5 minutes other work ok my card in the morning. More than enough time to get up, get dressed, walk round, check the lights with the fancy Scania remote and wash one of the trailer tyres 
Wake up, use your big toe to push the card in and set it to work, snooze 10 minutes, repeat toe motion for another 15 minutes snooze and then get up and check that your wheels are there and the lights go on.
SwedishSteel:
Wake up, use your big toe to push the card in and set it to work, snooze 10 minutes, repeat toe motion for another 15 minutes snooze and then get up and check that your wheels are there and the lights go on.
Youāre ripping the hole out of the job!
tuckman:
I always take between 15 and 30 minutes check trailor truck over and that includes tyre pressures on every tyre with a pressure gauge.Please dont tell me many still do the ātyrekickingā as a ways and means of determining tyre pressure. VOSA will jump all over you if your tyre or tyres are 10psi or more under inflated.
come on
if your gonna start checking tyre pressures of every tyre
on top of all the other checks
you will need at least 45 mins
Does anyone know exactly if the legal requirement is that the checks must be done BEFORE you start the driving day or before you leave the yard?
I had an empty wagon and drag. Got loaded and then did 15 min check before leaving the yard but AFTER loading. I thought this way I could check my load and the vehicle before hitting the highway.I have been told this is illegal.Does anyone know the law as it is written?
daesal:
Does anyone know exactly if the legal requirement is that the checks must be done BEFORE you start the driving day or before you leave the yard?
I had an empty wagon and drag. Got loaded and then did 15 min check before leaving the yard but AFTER loading. I thought this way I could check my load and the vehicle before hitting the highway.I have been told this is illegal.Does anyone know the law as it is written?
I would think mate, although I profess to be far from an expert on these matters, that it it would be yet anotherā¦
Real world stuff v Bureaucracy world of theory
The latter usually prevails in this job these days 
, so I would reckon ātheyā would say checks first, although like you I would also have loaded first if deemed necessary, and if your tacho is on Crosshammers while loading ā¦how are they to know (if you are checked) that you did not spend the first 15 to 20 mins doing daily checks.
Nowā¦Bring on and cue the wrath of the Tachograph regs/dcpc Nazis firing crap down around my lugs now, after choking on their coffee after reading my post. 
2 points for thread revival btw 
āI have been told this is illegalā by another driver who listened to another driver on a wind up and completely swallowed it.
Recording 15 minutes work on the tachograph isnāt a legal requirement, it is a company policy (that many companies now require).
The reason for it is so that if you were to get stopped by the authorities and a defect was found, you could demonstrate that you checked the vehicle was roadworthy before you drove (although it doesnāt prove you actually did do it or didnāt just ignore a defect). But without any proof of doing a daily check they would be less likely to believe you that the defect wasnāt present when you started the journey.
Whether your employer says anything about the way you recorded it (after moving the vehicle to be loaded) will just depend on what whoever analyses the tacho records decides or what rules they go on.
Problem with loading first is if then you find a flat tyre or other problem, checks first and you have the option of using another vehicle/trailer or if still using that vehicle repairs can be underway or at least the geezer on his way whilst getting loaded.
Does anyone go round the wheelnuts with a torque wrench when they check every single tyre pressure with a gauge every day 
, seems neglectful and unthinking of the children/nuns/baskets of kittens not to do so, DVSA will be on you with fine$ galore if they find one set at 475 when it should have been 500ā¦
Incidentally iāll bet those who drive the same lorry regularly can spot a pressure (or load distribution) issue before they even reach their loaded lorry and start kicking/pushing the tyres.
Anyone else (assuming they have a weighbridge at the depot, or easy access to one) put the trailer wheels on the bridge to check load distribution?, its something i do when certain circs combine and i know weight distribution, not GVW, might be an issue, seldom have i see anyone else do this.
daesal:
Does anyone know exactly if the legal requirement is that the checks must be done BEFORE you start the driving day or before you leave the yard?
I had an empty wagon and drag. Got loaded and then did 15 min check before leaving the yard but AFTER loading. I thought this way I could check my load and the vehicle before hitting the highway.I have been told this is illegal.Does anyone know the law as it is written?
