i am doing my class c next week and have been trying to get as much info as i can, have got loads of tips and help from this site. the one thing i am struggling with is the drivers hours, have been reading as much as i can and downloaded the vosa guide but cannot get my head around it (not the brightest). is there an idiots guide or an easy to understand guide. if i pass i was hoping to do agency work at weekends to get experience but have been told i can only work every other weekend. is this right.
Basically, yes, it is right.
Newboy, try and not worry too much about the detail until you’ve got your head round the basics like:
When the week starts / rules for the week / rules for the fortnight /
Start with rules for a day - then you can build onto that rules for a week, then build onto that rules for a fortnights and so on. Then you can worry about the detail.
I think you might be trying too put too much in your head at once. Maybe if you right each bit on post-it notes you could stick them around the house to read. (fridge, cupboards and the like).
It’s just a memory game, the answers don’t change so you need to find ways of helping them stick in your mind and put them in some sort of order. You could give them names or join them with a story or associate pictures with them. Write them down in a short list every so often, rather than try and digest them in your head. Don’t try and study too long, just do it in little bite-size chunks.
It might seem quite hard, but I’m guessing that I’m no more smarter than you, it’s just that I’ve become pretty good at remembering things. And it comes with practice. Keep your mind exercised!
When you get started at work it’ll be easier as long as you write down your times, you can post your schedule up and ask if it’s legal or not. When you get the answer back make a point of remembering WHY it was legal / illegal.
Good luck with your test next week!
I am going to take lessons soon followed by a test.
Went round the test centre’s driving routes.
For an experienced car driver I found some pretty challenging and intend doing them again even though I spent 5 hours driving in and out of the centre in my own car studying road surfaces, positions of traffic lights and where roads split into two to go in different but same kind of directins.
I country roads I got caught out at how sharply some roads went round corners at bends.
The above is another tip for ya.
Here’s to you man.
I passed my theory recently and am beginning to forget about how drivers hours worked too.
Hi Newboy
The driver’s hours rules can seem quite complicated at first glance. My advice would be to not try to understand everything in one go. Break it down into the parts that affect you directly each day, week and fortnight.
Since we as drivers became subject to the working time directive we are only able to work for an average of 48 hours in a week (this is averaged out over a seventeen week period) and no more than 60 hours in any given week. So depending on how many hours you work at your normal job this will determine how many hours you can work for the agency at weekends. Remember that unless your normal job is driving then it is the WTD that will limit your weekend work and not the driver’s hours rules.
As I understand the regulations the wtd only applies if you work more than 15 days as a mobile worker in a reference period of 26 weeks, If I were you I would concentrate on learning the drivers hours and tachograph rule and forget about the wtd for now, You’ll just become more confused if you try to learn them both at the same time and the drivers hours and tachograph rules are in my opinion far more important than the wtd.
When you have a hgv licence the wtd may prevent you from working weekends as regularly as you would like but it doesn’t stop you completely.
To answer your question generally you’ll probably find that you should be able to work a day every other weekend, this is because of the drivers weekly rest of 45 hours that’s needed, you can reduce this to 24 hours every other week but the difference needs to be paid back by the end of the third week after the week of the reduction.
obi-wan sorry to disagree but it’s likely to be the drivers hours regulations that will limit his weekend work the most and not the wtd.
obi-wan:
So depending on how many hours you work at your normal job this will determine how many hours you can work for the agency at weekends. Remember that unless your normal job is driving then it is the WTD that will limit your weekend work and not the driver’s hours rules.
The hours he does at his normal job will have no bearing on the WTD as it applies to road transport. They will only affect the tacho rules where they are counted as other work and as a result he will need to ensure a weekly rest period is taken in accordance with the tacho rules.
I’m a part-timer with a full time non-driving job in the week too.
It is possible to drive every weekend & still get the 45 hour weekly rest period in every other weekend, but you need to time it right. If you’ve got flexiblity of start & finish times in your weekday job, you could do it - however, if, like me, you only get a call on Fridays from an agency, you might in practice find it difficult.
