Judge can say you had a month to report it but waited until got sacked, I don’t think it works that way, it’s not whistleblowing if i gain sthg from it.
Its a big retail business, not a haulier.
To recap: the OP was at fault in not renewing his Driver Card in time. He then drove without the card in place, in breach of the law. It seems to me all of that is his fault. If he told a minor office worker that he was about to break the law does that mean he should be exonerated in some way? I don’t think so. If he had asked the company O License holder what he should do, and they told him to break the law, it might be a different scenario, but that does not seem to be the case here.
We are meant to be professional drivers, and to know the law, and to look after our own licences. How many here take the piss out of junior office workers and post memes about how little they really know, but now are saying they are responsible for the driver’s errors? Mock them and belittle them, then seek to make responsible for everything!
The OP cocked up. The office worker also cocked up, but they cocked up in a field where they are not necessarily expected to have expertise. Someone routing trucks should listen when a driver says “I cannot do that because it is illegal”, well then they will also listen when a driver says “its ok, I can still do that run”.
Transport office staff are lazy gits, they’re disorganized af, majority of times they don’t answer phone or text, one time TM didn’t pick up the phone for 2 hours with me calling him 6 times, thats 6 times I had to stop to dial and lost about 20 min just for that. He said he was in the yard.
I’ve sent the ref# to main Whatsapp number that all drivers use but it wasn’t acknowledged by anyone. Should I have emailed the CEO of the company, whaddaya think?
Many times I was looking for a trailer for an hour (big yard) only to be told trailer is not even in the yard, so yeah this is the kind of company I’m dealing with.
Transport clerks are not expected to have expertise yeah, but they’re expected to forward any information to superiors.
I’m sorry @johnny7056 but that reads too much like common sense in so many ways 
Anyone willing to share their experience on this? Were you explicitly asked by your superiors to submit ref# before being allowed to drive OR they waited for you to deliver the ref# OR they simply ignored the whole situation and hoped that you wouldn’t be negligent?
I’m getting email reminders from agencies I worked 4 years ago about digicard expiry.
much appreciated..
In my personal experience:
I received a letter saying my card was due for replacement. I ordered one on line which arrived well in time. I also saw the messages which flashed up on the tachograph head unit which also warned that the card was soon to expire every time I inserted it.
I have never needed any reference number in order to do my job as a driver. It is illegal to drive with an expired card. It doesn’t matter how many ref numbers you get, no employer can authorise you to break the law.
If those agencies sending you messages about your expired card are only doing it after the card expired, then it is not very helpful. If they sent them before it expired, then that is something else you ignored.
Throw your shovel away.
oh thank you….. Your Highness Miss Professional Driver “Never made a mistake in my life”. You must be one of those retards with lit cabs and personalize plates
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I dont have any experience as in my card arrived before the old one expired but i was told that if it didnt i could call the dvla and get some magic code that allowed me to drive provided i could prove i had sent it off (ie recorded delivery).
My argument to all this is you have excepted that you made a mistake for understandable reasons. You notified your manager who didnt bother passing on the message because they were going on holiday. I fail to believe there wasnt cover organised and as long as you wernt told im going on holiday any issues contact blogs then she should of passed on the message or at the very least given the phone to whoever was covering. They should of then acted on it because as much as it is the drivers responsibility to make sure they are legal it is the companies as well. Otherwise why do license checks every so many months?
So you made the mistake that led to your termination, causing you to feel hard done by. I understand that, particularly after paying you for a month to do nothing. It’s your co ck up, own it, instead of attacking posters who don’t support your “poor me, I’ve got to get revenge” attitude.
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I have made many mistakes.
I try to admit them, and learn from them.
Paper application form: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/681b104a34321d7b2d873ae2/application-for-digital-tachograph-driver-card-d777b.pdf
It explains in section C how to apply and drive if card is lost/stolen/damaged. It also says “you cannot drive if your card is expred”.
And
Quote…Driving without a driver card You can only drive without a card:
• if the one you have previously been issued with is lost, stolen, damaged or malfunctioning
• for up to 15 calendar days (or longer if this is necessary for the vehicle to return to its premises), as long as you can prove that you could not use the card during this period. During this time you must keep drivers hours records using printouts produced by the VU
You cannot drive if your card has expired.”
im not saying your wrong im just saying what i was told. in my case the card turned up in a few days so there was no issue. had it not and i rang the dvla for this supposed magic code i guess i would of been told that.
If it was a lost card, then a code would be OK. An expired card is not lost/stolen/damaged.
Lost/stolen/damaged are not predictable, so no timely action can be taken by the driver. Expiry is predictable and timely action is possible. I guess that is why they are treated differently.
so you did get some logistical support from your office, opposed to cun.ts from mine.
thank you
the only reason they paid me for 28 days is to get off the hook with DVSA audit in case I get stopped. This speaks volumes, such as admitting guilt they ■■■■■■ up too.
Granted, but the onus is on you. I know SFA about tacho cards, but what I have gleaned from this thread is that DVSA informed you in plenty of time for you to renew the card. Okay you may have had distractions, but ultimately it’s your livelihood you’re being cavalier about. But then the device warned you every time you entered your card. You didn’t inform your employer until the card had expired. The person you ultimately informed was a junior office bod, who probably doesn’t know a tacho card from a pepperoni pizza. You want to blame everyone but yourself. The rest of the world is not your wet nurse.
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i thought he informed his tm… but she went on holiday the next day. hence my comments about someone should of picked it up
I thought he said she was a planner. Either way, it’s his livelihood he’s supposed to be looking after. Would he let his licence expire?
It’s your fault. Own that and move on.
No point in trying to blame other people for your own mistakes.