
I’ll agree the EU Rules could potentially be written better but would likely hinder the industry if they were. Domestic rules seem better on the face of it, and may only need a quick bit adding to stipulate rest periods and … oh we’ll end up back at EU Rules again!!
The domestic regs duty limit effectively sets the daily rest period in just the same way that the EU daily rest limit effectively sets the daily duty limit.Which is why people are ( rightly ) moaning about 15 hour shifts under EU regs that wouldn’t apply under domestic ones.
The fact is domestic regs could be fixed a lot easier in that regard than the zb’d up dogs dinner that is the EU hours regs.While there’s no evidence that going back to log books and actually removing the driving time limits ( bearing in mind that domestic limits actually already provide for more driving time across a week/two weeks ).Based on a 12 hours minimum daily rest limit,with no bs EU type ifs or buts,wouldn’t actually increase productivety and every reason to think that it would.While at the same time removing the very real possibility of someone driving a truck who’s only had 5,or 6 hours sleep at best,to cover two long shifts.
) but are clever enough to see the REAL picture, and certainly do not accuse them of being ‘workshy’ 