For example, say you started your weekday job early on a Friday & finished at 3pm, you could start a driving job at midnight after a 9 hour rest period.
If you worked 'till 12 noon on Sat, you’ve then got 45 hours rest before starting your full-time job at 9am Monday.
As least, that’s my take on it. Anyone agree with that ?
gerontius:
For example, say you started your weekday job early on a Friday & finished at 3pm, you could start a driving job at midnight after a 9 hour rest period.
If you worked 'till 12 noon on Sat, you’ve then got 45 hours rest before starting your full-time job at 9am Monday.As least, that’s my take on it. Anyone agree with that ?
I agree with that, If you can work it like that you could do every weekend.
thanks for the replys, sorry its taken so long to answer but doing my class c on saturday so have been trying to get in as much info as i can. breaking the drivers hours down into segments has made it easier .it looks like i will have to work every other weekend as my hours are fixed at 9-6 mon to fri
newboy:
thanks for the replys, sorry its taken so long to answer but doing my class c on saturday so have been trying to get in as much info as i can. breaking the drivers hours down into segments has made it easier .it looks like i will have to work every other weekend as my hours are fixed at 9-6 mon to fri
With those hours you could easily do 1 shift every other weekend.
In fact another option would be if you could find a short run of no more than 9 hours you would be able to do it every week as long as you start no earlier than 03:00 Saturday and finish by 12:00 Saturday OR start no earlier than 15:00 Sunday and finish by midnight Sunday.
In other words as long as you have 9 hours rest immediately after you finish at 18:00 on Friday OR 9 hours rest immediately before you start at 09:00 Monday and you don’t do more than 9 hours overall then you’re OK every week.
Depending on what breaks you have in you’re usual job this may put you slightly outside of the wtd but to be honest I don’t think many people pay much attention to that anyway 
Don’t know where you’ll find a job like that or even if you’d want one but I thought It was probably worth mentioning
Good luck with the test.
tachograph:
Depending on what breaks you have in you’re usual job this may put you slightly outside of the wtd but to be honest I don’t think many people pay much attention to that anyway
The hours he does in his ‘normal’ job have no bearing on and are not counted toward the WTD as it applies to mobile workers. A shift every other week, or even every week if he could squeeze it in will means he will not have to worry about the WTD.
Conformation can be found HERE Section 2.5
2.5 Working for two or more employers or another organisation
For the purposes of the Regulations, working time is restricted to work for employers for whom a mobile worker carries out any in-scope road transport activities (i.e. work covered by the European drivers’ hours rules). It includes both road transport activities and any other work for such employers (for instance when a driver also works in an employer’s warehouse).
It does not include work performed for employers who are not involved in road transport activities (for instance bar work). However, such work would count as part of the “daily working period” for the purposes of determining compliance with the separate European drivers’ hours rules (i.e. bar work will impact on when you can work and how much work you can do).
Not forgetting that, every other week when you take at least 24 hours but less that 45 hours weekly rest period, you need to add the shortfall (ie up to 21 hours depending on how long rest you actually took) to another rest period in one block within 3 weeks.
Have I got that right Coffeeholic ?
gerontius:
Not forgetting that, every other week when you take at least 24 hours but less that 45 hours weekly rest period, you need to add the shortfall (ie up to 21 hours depending on how long rest you actually took) to another rest period in one block within 3 weeks.
Have I got that right Coffeeholic ?
Yes, the compensation must be made by the end of the third week following the reduction, so if the reduction was in week 1 the compensation must be made by the end of week 4. As you say this must be taken in one block and attached to another rest period of at least 9 hours.
Coffeeholic:
gerontius:
For example, say you started your weekday job early on a Friday & finished at 3pm, you could start a driving job at midnight after a 9 hour rest period.
If you worked 'till 12 noon on Sat, you’ve then got 45 hours rest before starting your full-time job at 9am Monday.As least, that’s my take on it. Anyone agree with that ?
I agree with that, If you can work it like that you could do every weekend.
Well, it’d be legal, but I’m not sure whether it would be a good idea.
