OVLOV JAY:
I mean no disrespect here at all, but if you’ve got a tmcpc as well as a dcpc, why did you need to post on here? Three reduced rests is pretty much rule number one on drivers hours, so it should’ve been obvious to a Tm qualified driver
I’m not the OP!!
Pretty sure I’ve never asked about drivers hours ever.
kjw21:
OVLOV JAY:
I mean no disrespect here at all, but if you’ve got a tmcpc as well as a dcpc, why did you need to post on here? Three reduced rests is pretty much rule number one on drivers hours, so it should’ve been obvious to a Tm qualified driverI’m not the OP!!
so you’re not, back to bed for me haha 
Kerragy:
kjw21:
I don’t think it is necessarily a bad idea that a planner (and I mean purely scheduling/running drivers, nothing more in depth) has some form of certifiable training.I don’t mean a full CPC but certainly the equivalent of a couple of modules of the drivers CPC particularly in relevance to drivers hours.
It would certainly solve some problems as a bog standard planner can always fall back in the fact they often have no specific training.
The proviso should be they also hold some accountability. This would certainly sharpen their “optimism” regarding some routings if the prospect of them being held to be responsible is there.
I don’t mean that they stand in the dock next to a driver who knowingly runs bent of his own accord but certainly should be answering questions if a firms drivers are continually running over due to ■■■■ poor planning.
That’s what a Transport Manager is for. If you have a planner asking you to break the law, you go to your Transport Manager. They are the responsible person that gets held to account as well as the driver. It is in their interest to ensure the routers have the knowledge.The system has this right, we are always complaining that the industry is over-regulated. The last thing we need is more hoops to jump through. I agree with F reds. Learn the rules, refuse to do anything you shouldn’t be.
Don’t have to rely on BS you hear in waiting rooms at RDCs. I swear the misinformation and half truths passed on by Barrack Room Lawyers in these places that becomes canon is responsible for more unnecessary Friday nights stuck in lay-bys than the genuine rules are.
+1 I couldn’t have put it better myself
F-reds:
He’s saying a planner should have a cpc in drivers hours.I don’t think we need to be devalued anymore than is necessary! Learn the regs so it doesn’t matter what the bloke on the end of the phone thinks he knows…
Of course it matters what he thinks! If he had at least a basic grasp of drivers’ hours regulations he wouldn’t be planning runs in a way that cannot legally be done, so the drivers wouldn’t need to chuck it back at him (or say nothing and simply park up mid-run when the hours run out), leaving vehicles/loads/trailers/drivers in the “wrong” place for future planned movements. In the final analysis it will always be down to the driver to decide, with his expert knowledge, what can or cannot be achieved but surely it makes so much more sense for the basic route planning to be done with a good knowledge of the regs in much the same way that they plan weights and pallet numbers to fit on the vehicle?
It has nothing to do with devaluing anyone, and everything to do with “joined up thinking”.
Roymondo:
F-reds:
He’s saying a planner should have a cpc in drivers hours.I don’t think we need to be devalued anymore than is necessary! Learn the regs so it doesn’t matter what the bloke on the end of the phone thinks he knows…
Of course it matters what he thinks! If he had at least a basic grasp of drivers’ hours regulations he wouldn’t be planning runs in a way that cannot legally be done, so the drivers wouldn’t need to chuck it back at him (or say nothing and simply park up mid-run when the hours run out), leaving vehicles/loads/trailers/drivers in the “wrong” place for future planned movements. In the final analysis it will always be down to the driver to decide, with his expert knowledge, what can or cannot be achieved but surely it makes so much more sense for the basic route planning to be done with a good knowledge of the regs in much the same way that they plan weights and pallet numbers to fit on the vehicle?
It has nothing to do with devaluing anyone, and everything to do with “joined up thinking”.
I don’t disagree with a word you have put there.
However I do not think we need to legislate to achieve this, because good bosses already do this. But I think that less scrupulous bosses would use it as an excuse however to lower a drivers wages if he HAD to have a CPC bloody trained bod doing the planning!
F-reds:
Roymondo:
F-reds:
He’s saying a planner should have a cpc in drivers hours.I don’t think we need to be devalued anymore than is necessary! Learn the regs so it doesn’t matter what the bloke on the end of the phone thinks he knows…
Of course it matters what he thinks! If he had at least a basic grasp of drivers’ hours regulations he wouldn’t be planning runs in a way that cannot legally be done, so the drivers wouldn’t need to chuck it back at him (or say nothing and simply park up mid-run when the hours run out), leaving vehicles/loads/trailers/drivers in the “wrong” place for future planned movements. In the final analysis it will always be down to the driver to decide, with his expert knowledge, what can or cannot be achieved but surely it makes so much more sense for the basic route planning to be done with a good knowledge of the regs in much the same way that they plan weights and pallet numbers to fit on the vehicle?
It has nothing to do with devaluing anyone, and everything to do with “joined up thinking”.
