Hello from another Newbie.
I have just passed class C and am currently doing class C+E training, with test on Thursday. Although I am clear about the basics of Drivers hours (15/30/45 min break, daily and weekly rest periods, compensation time etc) I am very confused about how WTD affects the overall picture. The information available on official websites seems designed to baffle, and looks like it was written by some belgian Lawyer on crack. Does anybody know of a website where the required work limits/breaks/rest periods/ under BOTH the EU Driving Regs AND the WTD are shown on some sort of easy to read chart? I would like to comply with relevant regulations, but you need a degree in advanced waffle to understand them. Any suggestions appreciated!
Cheers,
Paul.
I don’t know of a website as you describe - but it would be good if there was one and I’m hoping someone will post it’s address on here.
In the meantime, can I suggest you sign up for a drivers’ hours, tachos, WTD course which will contribute to your driver cpc. That kills two birds with one stone.
All the best with it. Pete 
have a look at these;
vosa guide on EU drivers hours and WTD. dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/road/ … sgoods.pdf
and this web site gives loads of info as well. transportsfriend.org/wtd/application.html
you will soon get a grip of it. The WTD is not so bad if you are trunking as your 45 mins break will be required before your 6 hourly under the WTD, which will count. It’s when you are on multi drop and you clock up 6 hours work before 4.5 hours driving that it becomes an issue, especially if you in in central London or other big cities, which hate us being there and never provide any areas for us to take a break.
Happy reading!!!
Hiyyaaa paulspain100, the more you read through it all, the clearer the picture!!!, & welcome 
It’s when you are on multi drop and you clock up 6 hours work before 4.5 hours driving that it becomes an issue
So after 6 hours work you take a break of 30mins, & on reaching 4.5hrs the rest needs only be 30mins instead of 45mins,
Have I got this right??.. 
john
Yeh that’s it. Normally multi drop is where you get caught out on the WTD. If you are in London it’s hard to find an area where you can stop for more than 20 minutes so you will have to take your WTD break by having 2 x 15 minute breaks. The way I look at it if you start at 0500 you need a WTD break by 1100 or a drive break at 0930, whichever comes first. If you clock up POA just add that to your start time so if you get POA for 20 minutes then your start time would have been 0520 so now you do not have to take a WTD break until 1120. Hope that makes sense so whenever you can use your POA button, it also helps by keeping your working time down, meaning you can work more hours(More Money!!!)
koikeeper:
It’s when you are on multi drop and you clock up 6 hours work before 4.5 hours driving that it becomes an issueSo after 6 hours work you take a break of 30mins, & on reaching 4.5hrs the rest needs only be 30mins instead of 45mins,
Have I got this right??..john
No I’m afraid you haven’t got it quite right 
If you’re working time is more than 6 hours but less than 9 hours you should have a break/breaks totalling at least 30 minutes, if you work more than 9 hours you should have a break/breaks totalling at least 45 minutes.
These breaks can be spit into segments of at least 15 minutes duration.
You should not work more than 6 hours without a break, so before exceeding 6 hours working time you should have a break of at least 15 minutes.
To clarify it should be said that the regulations do not stipulate a length of time for the 6 hour rule break so it’s assumed to be the shortest break that will count for the WTD which is 15 minutes.
Breaks that are taken to comply with the tachograph regulations also count for the WTD and vice versa, so if you have a 15 minute break at or before 6 hours working time and you have already done some driving you will only need to take a break of 30 minutes before exceeding 4 1/2 hours driving time.
Hope this helps
paulspain100 welcome to Trucknet-UK and I hope this post goes some way to helping towards your “degree in advanced waffle”
neilsp252:
If you clock up POA just add that to your start time so if you get POA for 20 minutes then your start time would have been 0520 so now you do not have to take a WTD break until 1120. Hope that makes sense so whenever you can use your POA button, it also helps by keeping your working time down, meaning you can work more hours(More Money!!!)
If you can get 20 minutes POA in that situation why not take it as break instead and you will reset the WTD 6 hour clock. The requirements for break are less than for POA so if a period qualifies as POA it certainly qualifies as break and in a situation where getting a place for a break can be difficult it makes no sense to record the time as POA.
Coffeeholic:
neilsp252:
If you clock up POA just add that to your start time so if you get POA for 20 minutes then your start time would have been 0520 so now you do not have to take a WTD break until 1120. Hope that makes sense so whenever you can use your POA button, it also helps by keeping your working time down, meaning you can work more hours(More Money!!!)If you can get 20 minutes POA in that situation why not take it as break instead and you will reset the WTD 6 hour clock. The requirements for break are less than for POA so if a period qualifies as POA it certainly qualifies as break and in a situation where getting a place for a break can be difficult it makes no sense to record the time as POA.