Personally, I’d be falling asleep at the wheel, as I would have been unlikely to have gotten to sleep much before 9pm, and would then have to get up at about 11pm for a midnight start.
MrFlibble:
Coffeeholic:
gerontius:
For example, say you started your weekday job early on a Friday & finished at 3pm, you could start a driving job at midnight after a 9 hour rest period.
If you worked 'till 12 noon on Sat, you’ve then got 45 hours rest before starting your full-time job at 9am Monday.As least, that’s my take on it. Anyone agree with that ?
I agree with that, If you can work it like that you could do every weekend.
Well, it’d be legal, but I’m not sure whether it would be a good idea.
Personally, I’d be falling asleep at the wheel, as I would have been unlikely to have gotten to sleep much before 9pm, and would then have to get up at about 11pm for a midnight start.
But not everyone is the same when it comes to sleep requirements. I’ve got an 03:15 start in the morning so will be getting up about 02:00. However I won;t be going to bed for another hour or so but that is more than enough to get me through tomorrow, I’ll be working until about 17:00. Horses for courses.
Coffeeholic:
tachograph:
Depending on what breaks you have in you’re usual job this may put you slightly outside of the wtd but to be honest I don’t think many people pay much attention to that anywayThe hours he does in his ‘normal’ job have no bearing on and are not counted toward the WTD as it applies to mobile workers. A shift every other week, or even every week if he could squeeze it in will means he will not have to worry about the WTD.
Conformation can be found HERE Section 2.5
2.5 Working for two or more employers or another organisation
For the purposes of the Regulations, working time is restricted to work for employers for whom a mobile worker carries out any in-scope road transport activities (i.e. work covered by the European drivers’ hours rules). It includes both road transport activities and any other work for such employers (for instance when a driver also works in an employer’s warehouse).
It does not include work performed for employers who are not involved in road transport activities (for instance bar work). However, such work would count as part of the “daily working period” for the purposes of determining compliance with the separate European drivers’ hours rules (i.e. bar work will impact on when you can work and how much work you can do).
I stand corrected, I was confusing it with the occasional mobile workers regulation 
Coffeeholic:
But not everyone is the same when it comes to sleep requirements. I’ve got an 03:15 start in the morning so will be getting up about 02:00. However I won;t be going to bed for another hour or so but that is more than enough to get me through tomorrow, I’ll be working until about 17:00. Horses for courses.
Although, if you’ve given your body clock some time to get used to those timings, it’s easier; I don’t know what you’ve been doing for the rest of the week, but in the OP’s case, he’s been doing 9-5 Monday-Friday, and then trying to swap immediately to a midnight start.
I’ve done the odd 4am start, and I’ve got to the point where I just won’t accept those shift from the agency any more, because I am too tired on the road, despite having had a “full” 11 hours rest since the end of my Friday shift at 5pm.
I just wanted to make the point that even though it’s legal, don’t feel pressurised into taking shifts that you don’t think are safe - 0200 to 0600 is the most dangerous time on the road (according to the statistics), and a lot of that has to be down to people driving when they are too tired.
MrFlibble:
Coffeeholic:
But not everyone is the same when it comes to sleep requirements. I’ve got an 03:15 start in the morning so will be getting up about 02:00. However I won;t be going to bed for another hour or so but that is more than enough to get me through tomorrow, I’ll be working until about 17:00. Horses for courses.Although, if you’ve given your body clock some time to get used to those timings, it’s easier; I don’t know what you’ve been doing for the rest of the week, but in the OP’s case, he’s been doing 9-5 Monday-Friday, and then trying to swap immediately to a midnight start.
I finished work Friday afternoon and was off Saturday and Sunday and on each of those 3 nights I had around 4 - 4.5 hours sleep which is my normal. Monday I worked from 04:45 until 18:00 and then had a night out sleeping in the cab. Tuesday I worked from 04:30 until 16:30. As you say, know your limits and stick within them but it is very much each to there own.
Coffeeholic:
As you say, know your limits and stick within them but it is very much each to there own.
Reminds me of a “Dirty Harry” film where Cliff Eastwood said “A mans gotta know his limitations”