i find on 2 occasions a week 4 or 5 hours is fine. wouldnt be if it was every night but some days you sleep less, some more. Not driving but i have worked a full weekend with no sleep at all. as a 1 off its ok. going without sleep on a regular basis is what gets you.
depends on individual
i dont mind 9 off in the truck
but will never have 9 at home unless the truck is outside the house
enit?:
steve_24v:
I would say it depends on the individual…I try and keep my days consistent by starting at 6am and am happy with a 9 off in the truck, find 11’s a little boring.
Not always easy to do if your tramping on general. Unless your already loaded for tomorrow. Get your head down during evening rush hour. All you have to do then is find a take away and fat lay-by.
Easily done if you run till 9 pm 
Without fail I’m awake at 5, knowing this I park up accordingly. 8am tip, then I park 2hrs away, if I can’t work it then It will most likley be late 
Nothing worse than wide varying start times, and a major factor of fatigue IMO, starting at or around the same time each morning enables me to breeze through a 15 hour day 
I can’t be had with planners mucking around with my day, “I start at 6, work around it”.
10 hours off. so you have 1 hour to wind down, and 1 hour to get sorted in the morning. but 8 hours sleep is enough for anyone.
any more than 8 hours sleep and you become a slob.
that’s why we need a 14 hour maximum day, no split breaks or rests, no maximumdriving limit, as long as it’s done within the 14 hour day.
limeyphil:
10 hours off. so you have 1 hour to wind down, and 1 hour to get sorted in the morning. but 8 hours sleep is enough for anyone.
any more than 8 hours sleep and you become a slob.that’s why we need a 14 hour maximum day, no split breaks or rests, no maximumdriving limit, as long as it’s done within the 14 hour day.
But if the regs were that simple they would’nt have a job for all those bureaucrats but I’d say 12 hours max including a break and 12 off would be more sensible?.The problem is with limits many of the guvnors expect everyone to work up to them regularly and nine hours of driving with 2 hours of other work and an hour off in the middle is fair but running at 60 mph would probably allow the same amount of work to get done as that 14 hour day would.
9 hours is plenty for me when im on the road, because i can simply park up and put my feet up, no hassles, whereas if im to go home for the night theres the driving to and from work, plus i have to interact with the missus so that takes up most of my sleeping time
If money can’t be earned by the employer within 12/13 hours then they are doing something wrong in my opinion. I/we/most drivers work in excess of 60 hours every week. The 48 hour rule is gibberish but what other industry encourages working to the maximum? WTD rule is 60 hours per week but put in the poa and we’re caput!
I think there should be a Government intervention on this because we are being abused as workers, but becuse we are drivers we are ignored. I personally would like to see a fair wage for 60 hours DUTY time! That is more than enough hours for a standard working man…there is more to life than work! I’m a tramper but still like free time even out on the road, I’m definately not lazy but some days when starting at 04:30 and working up to 19:00 I feel abused!
I enjoy the job and won’t jack in until the cpc becomes involved in 5 years time, so I will crack on and save as much money as I can for an early retirement because my actual retirement date is not until 
2000 & 20 jerkin 7 
for those who think 12 on, 12 off is the way forward.
do you think you could take 12 off the night before you are due to go home?
i would be running bent every thursday night.
limeyphil:
for those who think 12 on, 12 off is the way forward.
do you think you could take 12 off the night before you are due to go home?
i would be running bent every thursday night.
Yes. the reasoning behind the 2007 tacho changes was to get more time at home according to blurb read, it worked exactly the opposite for me.
An extra point worth noting was that as we used most of our reductions in the week, it meant taking an 11 hour break at Ashford on a Friday night, bloody soul destroying!
Wheel Nut:
limeyphil:
for those who think 12 on, 12 off is the way forward.
do you think you could take 12 off the night before you are due to go home?
i would be running bent every thursday night.Yes. the reasoning behind the 2007 tacho changes was to get more time at home according to blurb read, it worked exactly the opposite for me.
