I’m back within a fortnight for yet more advice… Thanks again to all the people who replied to my last thread regarding the finer points of the WTD.
Basically, I’ve been given a 16 plate truck with a VDO tacho. The last truck I had been driving was a 14 plate with a Stoneridge.
My problem is as follows:
I did a night out on Monday and pulled my card at the end of my shift as I always do. In the morning I chucked my card in and when asked if I wanted to make a manual entry I chose no. On the Stoneridge it would give you the option of ‘rest until now?’ This is lacking with the VDO. I now have a ? pictogram on the display which I assume is for the period that my card was not in the tacho head (overnight) as I hadn’t specified a rest.
Is there any way I can make an entry to get rid of the ? as it is still there from Tuesday morning?
It is still recording my driving time/breaks/rest correctly as far as I know but is bugging me seeing it there and that I may get an infringement for a silly oversight (and being half sleep at an ungodly hour when the card went in)
You will be flogged for this! The most heinous of crimes!
No seriously!
In actual fact, there is no way to change what has been recorded on your card. It is also perfectly acceptable to have a ? for the time spent on your daily or weekly rest. (I dont like it, but DVSA wont worry about it.) Don’t stress about it.
On the VDO systems, the ? is considered “Time unaccounted for” which VOSA basically count as rest but normally they’ll see on the download when you pulled your card last and when you put it in again. Everytime I put my card in the morning I always use the ? to show the time between the end of my last shift and the start of the new one.
I have never left it in just incase of unforseen circumstances like having to move the truck/start the engine in the middle of the night. Or be just my luck to put it on other work for 11 hours…
Why the interface can’t be standardised for these things I’ll never know.
hughgeorghan:
I have never left it in just incase of unforseen circumstances like having to move the truck/start the engine in the middle of the night. Or be just my luck to put it on other work for 11 hours.
You’re kidding me right?
You’re allowed to start your engine whenever you like. In the thirty years or so that I slept in cabs here and across the water, I was moved once by a Gendarme during my overnight rest period…Once in thirty plus years.
The reason it is a ? Is that you could also use an analogue vehicle while you are by in yours. The ? Means time unaccounted for and is perfectly acceptable as a substitute to rest.
hughgeorghan:
I’ve read a few threads on here about tachos switching to other work if you switch the ignition on. Didn’t want to take the chance.
Easy answer to that is just test it dude. Next time you have a few minutes spare stick it on break, switch ignition off and then on again while keeping an eye on the tacho. It’ll put your mind at ease if nothing else.
