Obviously it’d be an entirely different matter if I wasn’t paid my breaks.
mrginge:
I’m on a weighbridge right now trying to get 30mins in ha.
Only got a 15 so after the delivery I had to use my last driving minutes to go down the road to the msa. Like mentioned above, my company pays for all the hours you are at work so doesn’t really matter how many hours total I have on break.
Strictly speaking you must know in advance about any POA. So if your on a bay unloading I assume you don,t know how long you will be unloading you can’t put it on POA Bag it on break then if your reading watching ■■■■ or even making yourself very happy.
Would think it is very rare folks know about a POA in advance, so strictly speaking suspect most of them would be an infringement. Right am off back in to the real world.
What is a Period of Availability?
Under the regulations, a POA should satisfy the following criteria:
A mobile worker should not be required to stay at his/her workstation
He/she must be available to answer calls, resume work or start driving upon request
The period of availability (and its duration) must be known to the mobile worker in advance, either before his/her departure or prior to the start of the period
I never use POA if im waiting to tip or being tipped with no involvement from me its break what the difference between sitting in a lay by drinking coffee or sitting on a bay or the like weather im in that lay by or on the bay im still in overall control of the truck so it makes no odds at all how can you sit there for lets say 3 hours then pull out and take a 45 come on chaps thats taking the pish pure and simple your truck needs to earn otherwise you wont have a job because the company will go under you have to be a sencable about these things and realistic stay within the law but be reasonable about it , put the boot on the other foot if it was your truck and a driver was doing bugger all for 3 hours then stoped for a 45 i think you might object in fact i no you would !
bjd:
I never use POA if im waiting to tip or being tipped with no involvement from me its break what the difference between sitting in a lay by drinking coffee or sitting on a bay or the like weather im in that lay by or on the bay im still in overall control of the truck so it makes no odds at all how can you sit there for lets say 3 hours then pull out and take a 45 come on chaps thats taking the pish pure and simple your truck needs to earn otherwise you wont have a job because the company will go under you have to be a sencable about these things and realistic stay within the law but be reasonable about it , put the boot on the other foot if it was your truck and a driver was doing bugger all for 3 hours then stoped for a 45 i think you might object in fact i no you would !
This is why it seems odd to me that my TM says I have to use POA on bays etc, he reckons that you know the length of the wait as it’s fair to assume it’ll be the same as the last time you were there. He reckons you can’t use break in these situations as the fact that it can be interrupted means it doesn’t qualify as break. I think he’s wrong but I’m paid for my time regardless of what my card is doing and I’m happy to be at work for longer in exchange for more money!
Maritime say don’t use poa, only use break which suits me. Wincanton on the other hand told us to use poa where necessary. So even the large firms don’t really know how to interpret the poa vs break rules.
Just before Christmas I managed to get a reduced daily rest in at next in south elmsall, 9.5 hours on the bay with a container!!! I didn’t need to leave it on break all that time but hay ho, why not if you still get payed for breaks!
Thing is, if you drove an hour to a delivery point then spent more than 5 hours on the bay but weren’t allowed to use break you’d end up with a working time infringement. Then again I suppose you could use poa to ‘stop the clock’. ARGHHHHH!!! It’s a minefield [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]
Resetting the clock, as far as I’m concerned is much easier than stopping it. I’d get through miles of tacho rolls going through everything to try and stay legal. But instead I just write down the time I finished my last break at, and my ■■■■■■■■■■ driving time for the day so far.
nomiS36:
Maritime say don’t use poa, only use break which suits me. Wincanton on the other hand told us to use poa where necessary. So even the large firms don’t really know how to interpret the poa vs break rules.
Just before Christmas I managed to get a reduced daily rest in at next in south elmsall, 9.5 hours on the bay with a container!!! I didn’t need to leave it on break all that time but hay ho, why not if you still get payed for breaks!
Thing is, if you drove an hour to a delivery point then spent more than 5 hours on the bay but weren’t allowed to use break you’d end up with a working time infringement. Then again I suppose you could use poa to ‘stop the clock’. ARGHHHHH!!! It’s a minefield [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]
POA was meant to be being on standby. But in typical road regs fashion isn’t well explained. An example would be you get told the day before to come into work at 8 and wait an hour to cover any last minute sickness that occurs over a busy wave of load departures in the morning. Or get told that on return to yard no load until 1pm, but they want you to be available for an hour before going for lunch should any thing come up so to go and wait with phone and coffee in driver’s room. It became used and abused when for the WTD it was given zero credit for duty so seen as an attractive dodge.
It exists in aviation as standby. It’s almost identical to POA. You have to know about it in advance and it’s a set period. You can’t be at a work station but you are available on call so does not qualify as being restful so does not count as rest period or a break.
Good example Dog.
Plane and simple. Where’s my coat?
Conor:
bestbooties:
If I ain’t working, (Tipping/loading), or driving, it’s straight on break. This POA stunt is a load of [zb], while it may be useful for some, it can be a pain in the arse!Its not a pain in the arse, its simple. If you can’t understand it you shouldn’t be doing the job.
…
Conor mate, I don’t want to start another rift between us after we kissed and made up a few weeks ago (metaphorically speaking of course 
) but I reckon you are in a minority in your support of wtd.
I can’t be arsed to repeat it, but if you can be arsed to look back on page 4 ish on the ‘Tacho, drivers hours, wtd agency test’ thread I laid out my personal opinion and reasons for not recognising it.
I do adhere to it in a non conscious way by my booking of breaks on multi drops etc which works it’s self out if you get my meaning, but as for poa …never use it, book it or recognise it.
I know bestbooties can speak for himself, but he said it was ‘a pain in the arse’ he didn’t say that he did not understand it. 
As for thread, I do not get paid through a break, but I will book a break on the bay if I am doing nothing, but I still get paid for it. I will go on to book a ‘proper’ break not paid, when I want to.
My boss knows how I work it so no problem as it more often than not works in his benefit when trying to get late drops off etc.