basically, i start at 5.00am, i spend an hour driving to work in the car (4.00am - 5.00am), left depot at 5.00am, returned at 9.00am and get told “trailer won’t be in for an hour, have your break”. i reply, “i’m not needing a break yet but since you’ve told me the trailer will be 1hr, in advance, i’ll stick it on POA and have my break at 12.00”
TM starts to go into one at me when i interrupt him stating that i’m outta bed at 3.30am to get to work for 5.00am and that i’m tired around midday and get told “if you can’t handle the job, pack it in”. breaks are up to me and when i’m tired, i stop, simple as, road safety’s paramount! can they discipline / sack me for refusing to take a break at their request? thanks
I would have taken the break as requested every time, as I’m sure most drivers would. There was another thread on here recently about “can a planner schedule a break when they like” and in my view as long as the planned day fits in with driver’s hours and WTD rules then a driver has no justification for refusing to do the day as requested. If driving within the legal hours regularly leaves you too tired to be safe on the roads then you should perhaps try and find a job with shorter runs or nearer to home so you can get more sleep on a night.
bbez:
basically, i start at 5.00am, i spend an hour driving to work in the car (4.00am - 5.00am), left depot at 5.00am, returned at 9.00am and get told “trailer won’t be in for an hour, have your break”. i reply, “i’m not needing a break yet but since you’ve told me the trailer will be 1hr, in advance, i’ll stick it on POA and have my break at 12.00”
So basically you wanted an hours rest on POA whilst waiting for a trailer then two hours later your break, if you was the TM would you think that was reasonable ?
That’s fair enough guys, i usually come and go but the last few weeks, when delayed in getting load or tipped i’ve to phone in every 15 min, i don’t get head down apart from rest periods
Happened to me loads of times … thanks guv I will have a break now … that dont mean that if I fancy a break later I will not have one… especially if there are no facilities where the first break is taken
box clever tell him what he wants hear then,get in a layby head down,when it suits you,turn the phone off!!then foot to the floor,get it done,everybody happy…
your TM can tell you to take a break, I have been there and done that all I say is well I mite need another one later on as it a bit early there soon come round, also it call a management’s reasonable request.
bbez:
basically, i start at 5.00am, i spend an hour driving to work in the car (4.00am - 5.00am), left depot at 5.00am, returned at 9.00am and get told “trailer won’t be in for an hour, have your break”. i reply, “i’m not needing a break yet but since you’ve told me the trailer will be 1hr, in advance, i’ll stick it on POA and have my break at 12.00”
TM starts to go into one at me when i interrupt him stating that i’m outta bed at 3.30am to get to work for 5.00am and that i’m tired around midday and get told “if you can’t handle the job, pack it in”. breaks are up to me and when i’m tired, i stop, simple as, road safety’s paramount! can they discipline / sack me for refusing to take a break at their request? thanks
Any manager or boss doesn’t care where you live or what time you get up, that is their prerogative if you choose to work so far away from the place of employment, it isn’t their fault.
You are paid from your starting time, not what time you make your flask.
OH dear im so glad im out of all this stuff.Mobile phones and trackers,the death of a good life.Take the break as tm asks,then take YOUR break when it suits you.What the plonker doesn’t know wont hurt him.There’s lots of ways to make a tm look stupid,without him even knowing.
diggermart:
OH dear im so glad im out of all this stuff.Mobile phones and trackers,the death of a good life.Take the break as tm asks,then take YOUR break when it suits you.What the plonker doesn’t know wont hurt him.There’s lots of ways to make a tm look stupid,without him even knowing.
bbez:
'…basically, i start at 5.00am … left depot at 5.00am.
Can they discipline/sack me for refusing to take a break at their request…?
If, as you state, that really is the case then if I was an office cheese I’d be asking you about when you did your daily checks - since doing ‘work’ during rest, ie before ‘work’ start-time seems to suggest that you’re arguably initiating the abuse of terms.
I’d do my best to ‘stay-grey’ and simply smile, etc