An extra point worth noting was that as we used most of our reductions in the week, it meant taking an 11 hour break at Ashford on a Friday night, bloody soul destroying!
12 on 12 off would be ok for trunking work where you go home at the end of each shift? but allow exemptions for tramping along the lines of the old rules of reduced daily rest periods and give the hours back by having longer at home later?.But I reckon that it would be better to employ more drivers in the industry and share the workload more especially on continental work.
Carryfast:
Wheel Nut:
limeyphil:
for those who think 12 on, 12 off is the way forward.
do you think you could take 12 off the night before you are due to go home?
i would be running bent every thursday night.Yes. the reasoning behind the 2007 tacho changes was to get more time at home according to blurb read, it worked exactly the opposite for me.
An extra point worth noting was that as we used most of our reductions in the week, it meant taking an 11 hour break at Ashford on a Friday night, bloody soul destroying!
12 on 12 off would be ok for trunking work where you go home at the end of each shift? but allow exemptions for tramping along the lines of the old rules of reduced daily rest periods and give the hours back by having longer at home later?.But I reckon that it would be better to employ more drivers in the industry and share the workload more especially on continental work.
Could possibly agree with that bit in blue but employing more drivers on the continent? there are already too many drivers, what do you want 4 on 4 off? How far you going to get? Most continental drivers won’t thank you for suggesting a second man, it is his or her home.
Wheel Nut:
Carryfast:
Wheel Nut:
limeyphil:
for those who think 12 on, 12 off is the way forward.
do you think you could take 12 off the night before you are due to go home?
i would be running bent every thursday night.Yes. the reasoning behind the 2007 tacho changes was to get more time at home according to blurb read, it worked exactly the opposite for me.
An extra point worth noting was that as we used most of our reductions in the week, it meant taking an 11 hour break at Ashford on a Friday night, bloody soul destroying!
12 on 12 off would be ok for trunking work where you go home at the end of each shift? but allow exemptions for tramping along the lines of the old rules of reduced daily rest periods and give the hours back by having longer at home later?.But I reckon that it would be better to employ more drivers in the industry and share the workload more especially on continental work.
Could possibly agree with that bit in blue but employing more drivers on the continent? there are already too many drivers, what do you want 4 on 4 off? How far you going to get? Most continental drivers won’t thank you for suggesting a second man, it is his or her home.
Did’nt mean double manning wagons what I’m getting at on continental is one run on one run off while the other driver does the following run on a rota.A rota system might work well for uk tramping work too?.It keeps the wheels turning for longer while the drivers don’t get so knackered and have a better home life and the wagon makes more money in the end.I reckon that there’s plenty of drivers like me who don’t see a truck cab as home.Also did’nt make any reference to 4 days on 4 days off working for continental work I’ve actually said the opposite on the WTD 48 hour week possibility topic.There’s no way you could run a workable continental operation under those regs as I can see.But 12 hour shifts 4 days on 4 days off would seem right under those rules for long distance UK trunking work where drivers go home every day?.The word is that owner drivers are exempt from the WTD so if it go’s to 48 hours that’s likely to be the future of continental work for UK operators even moreso than now.
whinge not fellows, the minimum rest period in australia is 7 hours…
beattun:
whinge not fellows, the minimum rest period in australia is 7 hours…
They also get home quicker because they’re driving big yank beasties at decent speeds and VOSA is’nt watching their every move with digi tachos.I’d do Darwin to Sydney and back and I reckon that all those Aussies would see is the dust in the distance and my tail lights (if they’re lucky) at night.
im on 6 nights starting at midnight finish at 9am delivering rolls from dumfries to newton /stewart/wigton driving a merc boxvan not hard work i find i sleep split shift during the day noon to 5pm then 8pm to 11pm bye fri tired 5am newton/stewart 15 min power nap im fresh sat night i can sleep 12hrs no problem scottishcruiser i meet your company lorries nightly going to and from the ferry
Carryfast:
beattun:
whinge not fellows, the minimum rest period in australia is 7 hours…They also get home quicker because they’re driving big yank beasties at decent speeds and VOSA is’nt watching their every move with digi tachos.I’d do Darwin to Sydney and back and I reckon that all those Aussies would see is the dust in the distance and my tail lights (if they’re lucky) at night.
on a standard fatigue management log book i can work (driving + loading / unloading = work) for 5 hours then i have to stop for 15 minutes.