I honestly think many people think that you must have two breaks and you cannot count a 15 minute break for both RTD and the first break part of a 4.5hr period as one. Well I know what I mean.
15 minutes break is fifteen minutes in both languages 
Wheel Nut:
Coffeeholic:
neilsp252:
If you clock up POA just add that to your start time so if you get POA for 20 minutes then your start time would have been 0520 so now you do not have to take a WTD break until 1120. Hope that makes sense so whenever you can use your POA button, it also helps by keeping your working time down, meaning you can work more hours(More Money!!!)If you can get 20 minutes POA in that situation why not take it as break instead and you will reset the WTD 6 hour clock. The requirements for break are less than for POA so if a period qualifies as POA it certainly qualifies as break and in a situation where getting a place for a break can be difficult it makes no sense to record the time as POA.
I honestly think many people think that you must have two breaks and you cannot count a 15 minute break for both RTD and the first break part of a 4.5hr period as one. Well I know what I mean.
15 minutes break is fifteen minutes in both languages
Indeed they do.
If it looks like a break and quacks like a break then…
Coffeeholic:
Wheel Nut:
Coffeeholic:
neilsp252:
If you clock up POA just add that to your start time so if you get POA for 20 minutes then your start time would have been 0520 so now you do not have to take a WTD break until 1120. Hope that makes sense so whenever you can use your POA button, it also helps by keeping your working time down, meaning you can work more hours(More Money!!!)If you can get 20 minutes POA in that situation why not take it as break instead and you will reset the WTD 6 hour clock. The requirements for break are less than for POA so if a period qualifies as POA it certainly qualifies as break and in a situation where getting a place for a break can be difficult it makes no sense to record the time as POA.
I honestly think many people think that you must have two breaks and you cannot count a 15 minute break for both RTD and the first break part of a 4.5hr period as one. Well I know what I mean.
15 minutes break is fifteen minutes in both languages
Indeed they do.
If it looks like a break and quacks like a break then…
I didn’t say the POA was a single 20 minute period, it could have been 2 x 10 minute periods which is less than 15 minutes and thus not long enough for a break. I think I implied that by using POA you delay the time by which you have to take a RTD(WTD) break.
Parking bays in London and other cities are normally a max of 15 minutes therefore the RTD is not really an issue as you can just take 2 x 15 mins but to clear your drive time you will need to take a further break of 30 minutes. Where though, unless you want a ticket. So as a multi drop driver you have to make sure that you will have enough drive time to be able to not just get in but be able to get back out.
neilsp252:
Parking bays in London and other cities are normally a max of 15 minutes therefore the RTD is not really an issue as you can just take 2 x 15 mins but to clear your drive time you will need to take a further break of 30 minutes. Where though, unless you want a ticket. So as a multi drop driver you have to make sure that you will have enough drive time to be able to not just get in but be able to get back out.
As a law abiding driver though, you would never try to unload a few boxes while on break would you?
tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ … actice.pdf
This is the bible used by the enemy
So if i drive for 30 mins then stop and unload for 15, does that make my driving time 45 mins, or is it classed as actual driving time, which would make it 30.
Its really confusing me. Im being told that its driving time only. I started at 0600 this morning and when i got back to the depot at 1230 ish the tacho was saying id only done 3 and a half hours of driving.■■? 
natsdad:
So if i drive for 30 mins then stop and unload for 15, does that make my driving time 45 mins, or is it classed as actual driving time, which would make it 30.
Its really confusing me. Im being told that its driving time only. I started at 0600 this morning and when i got back to the depot at 1230 ish the tacho was saying id only done 3 and a half hours of driving.■■?
Driving is driving and unloading is other work. If you didn’t have 45 minutes of break during that period then you only did 3.5 hours driving, or thereabouts, and the rest of the time would be other work. If that is the case you should have had a 15 minute break in there as you have done 6.5 hours of work (driving +other work) and you shouldn’t do more than 6 hours without a break of at least 15 minutes for the WTD.
I had a break of 30 minutes to do with the wtd.
So i can drive for 4.5 hrs and other work is on top of that. Sorry for sounding so thick
natsdad:
I had a break of 30 minutes to do with the wtd.
So i can drive for 4.5 hrs and other work is on top of that. Sorry for sounding so thick
Yes, the 4.5 hours is only driving, other work does not count toward that.
The 6 hours for the WTD is driving and other work.
Brilliant, thank you very much for clearing it up for me.
As Pete said there are many training providers with Courses covering this which can also count towards the DCPC, there is also a very good DVD available on the WTD although the guy who is on on it has the most monotone voice the information is good and easy to understand.
Hope this helps.
Rck