Today was only my second day driving on my own after being out with other drivers where one of them told me I could use POA to delay my breaks which I believed, got quite a shock when I got back to the office and it turned out not to be the case, would’ve thought experienced drivers would of knew the regs! Now I will never use POA 
austers:
Today was only my second day driving on my own after being out with other drivers where one of them told me I could use POA to delay my breaks which I believed, got quite a shock when I got back to the office and it turned out not to be the case, would’ve thought experienced drivers would of knew the regs! Now I will never use POA
POA does delay working time breaks
Examples
start 6am
Work 1 hour
drive 2 hours
work 2 hours
drive 1 hour
noon = 15 min break after doing combo of work + drive for 6 hours
start 6am
Work 1 hour
POA 1 hour
drive 2 hours
work 2 hours
POA 1 hour
drive 1 hour
2pm = 15 min break after doing combo of work + drive for 6 hours
What about if you complete the shift with no breaks but you have used POA? So 8 hour shift with 3 hours POA
austers:
What about if you complete the shift with no breaks but you have used POA? So 8 hour shift with 3 hours POA
Presumably you are talking about WTD breaks and not driving breaks ?
Technically a shift with 5 hours working time does not require a break for the working time regulations, obviously if you do more than 4.5 hours driving you will need to have a 45 minute driving break.
Why do you want to use POA to delay your breaks 
tachograph:
austers:
What about if you complete the shift with no breaks but you have used POA? So 8 hour shift with 3 hours POAPresumably you are talking about WTD breaks and not driving breaks ?
Technically a shift with 5 hours working time does not require a break for the working time regulations, obviously if you do more than 4.5 hours driving you will need to have a 45 minute driving break.
Why do you want to use POA to delay your breaks
Yes WTD, I’m just going off what a driver told me as I was only having a shorter shift today
Don’t bother with POA unless you don’t get paid for breaks.
ajt:
Don’t bother with POA unless you don’t get paid for breaks.
Agreed.
Also be aware that digital tachographs wrongly count POA as break, so if you accumulate 45 minutes of POA the driving time on the digital tachograph will wrongly be reset, a few people have been caught out by this and ended up with infringements for too much driving time without the correct breaks.
austers:
Today was only my second day driving on my own after being out with other drivers where one of them told me I could use POA to delay my breaks which I believed, got quite a shock when I got back to the office and it turned out not to be the case, would’ve thought experienced drivers would of knew the regs! Now I will never use POA
I would suggest before saying “would’ve thought experienced drivers would know the reg’s” that you learn to understand tacho law and WTD directive then you would know that those drivers are correct. It is your job to learn to/know and understand the regulations for WTD and tacho regs.
Any period of POA delays the WTD by that amount, POA whilst double manning VOSA accept the first 45 mins of any POA whilst you card is in slot two as a break period, the only time where POA is accepted as a break. What POA does not do is cover a normal driving regulation break.
If you only worked for 8 hours and 3 of that is POA then it is impossible to break the WTD regulations, however it may be the tacho analysis software does not recognise the fact that there was no need for a WTD break.
But as said any breaks and POA will reset the driving time on the tacho head once 45 mins of either has elapsed, so if you use POA a lot then you need to know exactly how much driving you have done at any point, if unsure a simple printout will tell you how much driving you have done.
So the drivers are correct in what they have told you, try downloading the GV262 which is the bible on tacho law, keep a copy either printed off or download a PDF version on your smartphone tablet etc, and that way you always have it with you reference.
downloads.tachomaster.net/docs/G … d%20Eu.pdf
If you have a smart phone then use trucker timer a great app, this will help you keep a check on your driving time and WTD breaks and keep you within the law
truckertimer.com/
A great app once you get used to using it although not infallible but certainly helps if you use it right.
Also if your company use tachomaster then request a login from your compliance clerk or TM so you can also use that to keep a check on your driving hours so you know what hours you can do and when you can work a 6th shift etc.
It is your responsibility as the driver to ensure you understand the regulations and adhere to them, it is your licence on the line, it pays to know all of this information.
ajt:
Don’t bother with POA unless you don’t get paid for breaks.
POA can be a very useful tool to learn to use properly especially if you are hourly paid and want to maximise the hours you can work to earn more money, mostly suits agency workers but can be very useful.
All breaks and POA can also lower your reference period working hours for the average 48 hours working week.
simcor:
ajt:
Don’t bother with POA unless you don’t get paid for breaks.POA can be a very useful tool to learn to use properly especially if you are hourly paid and want to maximise the hours you can work to earn more money, mostly suits agency workers but can be very useful.
If you get paid for recorded breaks then the same question - why bother with POA?