I can then work for another 2 hours 45 minutes and i have to have another 15, i can then drive another 3 hours and i have to take half an hour, a maximum of 12 hours working time in 24 hours.
Just as an example, its an 11 - 12 hour spin from melbourne to sydney with breaks, so youve got to load up the trailers as well, all i can say is thank god we havent got tachos, digital or otherwise, but its only a matter of time.
and then youve got vosa’s cousins doing drivers for spelling mistakes in the log book, and fair enough you might be driving a 620 ■■■■■■■ signature but you can only do 100 / 103 with it and youre probably grossing 60 tonne with a b-double anyway, the roads are terrible at the best of times, except for the hume freeway, so i dunno how you reckon we get home quicker.
Personaly i find 9 more than enough when out, but strangley when am home i tent to have only 5-6 hrs a night !
also manage to steal a few hours here and there if i do feel tired , figured out half a hour -hour sleep when tired is better than a 44t piece of scrap down a ditch !
beattun:
Carryfast:
beattun:
whinge not fellows, the minimum rest period in australia is 7 hours…They also get home quicker because they’re driving big yank beasties at decent speeds and VOSA is’nt watching their every move with digi tachos.I’d do Darwin to Sydney and back and I reckon that all those Aussies would see is the dust in the distance and my tail lights (if they’re lucky) at night.
on a standard fatigue management log book i can work (driving + loading / unloading = work) for 5 hours then i have to stop for 15 minutes.
I can then work for another 2 hours 45 minutes and i have to have another 15, i can then drive another 3 hours and i have to take half an hour, a maximum of 12 hours working time in 24 hours.Just as an example, its an 11 - 12 hour spin from melbourne to sydney with breaks, so youve got to load up the trailers as well, all i can say is thank god we havent got tachos, digital or otherwise, but its only a matter of time.
and then youve got vosa’s cousins doing drivers for spelling mistakes in the log book, and fair enough you might be driving a 620 ■■■■■■■ signature but you can only do 100 / 103 with it and youre probably grossing 60 tonne with a b-double anyway, the roads are terrible at the best of times, except for the hume freeway, so i dunno how you reckon we get home quicker.
Just as I said you’ve got there just what we need.You’re on log books which I have’nt seen now since I started out in 1980 and the only ‘mistakes’ we made in them were the ones which we wanted to but just don’t get the spelling wrong.You can run at 60 mph+.I bet you have’nt got a speed limiter on that b train limited to 53 mph and I hear that the Stuart Highway is in just as good nick as our A5.But we can only run at 40 mph and 50 mph on that which is a lot slower than you lot can run on that highway and you’ve got more roos on it than coppers/cameras?.Anyway a 3,000 mile run to Southern Italy and back will take us a lot longer over the alps and on the flat at 85 kmh than that mileage will take you over there.So by that measure if you can’t get home quicker than we can then you must be doing something wrong.Running 3,000 miles at 103 kmh would get you home a lot quicker than 85 kmh would if you’re doing long distance work which that Melbourne-Sydney run probably is’nt by Ozzie and European continental run standards?.
Carryfast:
and then youve got vosa’s cousins doing drivers for spelling mistakes in the log book, and fair enough you might be driving a 620 ■■■■■■■ signature but you can only do 100 / 103 with it and youre probably grossing 60 tonne with a b-double anyway, the roads are terrible at the best of times, except for the hume freeway, so i dunno how you reckon we get home quicker.