The DVSA guide āthe Guide To Maintaining Roadworthinessā 2014 tells us a āresponsible personā must walk around check the vehicle preferably immediately before it is used and at least once in. Each 24 hour period. Thatās the requirement. Of course any time spent checking the vehicle must be recorded.
So what you did is fine. Others may have checked it before loading as a just in case measure - but either way is fine.
You have all got it wrong, daily checks, lunch box accessible for that sandwich on the move, cup off flask and suitably secure to pour tea on the move, and then you shouldnt need a check sheet starting from the drivers door walk round the truck anti clockwise and you should cover everything. When i was in the services we used a acronym which has completely slipped my mind but basically covered everything had something like engine, rubbers (tyres), electrics , we didnt need a check sheet to tell us what to do.
robroy:
daesal:
Does anyone know exactly if the legal requirement is that the checks must be done BEFORE you start the driving day or before you leave the yard?
I had an empty wagon and drag. Got loaded and then did 15 min check before leaving the yard but AFTER loading. I thought this way I could check my load and the vehicle before hitting the highway.I have been told this is illegal.Does anyone know the law as it is written?I would think mate, although I profess to be far from an expert on these matters, that it it would be yet anotherā¦
Real world stuff v Bureaucracy world of theoryThe latter usually prevails in this job these days
Nowā¦Bring on and cue the wrath of the Tachograph regs/dcpc Nazis firing crap down around my lugs now, after choking on their coffee after reading my post.
2 points for thread revival btw
I heard in an RDC, the legal requirement is so extensive that some agency wallers are tasked with turning up to firms for the sole purpose of carrying out the checks before others use the vehicles. They go from firm to firm with a clipboard. They never drive. Itās all true.
limeyphil:
Not a word of it is true.
A daily check should be conducted once in each 24 hour period. This can be before you start, during, or after, or mixture of all three.
There is no specific time that should be spent doing it.
This.
I mostly check my unit at the start of my shift which usually takes me about 7-8 mins or so. If I end a shift connected to a trailer which I know Iāll be using the day after Iāll do my daily check on the unit at the same time I connect to the trailer. Then at the start of my next shift Iāll just do a quick lights and tyres check.
The rules clearly word it as one check in each 24 hour period.
15 minutes is just RDC waffle.
Own Account Driver:
Iām struggling to think of an occasion when a driver has brought a vehicle into the workshop after their checks with a defect that would have represented an immediate danger to road safety. Ok, stuff like a faulty screenwash does really need to be done before going out on the road but also itās not going to result in immediate carnage as soon as they leave the yard. At the end of the day thereās only so much that can be checked from an exterior walk round of the vehicle and spending 15 mins is bonkers some VOSA test stations will do an MOT in less than that.
Hardly any fault identified by a driver doing daily checks will result in āimmediate carnageā - even a totally unbolted front wheel isnāt so bad in the scheme of driving accidents, if it just flops off at the first turn out of the gatehouse leaving you lurched on the concrete. But a badly bolted wheel which comes off 50 miles later at motorway speed is another question.
A non-functional screenwash is OK for the first few miles, but can quickly become a serious hazard under certain dry weather conditions (typically icy conditions with salted roads, or dusty summer days) and over a sufficient distance. Iāve driven cars on more than one occasion over the years (whose fluid levels admittedly I donāt check daily) that have run out of water during the journey in such conditions, to the point that I couldnāt really see any more - I once had to throw orange juice over the screen to eke out a few more miles to get water. I have long managed that risk in my own car by carrying spare water in lieu of checking the carās wash bottle.
For a HGV operator, the standard response to a report of such a defect at the start of the shift should be an immediate fix - the alternative is no better than arguing that a bald tyre will do for dry weather (which is true by the laws of physics, but itās never a sign of responsible operation that someone other than the driver is making judgments about roadworthiness based on looking out the window at the clouds).
IIRC, the legal basis for daily checks, is that operatorsā licence conditions typically say that processes should be in place to ensure that daily checks are undertaken on vehicles, and that records are kept to show the same. Other than this, daily checks are not enforceable (though actual defects are punishable).
