Hello all,
Ive been hanging around this forum for a couple of weeks just to get a feel for things, and interesting it is.
Anyway a little background.
I am a driver for a small company based in the north east, doing delivery runs down to the south coast twice a week. Currently I am driving a sprinter but come the new year i will be driving a 7.5 ton, having the licensce requirement as I passed my test in 1996. I will be taking a couple of driving lessons before I start with the 7.5 ton for safety sake as I have never driven anything this large.
The plan(mine) is to get a few months/miles experience doing this then learn/pass hgv 2 and then move up to hgv 1 eventually.
Anyway the problem I have is that already my boss has instructed me that I must switch the tachograph over to rest/break mode when I am unloading(which I have to do). Of course I know that this is against the rules. Unfortuntely my boss will not listen to me. I am the only driver for this company and I would rather not get confrontational about this. However he is adamant “Im not running a bloody charity”. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Make a written record of what he said and when. To some extent you have already done that be posting here, and TNUK, in support of any driver contesting a dismissal claim, would not hesitate to ‘evidence’ posts made here.
If you can get the instruction ‘on tape’, all the better, but not essential.
What you have to consider is that many or most of the premises that you will be delivering to, operate CCTV. Even High Street CCTV. If you had the misfortune to later be involved in an accident that involved a fatality, however slight your involvement may have been, then the authorities may well view the tapes of your activities and aportion blame accordingly.
You know you are working for a Cowboy. You know that you can use that employment to valuable personal benefit. Make the best of it. Cover your arse and be prepared to drop him in the mire when things go pear-shaped.
It s not unusual for drivers to leave the mode on rest at all times (it records drive mode automatically) although to the letter of the law this is incorrect it is not as far as i am aware illegal and vosa or police would be more worried about your driving, break and spreadover times and also your vehicle and load condition. I have never heard of anyone who had been pulled over being done for incorrect mode use (unless this involved breaks not being recorded correctly or obvious signs of tampering or concealment)…
But at the end of the day you are in charge of that vehicle and you are held responsible for it and its load therefore the more you follow the letter of the law the more you will show responsibility and this can only impress vosa/police and maybe because you show you are doing your utmost to stay within the written law then the less likely you are going to get done for some other minor infringement like a bulb out or ever so slightly over the weight limit…
It is your licence look after it …your boss doesnt give a ■■■■ if you lose it he will just employ someone else…
The thing i dont uderstand though is it sounds like your boss wont pay you for time spent unloading hence him complaining about not running a charity…This is bang out of order he is not running a charity he is running a business and he has employees which he has to pay a wage to whether you are driving unloading washing the vehicle or anything that involves your time or effort for his benefit …Some companies dont pay for a set lunch break which is fair enough coz your not doing anything to benefit him or his business but this must be set out in your contract of employment which you agree to when you first started the job
To be honest he sounds like a right miserable tight arse and if i was you i would quietly look for something better
Thanks for advice , was kinda of what i was gonna do, ie follow the rules
Reef
“To be honest he sounds like a right miserable tight arse and if i was you i would quietly look for something better”
Ahh you know him then? and yes that is the plan re getting HGV 2/1. Stepping Stones. With respect to the loading/unloading time and pay I think its just a case of him wanting me to cover as many drops/distance as possible in a day. Without going into a diatribe about bosses, lets just say hes is the type who will spend pounds to save pennies in the short term.
Krankee
You know you are working for a Cowboy. You know that you can use that employment to valuable personal benefit. Make the best of it. Cover your arse and be prepared to drop him in the mire when things go pear-shaped.
Roger that and I will ask him to put anything he says that is dodgy in writing. If he does then he is a fool, even if I don’t follow that instruction. Cant his operators licence be revoked?
Thing is I love the driving side of my job, so just gotta grin and bear it at moment until i can move up
sniff no welcome to trucknet messages, I guess its cos i drive a sprinter
If your run is multidrop, chances are that you won’t be at any drop more than 15 minutes anyway, unless they take ages at the places you go and if its under 15 minutes its irrelivent under tacho regs if your tacho is on rest or not because it can’t be counted as rest. The only time this becomes a nuisence, especially for multidrop is when the WTD is taken into account, but from what you’ve been saying, I very much doubt your boss is going to bother about that, infact I’ve yet to come across more than five companies who even aknowledge its existence (fine by me btw).