I don’t disagree with a word you have put there.
However I do not think we need to legislate to achieve this, because good bosses already do this. But I think that less scrupulous bosses would use it as an excuse however to lower a drivers wages if he HAD to have a CPC bloody trained bod doing the planning!
Who mentioned legislation?
To be fair - I did.
I think your over thinking it a bit F-reds.
It wouldn’t increase any legislation towards the driver.
It wouldn’t devalue a driver either as he would still have to have the basic knowledge exactly as they have now.
Nothing would really change from the drivers ultimate responsibility regarding their own hours other than a planner would have to have a provable (via basic qualification, not a full CPC like you said - merely an equivalent of a single drivers CPC module) grasp of drivers rules/regs and are therefore answerable as the planner loses the excuse of poor knowledge, be it stood in front of you at the desk, the TM during a bollocking, or the TC during a full on gripping.
How can that effect a driver in anything other than a positive way?
90% of drivers would notice no difference because they work for decent planners. I’m guessing you work for a decent firm and also know your stuff and can stand up for yourself.
Lots don’t.
Why not help the 10% and help eradicate additional pressure from continual incompetent and unrealistic planning coupled with drivers (who admittedly should know their stuff) being fed ■■■■■■■■ “just to get the job done”
BradCarTransporter:
Thanks for that, they were telling me I can work 15 hours as tonight don’t count for daily rest. I’m glad I checked as they made me doubt myself tbh.
If it’s any consolation, yours is not the only office that thinks this…So far I’ve managed to talk 4 drivers out of doing more than 15 hours on a Friday… 
Kate:
BradCarTransporter:
Thanks for that, they were telling me I can work 15 hours as tonight don’t count for daily rest. I’m glad I checked as they made me doubt myself tbh.If it’s any consolation, yours is not the only office that thinks this…So far I’ve managed to talk 4 drivers out of doing more than 15 hours on a Friday…
I always thought it was different rules for a Friday especially if you had an appointment at the pub .
Today’s joke of an experience with an allegedly experienced (12 years) traffic planner has reiterated that they need some compulsory training and accountability IMHO.
I’ve banged out 3 X 15 hour shifts.
The planner gets told by text at the end of the day duty times and any limitations I.e I’ve already used two 10 hour drives etc.
Yesterday was the last of the 3 and I called in when empty and with no prompting got told to drop the trailer at a customer two hours away.
When a gap in the speech actually allowed I pointed out I had 30 mins duty left and it was getting parked ASAP.
You would think I’d murdered a child for the response I got. Anyway that got sorted and as per every day they got told what hours I could do for the remaining shifts etc.
Roll round to today.
The same planner and virtually the same run today but due to no delays completed in 12 hours not 14 1/2.
Got the same response when told I couldn’t make the customers yard which is two hours away.
Including the long winded phone calls last night that makes three times so far they have been made aware of the legalities and limitations of my hours I have available.
From that point on I have been text with two different plans. Both of which are impossible to legally meet the loading times. Not just slightly but by hours. Both times text back saying why I won’t be doing them unless they are re booked.
So in total I think I’m up to pointing out the obvious 5 separate times in 24 hours to the same person.
Any complaints by me will be met by deaf ears as apparently she is the saviour of the company and is all that is good with the world and to be honest I am not like that I’d rather just stand my ground and be polite but firm.
She is clueless and a weaker driver would feel pressured that makes her a liability in my eyes.
Sorry for the rant but we screw up as drivers we face sanction. Planners screw up, a driver caves in and complies and they just walk away whistling with all the blame passed on.
Ok so having never had to work a shift split over a weekend before, I’ve now got another question.
If I’ve worked the following
Mon 15 hrs
Tues 15 hrs
Weds/Thurs weekly rest
Fri 11 hrs
Sat 15 hrs
Forgetting the actual working time,am I limited to a 13 hr today ?
Reading through the regs online I can work with 3 reduced daily rests between weekly rests but I am unsure due to working outside of my usual fixed weekly pattern.
It might sound stupid to many of you but it’s still a learning curve for me.
Thanks
BradCarTransporter:
Ok so having never had to work a shift split over a weekend before, I’ve now got another question.If I’ve worked the following
Mon 15 hrs
Tues 15 hrsWeds/Thurs weekly rest
Fri 11 hrs
Sat 15 hrsForgetting the actual working time,am I limited to a 13 hr today ?
Reading through the regs online I can work with 3 reduced daily rests between weekly rests but I am unsure due to working outside of my usual fixed weekly pattern.
It might sound stupid to many of you but it’s still a learning curve for me.
Thanks
You can have 3 reduced daily rest periods between weekly rest periods, assuming you had an 11 hour daily rest period after Fridays shift you can have another 2 reduced daily rest periods (15 hour shifts) before your next weekly rest period.
So no you are not limited to a 13 hour shift today.
Thanks for that, got 11 off Friday so that works out well for me now.
Thanks for your help