The checks donāt have to take any particular form (other than the basic roadworthiness which someone can be expected to detect and check daily without tools or mechanical skills). Serious defects (other than the truly unforeseeable failure of a well-maintained vehicle) should not arise suddenly - the driver does not need to check the torque of the wheel bolts with a wrench, or stress test the structure on a daily basis.
The driver does not necessarily have to be the one undertaking all of the checks required to keep a vehicle roadworthy as a whole - in fact strictly I donāt see that he has to undertake any daily checks (as long as the operator arranges for them to be done daily by somebody).
The driver is not responsible for the roadworthiness of the vehicle in every respect (although he may have strict liability at the roadside, and would be expected to have basic common sense and reasonable skill). If the firm delegates any checks to the driver (rather than say a mechanic), they are ultimately responsible for specifying those checks, scheduling them, and training the driver to do them. The checks I generally do take no more than 10 minutes - and if the vehicle is familiar, maybe only 5 minutes. Twenty minutes would cover the period from getting into the yard and starting the shift, and setting off - 20 minutes for daily checks alone is surely too much in general.
The records kept and processes in place also donāt have to take any particular form. Realistically, a list of basic roadworthiness items to check, and a tick box in a register kept by the driver (and handed in periodically) might be sufficient.
Many firms choose to engage in a lot more ceremony, such as drivers handing in carbon copy sheets at the start of the shift, which does not logically prove that the checks were carried out or that no defect existed when leaving the yard, nor that the driver was trained to spot any but an obvious defect, but allows the firm to show that the driver is reminded every day that he needs to do at least some checking. Firms with transient workforces tend to have this ceremony, whereas a smaller firm or depot with evidence of a stable workforce, occasional training, and proper supervision, could rely just on the method of the driver keeping his own register in the vehicle.
Whatever your process and records, youāll get away with almost anything so long as what you are doing is actually effective in preventing and catching mechanical defects.
I think I know where the 15 minutes comes from. Thereās a DVSA video (probably still available on YouTube) where someone is wandering around a wagon explaining to someone else about what heās doingā¦ānow Iāll check this isnāt loose, check the tyre for bulges etcā.
If you watch it, it takes him about 15 minutes to make his way around the whole vehicle, so now I guess itās become to mean āDaily checks will take fifteen minutesā.
We are asked to do a 15 min check by the company.
So for me itās usually
Tacho in , 15 mins work. Doesnāt take 15 mins to do all checks so it gives me 5 mins or so to figure out what way Iām doing my run.
Drive to get loaded or if Iām loaded Friday cracking on.
sinclair89:
We are asked to do a 15 min check by the company.So for me itās usually
Tacho in , 15 mins work. Doesnāt take 15 mins to do all checks so it gives me 5 mins or so to figure out what way Iām doing my run.
Drive to get loaded or if Iām loaded Friday cracking on.
I book 15 to 20. Just enough time for a tea me, after checking all the main stuff.
Regardless or it being a legal requirement or not. surely a written record of your walk around check is good practice anyway isnt it?
san miguel:
Regardless or it being a legal requirement or not. surely a written record of your walk around check is good practice anyway isnt it?
We get a sheet to fill in every morning.
It is in blocks of 10 with about 10 item squares in each block.
Me being me, I put the bottom of the tick in the bottom block square drawing it right up to the top square on the block, so instead of 1000 ticks I was doing about 5 big ones ā¦just for the wind up tbh 
I was told I MUST tick every individual box or I would suffer untold pain, pestilence, and eventual death
I was not asked if I WAS actually checking every item, they were more concerned with keeping up appearances of so.
I thought the legal requirement was 5 mins?
I fill a defect sheet in but Iāve never recorded a defect as being an owner driver, any issues minor or major are sorted before I leave the yard the day before (sometimes resulting in an evening/night in the garage)
Therefore I only record 5 mins to check that nothing has been tampered with or bulbs out etc,
Iāve never been collared about it on any of my frequent trips into a vosa check point (I run a 1994 merc 1317 & they never see me without pulling me!)