Hi guys,i need some advice on hours regs.im nearing the end of a 13hr shift and ive done my 15s for this week.im on my way to our warehouse to tip,which should take 30 mins plus,but i’ll only have 15mins when i get there.our trucks are parked up 10mins away,so that gives me 5mins to tip! Does that make sense? Ive phoned my boss in advance to tell him the situation and that i’ll gladly drop the trailer,but i cant stay to tip it with a pallet truck cus i’ll go over my hours.he said that its gotta be tipped by me and hes gonna take me in the office when i get back.basically,he’ll want me to tip the trailer off tacho,then drive 10mins on public roads to park up in our yard.im gonna refuse to do it and i fear he’ll give me the sack.his normal view is ‘pull the tacho and say i drove it round’ to explain the mileage discrepency.what should i do?
Tell him you’ll tip it, if it takes less than 15 minutes, and he can drive it round, on his own tacho. You are right to refuse to do it, what happens if you have an accident in that 10 minute drive and somebody was badly hurt or worse, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Is it worth a jail sentence, extreme I know but it could happen.
Take the full lot back to the yard and tell him to shove it as you dont intend to loose your license for him and tell him to tip it hiself.
Coffeeholic:
Tell him you’ll tip it, if it takes less than 15 minutes, and he can drive it round, on his own tacho. You are right to refuse to do it, what happens if you have an accident in that 10 minute drive and somebody was badly hurt or worse, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Is it worth a jail sentence, extreme I know but it could happen.
Although Coffee is correct in what he says, just to play devils advocate here.
How long have you been driving, ie have you got you’re 2 years experience
How easy would it be to get another job, even if you don’t have a reference (because you’ve been sacked)
Bristol is a pretty good area for work, with Tesco’s not to far away over the bridge.
Yes the correct answer is to tell him to get stuffed, but, if you are still a newbie, it might be wise to let it go this time until you’ve got you’re 2 years then tell him to stuff it.
This is assuming that this is a one off, if it turns out to be regular every week then yes tell him to get stuffed
Coffeeholic:
Tell him you’ll tip it, if it takes less than 15 minutes, and he can drive it round, on his own tacho. You are right to refuse to do it, what happens if you have an accident in that 10 minute drive and somebody was badly hurt or worse, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Is it worth a jail sentence, extreme I know but it could happen.
thats what i plan to say,but i had a similar situation last night at the end of a 15.i took it back to the yard and we agreed to tip it in the morning,which we did with no complaint.on the phone earlier when i told him my intentions he replied ‘im getting fed up with this happening,i want you in my office when you get back!’ reasonable bloke eh? Im with you,what happens if i have an accident with no tacho or over my hours? If i refuse to drive it round he’ll say ‘best get walking then!’ charming.im right up for a barney now.he seems to think that this practice is ok,get the job done at all costs.grrr!
Semtex:
Yes the correct answer is to tell him to get stuffed, but, if you are still a newbie, it might be wise to let it go this time until you’ve got you’re 2 years then tell him to stuff it.This is assuming that this is a one off, if it turns out to be regular every week then yes tell him to get stuffed
Do it once and will have set a precedent. Next time he knows he just has to threaten the sack and he will bend over and lube up. Next time it might not be 10 minutes, it might be 30. If he hasn’t had his licence long it’s even more important he hangs onto it and doesn’t jeopardise it.
If he goes for another job and they ask why he left his last employment and hasn’t got a reference, just tell them. Most decent employers would take it as a plus point and it might even sway the job in his favour.
Semtex:
Coffeeholic:
Tell him you’ll tip it, if it takes less than 15 minutes, and he can drive it round, on his own tacho. You are right to refuse to do it, what happens if you have an accident in that 10 minute drive and somebody was badly hurt or worse, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Is it worth a jail sentence, extreme I know but it could happen.Although Coffee is correct in what he says, just to play devils advocate here.
How long have you been driving, ie have you got you’re 2 years experience
How easy would it be to get another job, even if you don’t have a reference (because you’ve been sacked)Bristol is a pretty good area for work, with Tesco’s not to far away over the bridge.
Yes the correct answer is to tell him to get stuffed, but, if you are still a newbie, it might be wise to let it go this time until you’ve got you’re 2 years then tell him to stuff it.
This is assuming that this is a one off, if it turns out to be regular every week then yes tell him to get stuffed
it is quite a regular thing.i have got over 2years experience and an Adr,so getting work is no problem.its just that im on a good screw generally,truck,pay etc .but it bugs my ■■■ with is flipancy towards the law sometimes!
R.D:
Coffeeholic:
Tell him you’ll tip it, if it takes less than 15 minutes, and he can drive it round, on his own tacho. You are right to refuse to do it, what happens if you have an accident in that 10 minute drive and somebody was badly hurt or worse, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Is it worth a jail sentence, extreme I know but it could happen.thats what i plan to say,but i had a similar situation last night at the end of a 15.i took it back to the yard and we agreed to tip it in the morning,which we did with no complaint.on the phone earlier when i told him my intentions he replied ‘im getting fed up with this happening,i want you in my office when you get back!’ reasonable bloke eh? Im with you,what happens if i have an accident with no tacho or over my hours? If i refuse to drive it round he’ll say ‘best get walking then!’ charming.im right up for a barney now.he seems to think that this practice is ok,get the job done at all costs.grrr!
Well in light of this second post, disregard my previous post and tell him to stuff it
Your boss sounds like a couple of my ex-bosses 
As Coffee has said ,be reasonable with him but stay within the law. If he is the gaffer that expects you to break the law he’s not worth working for. A prime example of what this industry can be like i’m afraid.
