I had a MAN (truck that is 
) last week. Set my digitacho onto rest, made a phone call, chatted to another driver, then switched off the ignition, took keys out and went to canteen for 40 minutes. When I got back in the cab, the tacho had changed mode! It was on other work. I !found out that the company had had them set up ike that, I would have thought it illegal, but there you go. I took another 45 with the ignition left switch on, but because during the original break i went past my six hours, I still got an infringement for WTD break, even with a written printout.
Also, got an infringement a few weeks ago for driving 4:37. Was caught in an accident on M25, just passed j22 when traffic stopped, had 45 minutes driving left, went to jct 20 the A41, and stopped in first layby. did a print out with all the details on it, offered a copy to the transport manager, who said they didn’t need it, next day got hauled in for an infringement!
Another time i was parked on a bay in Tesco Magor for 3 hours, because I didn’t expect to be there that long, my digitacho was on other work. now as i had been sitting in a rest area, drinking coffee and chatting, I did a print out and made a manual entry for break taken away from vehicle, which i believe is legal. again offered a copy of the print out to the TM, who said, don’t need it, and again i got hauled in for a grilling a few days later.
So gentlemen, when is an infringement not an infringement?
just for the record (i know this doesn’t excuse me for anything) but i worked out on my way to livingston that i’d get there about 15 minutes over my time, now i know your still not suppose to but i thought what the hell 10 mins wont hurt! i have a good record on my tachos (untill yesterday) i did get to livingston doing 10 hrs 20 drive, now in my old job i would have got there tipped and stayed where i was for the night, but being new to rdcs i didnt now how much ■■■■■■■ about was involved moving from 1 bay then trundling round the yard for about 10 mins here and there. then getting told that i couldnt stay the night witch in turn cost me another 10 mins driving to the industrial estate up the road!! i have a habit of learning the hard way!! i wont be doing it again in a hurry thats for sure!!
if i end up getting arrested i’ll make a break for it gun this bad boy all the way to mexico!! whos with me!! 
thanks for the advice chaps and chapette 
You won’t get arrested! JUST FINED!!! 
dukeofdirt:
just for the record (i know this doesn’t excuse me for anything) but i worked out on my way to livingston that i’d get there about 15 minutes over my time, now i know your still not suppose to but i thought what the hell 10 mins wont hurt! i have a good record on my tachos (untill yesterday) i did get to livingston doing 10 hrs 20 drive, now in my old job i would have got there tipped and stayed where i was for the night, but being new to rdcs i didnt now how much [zb] about was involved moving from 1 bay then trundling round the yard for about 10 mins here and there. then getting told that i couldnt stay the night witch in turn cost me another 10 mins driving to the industrial estate up the road!! i have a habit of learning the hard way!! i wont be doing it again in a hurry thats for sure!!if i end up getting arrested i’ll make a break for it gun this bad boy all the way to mexico!! whos with me!!
thanks for the advice chaps and chapette
That’s only 10hrs 40 - still a ■■■■■■’ but not as bad as 11hrs 9. Over 11hrs is serious stuff, under is just gonna cost you more than you earnt that day… Worth doing it?
Tell you what
having read all the posts,l never thought ide say this but im glad to be out of the job and retired.
regards dave.
dafdave:
Tell you what
having read all the posts,l never thought ide say this but im glad to be out of the job and retired.
regards dave.
The job is still easy! Just don’t drive an hour and a half over!
I’ve seen one jump two minutes at a time more than once. I put it down to some kind of software bug that meant that the display hadn’t updated properly and so was showing a minute less than it should, and then when the end of the minute came up it did its sums and updated to the correct value meaning what it showed jumped two minutes. In the cases I have seen this it has been when I have been on break and looked at the time and the amount of break it was showing and thought “that’s a minute less than it should be” and then hey presto at the end of the minute it jumped two minutes to what it should have been. I’ve never seen it with driving time but it wouldn’t surprise me if the bug did the same thing when driving.
I’m confident that this didn’t affect anything that was recorded on the card though and is simply a bug in the bit of the software that updates what is shown on the display.