Just as I said you’ve got there just what we need.You’re on log books which I have’nt seen now since I started out in 1980 and the only ‘mistakes’ we made in them were the ones which we wanted to but just don’t get the spelling wrong.You can run at 60 mph+.I bet you have’nt got a speed limiter on that b train limited to 53 mph and I hear that the Stuart Highway is in just as good nick as our A5.But we can only run at 40 mph and 50 mph on that which is a lot slower than you lot can run on that highway and you’ve got more roos on it than coppers/cameras?.Anyway a 3,000 mile run to Southern Italy and back will take us a lot longer over the alps and on the flat at 85 kmh than that mileage will take you over there.So by that measure if you can’t get home quicker than we can then you must be doing something wrong.Running 3,000 miles at 103 kmh would get you home a lot quicker than 85 kmh would if you’re doing long distance work which that Melbourne-Sydney run probably is’nt by Ozzie and European continental run standards?.
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youre not running at 103 the whole way, except for the hume freeway all the other capital to capital routes run through towns, so youre dropping from 100 down to 50, then 65 tonne doesnt pick up back to 103 too quickly no matter what horse your sitting on, but i take your point, we’ve got a couple more kmph to play with and a bit more horsepower and open roads, but another thing the coppers love to hide under trees with the speed cameras, and once it gets dark youve got all sorts of wildlife coming out onto the road for warmth and food, roos, wombats, sheep, cows, snakes, lizards, dont much like driving at night here to be honest 
beattun:
Carryfast:
and then youve got vosa’s cousins doing drivers for spelling mistakes in the log book, and fair enough you might be driving a 620 ■■■■■■■ signature but you can only do 100 / 103 with it and youre probably grossing 60 tonne with a b-double anyway, the roads are terrible at the best of times, except for the hume freeway, so i dunno how you reckon we get home quicker.Just as I said you’ve got there just what we need.You’re on log books which I have’nt seen now since I started out in 1980 and the only ‘mistakes’ we made in them were the ones which we wanted to but just don’t get the spelling wrong.You can run at 60 mph+.I bet you have’nt got a speed limiter on that b train limited to 53 mph and I hear that the Stuart Highway is in just as good nick as our A5.But we can only run at 40 mph and 50 mph on that which is a lot slower than you lot can run on that highway and you’ve got more roos on it than coppers/cameras?.Anyway a 3,000 mile run to Southern Italy and back will take us a lot longer over the alps and on the flat at 85 kmh than that mileage will take you over there.So by that measure if you can’t get home quicker than we can then you must be doing something wrong.Running 3,000 miles at 103 kmh would get you home a lot quicker than 85 kmh would if you’re doing long distance work which that Melbourne-Sydney run probably is’nt by Ozzie and European continental run standards?.
youre not running at 103 the whole way, except for the hume freeway all the other capital to capital routes run through towns, so youre dropping from 100 down to 50, then 65 tonne doesnt pick up back to 103 too quickly no matter what horse your sitting on, but i take your point, we’ve got a couple more kmph to play with and a bit more horsepower and open roads, but another thing the coppers love to hide under trees with the speed cameras, and once it gets dark youve got all sorts of wildlife coming out onto the road for warmth and food, roos, wombats, sheep, cows, snakes, lizards, dont much like driving at night here to be honest
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Those coppers out there must be real jobsworths and on a mission if they want to sit out there in the middle of the outback waiting for someone to come by at 103 kmh+ with a roadtrain in the middle of the night or in 50 degrees centigrade heat in the day?.That Darwin to Sydney or Perth to Sydney run must have loads of open stretches where you can wind a 60 tonner up to 103 kmh and keep it there for a decent average speed over the total and running within the limit?.Just hope that your government don’t decide to adopt European rules for you all because then you’d know what we’re whingeing about and those roos will be out there dancing around on the road laughing because at our speeds they’ll survive if you hit em with a roadtrain with a roo bar on the front.