I’d tell him to shove it if it were me, you’ll pick up work .
Good luck and let us know the outcome
Coffeeholic:
Semtex:
Yes the correct answer is to tell him to get stuffed, but, if you are still a newbie, it might be wise to let it go this time until you’ve got you’re 2 years then tell him to stuff it.This is assuming that this is a one off, if it turns out to be regular every week then yes tell him to get stuffed
Do it once and will have set a precedent. Next time he knows he just has to threaten the sack and he will bend over and lube up. Next time it might not be 10 minutes, it might be 30. If he hasn’t had his licence long it’s even more important he hangs onto it and doesn’t jeopardise it.
If he goes for another job and they ask why he left his last employment and hasn’t got a reference, just tell them. Most decent employers would take it as a plus point and it might even sway the job in his favour.
I do totally agree with what you are saying Coffee.
All I was saying was don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. (been there done that and got the T-shirt) In light of more information, recieved from asking the questions and offering the alternative, you will see that I have just done “A Labour Party” 
A u-turn in simple language
Sorry about my post to semtex,im doing this on my phone,and its a bit fiddly.you’ve all put valid points across,and thats exactly what i expected.im gonna park my truck outside the office and stroll in to see what he wants.i’ll give him 2 options,i’ll either drop it by the warehouse door or around the yard where we keep our units and trailers.the ball is in his court then.i dont expect him to be happy.but im not one from breaking tacho regs and no one pays enough to make me.
R.D:
If i refuse to drive it round he’ll say ‘best get walking then!’ charming.
So what he’s saying is “If you don’t break the law I’ll sack you”
Well that’s how I’m reading it anyway.
As far as I can remember, that’s tantamount to Constructive Dismissal.
What I can’t understand is, if this is a regular occurence, why is he expecting you to cover his backside. It aint your fault he’s an absolutely rubbish traffic planner.
Can you speak to somebody higher up the management chain at your place? If he aint the ‘boss’, then go speak to his superior. Speak to whoever holds the O licence, its as much in their interest as yours to run legal.
Are you a union member? It might be a good idea to get his threats to sack you for running legal, in writing and pass them on to URTU (or whatever they’re called today).
Good luck.
Kate:
R.D:
If i refuse to drive it round he’ll say ‘best get walking then!’ charming.So what he’s saying is “If you don’t break the law I’ll sack you”
Well that’s how I’m reading it anyway.As far as I can remember, that’s tantamount to Constructive Dismissal.
What I can’t understand is, if this is a regular occurence, why is he expecting you to cover his backside. It aint your fault he’s an absolutely rubbish traffic planner.
Can you speak to somebody higher up the management chain at your place? If he aint the ‘boss’, then go speak to his superior. Speak to whoever holds the O licence, its as much in their interest as yours to run legal.
Are you a union member? It might be a good idea to get his threats to sack you for running legal, in writing and pass them on to URTU (or whatever they’re called today).Good luck.
yep,hes the boss and top of the tree and im not a union member,sadly.hes a slimey git at times too and good at getting out of things.im thinking or recording the convo i have with him on my mobile phone as evidence.is this a wise idea?
Take a look at your contract of employment too, i’ll bet there is a clause telling you that flouting the tacho laws is gross misconduct, leading to instant dismissal.
Tenner says he hasn’t given you one
if you record it you HAVE to tell him beforehand
R.D:
Sorry about my post to semtex,im doing this on my phone,and its a bit fiddly.
Nothing to be sorry about mate, thats what we are here for, you provided extra information which blew my suggestion out of the water, namely
You were not a newbie
It was not a 1 off
the main reason for making my suggestion.
ok,got back with 25mins left,parked up and strolled in the office.we greeted each other politely and i said “you wanted to see me?” he asked why i started so early,i told him it was the warehouse manager and the transport managers idea to tip the trailer early to get it out of the way.as i knew roughly what i was doing today i agreed to bring it round over half an hour later to give me more time later in the day.i even told them what work i could do if i started that early as weve got regular runs.but no,my boss says i shouldve started 1.5hrs later,so its my fault!! tell them that,i was following orders.no,still my fault.he gave me a lecture on how he looks after drivers (which he does mainly),and he doesnt want em causing him problems on a night blah blah blah.i told him that i wasnt gonna run illegal,so ill drop the trailer and get on.blah blah blah,i look after you blah blah.i pointed to a wallchart which has the latest tacho regs on,and asked him what it meant :wink: and told him over and over again,do you want it done legally or illegally.in the end he said do want you wanna do,so i walked out and dropped the trailer and drove off :smiley: he rang me on my way to the yard basically saying,if i was gonna be awkward then hed be awkward in return,and i wouldnt like that blah blah.he told me to go and sleep on it and consider my options etc!!! 
i replied with,youll have my thoughts on todays events in writing on your desk in the morning.i.e cheerio,but he mustve put the phone down before i said it,cus the line went dead 
ah well,i`d better sleep on it then.
semtex,i was apologising for something i didnt do i posted my 1st reply via my phone and i thought it came out a bit wrong in a crazy layout kinda way,but looking at it via my pc,it looks okay 
R.D:
semtex,i was apologising for something i didnt do
no probs mate, i have looked at this site on my phone before and know how awkward it can look
R.D:
semtex,i was apologising for something i didnt do
That’s because someone fixed it for you so it didn’t look crazy. 