hope someone can help me, keep getting different advice from different drivers.
some days i sometimes drive a horsebox on tacho rules , to shows up and down the country,
i leave the yard early in the morning and drive say 3 to 4 hours and then park up at show for rest of day and drive home after show has finished another 3 - 4 hours. is there a set limit to the time i can rest in between, sometimes i could be parked up from 8 till 4 then drive home , is there a legal limit to time been on duty or is it just driving time, i dont normally drive the day after so get plenty of daily rest after. hope this question is clear enough
bigmatt2806:
hope someone can help me, keep getting different advice from different drivers.
some days i sometimes drive a horsebox on tacho rules , to shows up and down the country,
i leave the yard early in the morning and drive say 3 to 4 hours and then park up at show for rest of day and drive home after show has finished another 3 - 4 hours. is there a set limit to the time i can rest in between, sometimes i could be parked up from 8 till 4 then drive home , is there a legal limit to time been on duty or is it just driving time, i dont normally drive the day after so get plenty of daily rest after. hope this question is clear enough
During the day you can rest as long as you like, and most of us probably do 
During the 24 hour period starting from the beginning of the shift, you must have 11 hours daily rest, this can be reduced to 9 hours no more than 3 times between weekly rest periods.
So the maximum spread-over is 15 hours, you can do this 3 times between weekly rest periods, the other days the maximum spread-over is 13 hours unless you have a split daily rest.
Here are the Drivers Hours & Tachograph Regulations
See if this helps, and feel free to post back if there’s anything that you don’t understand.
| **EU Drivers Hours Regulations** | |
| **Driving** | |
| Daily Driving Time | Maximum 9 hours accumulated driving time between two daily rest periods or between a daily rest period and a weekly rest period.
However, the daily driving time may be extended to at most 10 hours not more than twice during the week. |
| Weekly Driving | A weekly driving time limit of 56 hours is specified in the regulations. |
| Fortnightly driving | The total accumulated driving time during any two consecutive weeks shall not exceed 90 hours. |
| Breaks | |
| Breaks from driving | After a driving period of four and a half hours a driver shall take an uninterrupted break of not less than 45 minutes, unless he takes a rest period.
This break may be replaced by a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes, each distributed over the period in such a way as to comply with the provisions of the first paragraph. After a break/breaks totaling 45 minutes the four and half hours driving time is reset. |
| WTD Breaks | No mobile worker shall work for more than six hours without a break.
Working time shall be interrupted by a break of at least 30 minutes, if working hours total between six and nine hours. Working time shall be interrupted by a break of at least 45 minutes, if working hours total more than nine hours. Each break may be made up of separate periods of not less than 15 minutes each. |
| The driving breaks and the wtd breaks complement each other, If a 45 minute break is taken to comply with the driving regulations it will count towards the wtd break, likewise if a break is taken in order to comply with the wtd regulations it can count towards the mandatory driving break as long as it fits in with the driving break regulations. | |
| Daily and Weekly Rest | |
| Daily rest | A daily rest period of 11 hours should be taken in the 24 hour period commencing at the end of the last daily or weekly rest period.
The daily rest period may be reduced to 9 hours no more than three times between any two weekly rest periods. Where a driver takes daily rest periods away from base, they may be taken in a vehicle, provided that there are suitable sleeping facilities for each driver and the vehicle is stationary. |
| Split Daily rest | When split daily rest is taken it must total12 hours. The 12 hour rest period can be taken in two periods. |
| Weekly Rest | Within six 24 hour periods from the end of the last weekly rest period, a driver will extend a daily rest period into either:
In any two consecutive weeks, a driver shall take at least two regular weekly rest periods, or one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly rest period of at least 24 hours. Any rest taken as compensation for a reduced weekly rest period shall be attached to another rest period of at least nine hours. A weekly rest period that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week, but not in both. A rest period of at least 69 hours in total may be counted as two back-to-back weekly rests (e.g. a 45-hour weekly rest followed by 24 hours), provided that the driver does not exceed 144 hours’ work either before or after the rest period in question. |
bigmatt2806:
hope someone can help me, keep getting different advice from different drivers.
some days i sometimes drive a horsebox on tacho rules , to shows up and down the country,
i leave the yard early in the morning and drive say 3 to 4 hours and then park up at show for rest of day and drive home after show has finished another 3 - 4 hours. is there a set limit to the time i can rest in between, sometimes i could be parked up from 8 till 4 then drive home , is there a legal limit to time been on duty or is it just driving time, i dont normally drive the day after so get plenty of daily rest after. hope this question is clear enough
Do I assume that your normal job is doing non-driving work and is it Mon to Fri 
IF it is the above then not only must you do a max 15 hour day from start to finish when you use the horsebox as you describe above but you must also fill in a seperate tacho for each of the other days you worked as a non driver in the week you drove the horsebox between Sunday midnight to Sunday midnight and fill in your name, date, start & finish time on each one - this is so that VOSA can see that you have had the required daily breaks.
IF you do a Mon to Fri job then you can only drive for one day every other weekend to avoid breaking the laws on weekly rest.
NOW, I’m NOT the expert on this but I think I said it OK - an expert will be along soon to correct me if I am wrong 
From your ‘worst case’ scenario of 4 hours driving each way, and 8 hours at the ‘event’ that would be 16 hours and illegal. What it basically comes down to is “What are you doing for those 8 hours between 8 and 4?” If, essentially ‘bugger all’ then extend it to 9 hours, and count it as a Daily Rest (Reduced).
It may seem to be a convoluted method of remaining within the Regs but, from the example quoted, it is perhaps the only way.
A few questions which will help to provide an accurate answer;
What is the maximum permitted mass of the vehicle - look on the Ministry Plate for the Gross Weight.
Are you paid to do the driving?
Is the vehicle operated under an O-licence?
Who do the horses belong to?
What do you do on the other days of the week - a typical week would help
If the horses aren’t yours, is the owner a professional rider or trainer?