New Driver

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi, I first posted a good few months ago now about drivers for private use hgv driving.

Anyway

I bought my first big truck a 16 ton Renault Midlum drives lovely. Me and a few mates race banger at weekends at will only be used for private use so i have decided to run a tacho, i know you are supposed anyway but a few of my other mates with similar size trucks are adament you don’t need to.

It has the old type tacho behing one of the clocks but i am unsure what the little knobs do at the bottom, i was explained onmy lessons but that was a few years ago.

I can remember to how to fill one in. Where we are going is about 3 or so hours away so i won’t need to stop for a break, what i am wandering is when we arrive what position do the knobs have to be in because the truck will be starting and stopping allday so we can use the crane and winch but the truck won’t be moving. Then after another 3 hour trek home so if we get stopped will the tacho show that i have not been driving allday without a break so i won’t be over hours.

Also at the moment the truck has a £650 tax disc in it, is it true i can change the use of the truck to private hgv at the tax office so i can get the cheap tax, i think it is about £160 for the year.

Thanks for any help.

2

alboy850:
is it true i can change the use of the truck to private hgv at the tax office so i can get the cheap tax

A private LGV can be taxed as that - PRIVATE - so yes you can :smiley:

alboy850:
Where we are going is about 3 or so hours away so i won’t need to stop for a break, what i am wandering is when we arrive what position do the knobs have to be in because the truck will be starting and stopping allday so we can use the crane and winch but the truck won’t be moving. Then after another 3 hour trek home so if we get stopped will the tacho show that i have not been driving allday without a break so i won’t be over hours.

3 hours each way = 6 hours so a 45 min break must be shown by 4.5 hours of driving.

As you are not moving the truck once it is parked then I would put the tacho on break. - in fact, I would leave it on the break mode all the time as driving is automatically recorded.

You are not doing ‘other work’ or POA as this is a leisure activity

3

alboy850:
but a few of my other mates with similar size trucks are adament you don’t need to.

It may be worth reminding them of the rule change from a couple of years ago that limits private use to 7.5t :slight_smile:

4

Thanks Rog,

But if the lorry is dormant after the first 3 hours of driving, would the journey home be a seperate trip.

5

alboy850:
Thanks Rog,

But if the lorry is dormant after the first 3 hours of driving, would the journey home be a seperate trip.

yes as there would be more than 45 mins of break seperating the two journeys.

A new driving period starts when at least 45 mins of break has been taken - that 45 mins can be in one go or 15 mins then 30 mins

As you only do about 6 hours of driving in one day then that gets nowhere near the maximum allowed for a day.