Hi all,
Had a look for an answer to this but no luck;
The drivers hours are self explanatory, 9.5hrs/day max driving.
This is there for safety reasons etc tiredness etc etc.
So what happens if you have to commute (before clocking in) to work for say 1.5 hrs each way?
I am guessing this is not included in the hours figures/regulations?
If not, you could in fact be driving for 12.5 hrs/day in total.
Not that I need to do that commute, just putting it out there for information purposes.
Thx.
You can only drive for 9 hours a day…Not 9.5…But this can be extended to 10 hrs twice a week…You are correct in saying that your commute to work does not count towards your daily driving limit…
It’s 9hrs a day driving which can be extended to 10 twice a week but no commuting doesn’t count
Hi all,
Thx guys, yes my typo… 9Hrs Max sorry.
Not a problem, was just thinking about the driving hours to tiredness debate then thought what about if you have a long commute?
I guess, hopefully it then comes down to common sense and being aware if you are to tired.
Though it is a bit of a grey area, limited to 9hrs, but for example a 3 or 4 hour commute does not come into the ‘safety’ calculation.
Not stirring up a mess here, just getting my head around stuff.
Thx.
Yes it does sound a bit silly that your commute time doesn’t count, but it doesn’t!
(I presently travel about 40 mins to work and obviously the same back…)
Additional to the topic/question, there is one little detail that can come into play…
Say you drive for 10 hours and run out of drive time. At this point you either need to pull up for the night, or get the office to come and get you. They may turn up in car, jump in the truck to take it back to base, and tell you to drive the car back. Now this is perfectly legal, as it’s a non Tacho vehicle, but only if you have enough shift/duty time left (i.e. under 15 hours, or 13 hours if you can’t use a reduced rest). So if you’ve been on duty for 14.5 hours, and you are an hour away from base, you’re not going to get back legal, as you will run 30 mins over.
At this point, the only way to stay legal and to get home is to be chauffeured, and supposedly straight to your home without returning to base. But I think it’s more than likely you’ll get taken back to base, and you’ll end up driving home! 
Confusing for Newbie’s isn’t it! 
It can be worse: a very common practice in the coach travel business is that on a route from Amsterdam to Spain the relief driver takes over the bus somewhere in France were he just arrived after driving 10 hours from Amsterdam in his private (company) car. So he will be driving for 19 or 20 hours straight, but nobody will see that on the tacho…Same for the vice versa route with the other driver relieving him after his shift and then the first driver after just doing a 9 hour shift from Amsterdam to France with the bus, drives back home to Amsterdam in his private car another 9 or 10 hours. 
Nice isn’t it?
fritsprive:
Nice isn’t it?
But very much illegal.
The placement journey is working time so must be recorded manually on the tachograph. Working for 19 hours would not be taking a sufficient daily rest.
I’m sure there have been coach companies taken to court over hours relating to placement journeys.
Glen A9:
I’m sure there have been coach companies taken to court over hours relating to placement journeys.
I bloody hope so!!!
commuting Does not count !
hours of service only count when your being paid or for reward not in your own personal vehicle/time same rule applies over in Canada and America. In north America we can actually driver Personal conveyance miles up to 150 a day as long as we have an empty trailer or drop your loaded trailer quite cool really
Dvsa are aware of fatigue on commuting to and from work, I did read somewhere, that there are plans to change the rules on daily rest periods.
Trampers that are in their cabs all week, have no commute.
A 9 hour daily rest is not enough time, if you commute an hour or more from base, there is no family or social time, it’s a meal, wash then bed, for about 4 hours sleep then the next day a 15 hour shift or a 10 hour drive.
Years ago it was common practice for a long distance overnight coach trips, for a co driver to swap seats with another driver while the coach was in motion.
The trick was to check if the passengers were asleep, my Dad it happen in Germany.
It is up to each individual driver to factor in any commuting time into their daily routine so that they do not get too tired to drive
The same goes for the amount of sleep needed - everyone is different
I need a solid 8 hours sleep but others only need as little as 5 hours to reach the same level of alertness
RichUK:
Hi all,Thx guys, yes my typo… 9Hrs Max sorry.
Not a problem, was just thinking about the driving hours to tiredness debate then thought what about if you have a long commute?
I guess, hopefully it then comes down to common sense and being aware if you are to tired.
Though it is a bit of a grey area, limited to 9hrs, but for example a 3 or 4 hour commute does not come into the ‘safety’ calculation.
Not stirring up a mess here, just getting my head around stuff.
Thx.
It’s not really a grey area is it? If you apply for a job that you know will require a 3 or 4 hour commute every day then you’re a ■■■■■■■ idiot.
Guy I used to work with drove from Dronfield (nr Sheffield/top of Chesterfield ) to Stoke everyday then back again at night,some days he would be out the house for 18 hrs a day,1h30 drive into work Anything from a 9-14hr day at work then 2hr drive home!!
He did it for 9 years altogether before he retired,lord knows how he managed it!!
No way I could cope with that and I’m “young”,he did it because we worked for the company when they had a depo in Dronfield which they shut down and he transferred to the nearest depo which was Stoke on Trent.