Hi and welcome to TruckNet UK No_Biscuit.
Its a good Idea that you are going to do some
lessons as I found air brakes took a little getting
used to. All the best with the lessons ect and run
100% legal.
Hello and welcome to Tnet No_biscuit you will be aware from your lurking that what your boss is asking you to do is illegal there are better jobs. If he is putting you in an uncomfortable position then it is time to look to pastures new.
Welcome No_Biscuit. I presume that he wants you to do this because you haven’t time to take proper breaks away from your deliveries. If this is the case then it is very serious if there is any kind of incident.
If you did say a 15 hour day and showed no breaks except for the ones when you were working unloading, and the authorities were able to prove this, you could be charged with a continuous driving period of, say, 13 hours if that was your total driving time.
They will always put the worst possile construction on any infringement. I know in the past of someone being charged with a continous work period of 39 hours, including 20 hours driving! This because they did not have the required minimum daily break.
My advice is to point out that what he asks is not possible and work legally. If he wants to sack you, point out that this will result in a tribunal case for unfair dismissal if you have enough time in the job, or if not, a report to the Traffic Authority.
It’s a difficult one, and this kind of blackmail as been laid on drivers since the year dot. Doesn’t make it right though.
Where abouts are you actually based out of? Will you be able to complete your run within one day or due to tacho regs/driving hours will you have to have a night out etc? Chances are that in most cases unless you’re severely pushed for time, it wont make an awful lot of difference if you have you tacho set on rest or box mode, it just means that the 45 minutes break that you must have within 4.5 hours driving will have to be taken as a proper break and not when you’re tipping, but if its multidrop anyway, and your at places only say 10 minutes, that wouldn’t even count as a break and would be no different in reality to if you had your tacho on box mode, it’d still just be duty time that wasn’t counted towards rest.
leave it on other work or box mode when you’re unloading, this doesnt count as driving time.
I assume he does allow you to have a lunch break of some sort? even if it’s unpaid. put it on rest when yo take this.
Depends how long your days are and what kind of drops you’re doing. I mean if you’re doing multidrop around a couple of adjacent and local towns it’s unlikely you would reach the driving limit. But you still have to show some rest for the day, an hours lunch break for example.
Looks like you hold all the cards then. Who else is he going to get to do it?
I think our 7.5t’s have O-Licences in them? Point out if he loses that he wont be able to operate the vehicle anymore and wont have a business let alone a charity.
Based in the Stockton area, near Middlesbrough. It will be overnight runs, working down towards London, Canterbury, the south coast and back up via Birmingham, Liverpool/Manchester then across to Leeds. I will see what happens and what his scheduling is like.
You’re not the only Sprinter driver on here. I am currently driving a Sprinter most of the time. (My choice). Looks like you are going to be spending plenty of time in your new truck. Has it got a sleeper cab or is your charitable boss putting you up in hotels every night?
On the subject of sprinter’s i’ve got a brief restbite from them doing trunks in an 18t until xmas, but on the whole i have to drive them most of the time.
Calv:
Has it got a sleeper cab or is your charitable boss putting you up in hotels every night?
It will have a sleeper cab, he has ordered it already, without any consultation from me. I would imagine it would be the most basic model that he could find(cab wise). Probably wont even come with a night cab heater, sigh, something else I will have to badger him for.
He will be paying me a night out allowance though, yet to be agreed on,
dennisw1:
Quote:
I am the only driver for this company
I think our 7.5t’s have O-Licences in them
Yes he is required to obtain an Operators Licence, or so he has informed me. As for getting another driver to replace me, I dont think he would have too much trouble with that. I’m sure there are plenty of people looking for work with the licence entitlement. I myself got the job as I walked into the shop/office as his previous driver was resigning(that should of been a warning sign!) and promptly offered my services as I was looking for work.
Spardo:
My advice is to point out that what he asks is not possible and work legally. If he wants to sack you, point out that this will result in a tribunal case for unfair dismissal if you have enough time in the job, or if not, a report to the Traffic Authority.
What am I like, forgot my one golden rule - put it in writing.
and yes that is the plan re getting HGV 2/1. Stepping Stones. With respect to the loading/unloading time and pay I think its just a case of him wanting me to cover as many drops/distance as possible in a day. Without going into a diatribe about bosses, lets just say hes is the type who will spend pounds to save pennies in the short term.
