I start at 6.00am, i insert my card at 6.00Am.
When my card is loaded, i put it on cross hammers (working time) for 15mins to check for defects (16mins so the final minute counts) Company policy.
At 6.16 i leave the yard.
To cover my 6 hour working time i take a 45minute break at 12.00Pm, this will then cover me until 6.00pm if i needed to work past my 9hours which is 3.30Pm. Taking a break at 12pm will also reset my 4.5hours driving time.
Things to watch - DONT go over 4.5hours drive time & DONT do over 6 hours working time. If unsure, do a print out and add your work time up.
Your working time can be extended. For example, turned up at a building site at 7.30am, the building site does not open until 8.00am, you can put your Tacho on POA (Period of availability) for 30mins. This will extend your working time until 12.30.
Just sharing my day 
hope it helps some people
Danstoneman24:
I start at 6.00am, i insert my card at 6.00Am.
When my card is loaded, i put it on cross hammers (working time) for 15mins to check for defects (16mins so the final minute counts) Company policy.
At 6.16 i leave the yard.
To cover my 6 hour working time i take a 45minute break at 12.00Pm, this will then cover me until 6.00pm if i needed to work past my 9hours which is 3.30Pm. Taking a break at 12pm will also reset my 4.5hours driving time.
Things to watch - DONT go over 4.5hours drive time & DONT do over 6 hours working time. If unsure, do a print out and add your work time up.
Your working time can be extended. For example, turned up at a building site at 7.30am, the building site does not open until 8.00am, you can put your Tacho on POA (Period of availability) for 30mins. This will extend your working time until 12.30.
Just sharing my day hope it helps some people
I thought you had ti have had 15 minutes before 6 hours? Meaning start break at 11.45 rather than 12? Unless of course you have used some POA to extend it earlier in the morning.
No because your 6 hours is from 6.00am until 12. As long as you take a break before or bang on 12.00 its ok.
But obviously if my drive time runs out before then, i would have to take a break sooner. But because of the job i do delivering skips its unlikely i exceed 4.5hrs drive time.
My tacho is the least on my mind… some of these tight spaces i go makes your #ss clentch lol
Ok thanks for clearing that up
Why have you put it on POA at the building site for 30 minutes instead of putting on break?
Although the 30 minutes on break would only count as 15 for driving time it would still cover your 15 mins needed at 6 hrs for WTD and cover your 30 mins WTD for 9 hrs.you would then only need 30 min break later to reset your driving time. If that is you get close or likely to go over 4.5 hrs driving.
It’s Worth noting as well by law you should know in advance that you will likely to be waiting in order to use POA.
You’ve missed a trick there by putting it on POA.
It’s also worth noting that nothing in law says you have to have 15 mins for your checks.
What it says is that checks must be carried out and recorded.
An example of this would be would it take you 15 minutes to check an empty flat bed class 2 rigid. ? If so would it also take you the same 15 mins to check a fully loaded 44 ton artic?
That said what you are doing isn’t wrong and I always have at least 10 minute checks but like I said there is no time limit on it in law. Company policy may differ but not law.
But I throught having the 45 minute break at 12pm till 12:45pm will mean you can work untill 6:45pm?
Cosford:
But I throught having the 45 minute break at 12pm till 12:45pm will mean you can work untill 6:45pm?
You are correct for WTD purposes.
heres mine…wake up…light her up for a 5 min idle,.■■■■ down side of wheels,walk round the back and see nobodys tanned the truck or that the diesel fairies have been thirsty.peek at the pin and see its not been pulled,hop in.head off,and then spend the rest of the day with the wire on or off depending on the scenario and what suits me…stop for my grub as and when,and work to suit the day as it progresses.sometimes its a short day,other times its a 36 hour day…my way suits me fine,as I couldn’t work the way the legal eagles work on here.funny how some jobs differ?? 
Cosford:
But I throught having the 45 minute break at 12pm till 12:45pm will mean you can work untill 6:45pm?
Yes you are correct.
But also putting it on break for 30 mins also doesn’t count towards working time.
My point is POA does not reset your clock for driving time. So for example it takes you say 2.5 hrs to drive to the building site. You then put it on POA for 30 minutes. You then have another 2 hr drive to your next drop. You now have to put it on break for 45 minutes to reset your clock. So that’s 1.5 hrs of your day you’ve lost because you’ve put it on POA for 30 minutes in the morning. It might only be 15 minutes but that 15 minutes can be the difference between making it home and sleeping in your own bed or sleeping in some lay by getting rocked about all night.
You can make the job work for you and stick within the law. All it needs is to know the laws first and apply common sense to go with it.
Don’t forget, and a lot of drivers don’t get this you can’t just stick it on POA whenever it suits you. You have to have some advanced warning you will be required to wait before using POA . Admittedly it would be a hard one to prove but believe me if the crap was to hit the fan the powers that be would be asking a lot of questions and making a lot of checks on your movements prior to the incident. If you were showing POA on your card prior to any incident then that would be part of any potential investigation.
I won’t go into details on a public forum but I was once involved in an investigation where a fatality took place involving a polish truck. The powers that be followed the drivers movements all the way from Poland for a week before the day of the incident.
I’ve heard a lot of drivers over the years say I do what I want or words to that effect.
That’s fine until the crap hits the fan!
Trust me when I tell you, they look at everything and I mean everything!
Coolrider:
Why have you put it on POA at the building site for 30 minutes instead of putting on break?
Although the 30 minutes on break would only count as 15 for driving time it would still cover your 15 mins needed at 6 hrs for WTD and cover your 30 mins WTD for 9 hrs.you would then only need 30 min break later to reset your driving time. If that is you get close or likely to go over 4.5 hrs driving.
It’s Worth noting as well by law you should know in advance that you will likely to be waiting in order to use POA.
You’ve missed a trick there by putting it on POA.
It’s also worth noting that nothing in law says you have to have 15 mins for your checks.
What it says is that checks must be carried out and recorded.
An example of this would be would it take you 15 minutes to check an empty flat bed class 2 rigid. ? If so would it also take you the same 15 mins to check a fully loaded 44 ton artic?
That said what you are doing isn’t wrong and I always have at least 10 minute checks but like I said there is no time limit on it in law. Company policy may differ but not law.
Because i am awkward lol… i like my 45mins break haha… and regards to the walk around, i have to follow a company procedure even if its empty or full lol! I have do do 15mins (well 16mins to count last minute)
Some companys have this and some dont.
And there is no chance i would exceed my driving time very very rarely.