Paul
Am i right in saying that they dont mind up to 15 min to get back to base
Lucy:
OllieNotts:
I sat and watched my digi card when sat in the traffic in thurrock the other night and every time I stopped I pressed the arrow to display time. Every time I stopped for a certain length of time it went up a minute even though I was standing stillHave also left the yard in a morning having drove all of 10 seconds to trailer, hooked up and drove out again roughly 30 seconds as the yard isnt very big only to have 8 minutes on the driving time already
It has happened on every single unit I have used with a seimens digi in so either I am unlucky in that I always get ones that dont work or they are indeed crap and add minutes on to driving that you havent actually done. I know it isnt recording more driving time then duty time but it is still taking the ■■■■. That “only 10 mins at best” is what could be the difference in a £100 fine for a driver or not when getting pulled by vosa for going over his/her 10 hours drive time when looking for somewhere safe to park so it does matter, just because you and a lot of others on here wont drive to the maximum every day doesnt mean others wont and they need every minute possible especially when tramping and working on near on impossible deadlinesI am a tramper, I do run maximum hours, and the comparison done above involved dock queues, tipping and reloading. Oh, and a Siemens tacho (I’ve yet to use any other type.).
A lot of it comes down to learning to use the equipment to your best advantage. Remember, it counts any driving within a calender minute as a whole minute, so if you start backing under a trailer at 12.00 and finish at 12.01 on the clock, even though you only did 20 seconds each side of the change, it will record 2 minutes. That’s how it adds a minute after you’ve stopped - you had just tipped over into the next calender minute when you put the brake on, so when it assesses the content of that minute (which it does after the full minute has passed) it’ll “see” the driving and add that extra minute on to the total. It also only counts WHOLE minutes as break, so there’s no need to have 46 minutes any more to be sure, as the tacho does that for you.
The trick is to wait for the new minute to start before moving so as to avoid straddling 2 with a short move. If you watch any slow moving queue outside a box terminal or ferry port these days, you can spot the digi-equipped vehicles before seeing the reg plates, because we’lll be the ones letting a decent gap build in front of us so as to get a decent chunk of movement into the minute in which we move. Also, a Siemens will let you move for 2 seconds at a time without “noticing” the driving (you can prove this by putting it on break - they default to other work, usually - and doing a 2 second move. It’ll still be on break rather than having defaulted to other work afterwards, and the driving timer will stay the same). So if you’re back in up to a bay, try and get so that the move after you’ve stopped to open your doors is only a tiny one,and that’s another minute saved. There’s loads of situations where you can do that.
I didnt mean to suggest you dont apologies if it came across that way I know you tramp my point is that its a silly system. I didnt have the time to be checking block minutes and waiting to drive for 10 seconds inside or outside of a minute I have already driven its bloody stupid I didnt know that about the 46 min so thanks I have learnt something I always take 47 just to be safe
bjd:
Am i right in saying that they dont mind up to 15 min to get back to base
Not if your me and that 15 minutes that you thought it’d take turns into 1 hr!!
Gaz:
dafdave:
Tell you what
having read all the posts,l never thought ide say this but im glad to be out of the job and retired.
regards dave.The job is still easy! Just don’t drive an hour and a half over!
Yea i suppose you are right mate.What is probably straightforward seems complicated and over the top to an old git like me whos never experienced digi tachos having been ret 10yrs.
regards dave.
dafdave:
Gaz:
dafdave:
Tell you what
having read all the posts,l never thought ide say this but im glad to be out of the job and retired.
regards dave.The job is still easy! Just don’t drive an hour and a half over!
Yea i suppose you are right mate.What is probably straightforward seems complicated and over the top to an old git like me whos never experienced digi tachos having been ret 10yrs.
regards dave.
It’s complicated and over the top to me too matey! And I’ve got 40 years before I retire… Unless I get hung drawn and quartered for running over my time yesterday! 
twitchy bum time for me for the next couple of months!!
Now i relalise rules are rules but surley they wouldent fine you for being 5 or 1o min over your 4.30 i mean with the best will in the world you might ok ill make it to clackets but you dont quiet do it come on surley the vosa mans not that ■■■■ well the ones ive come across havent been once they look at your records and see that generally your ok imm sure they realise that these things happen on ocasions long as your not taking the rise
bjd:
Now i relalise rules are rules but surley they wouldent fine you for being 5 or 1o min over your 4.30 i mean with the best will in the world you might ok ill make it to clackets but you dont quiet do it come on surley the vosa mans not that ■■■■ well the ones ive come across havent been once they look at your records and see that generally your ok imm sure they realise that these things happen on ocasions long as your not taking the rise
It all depends on what mood their in I guess mate. Some people get a proper kick out of being a ■■■■■■.
dukeofdirt:
bjd:
Now i relalise rules are rules but surley they wouldent fine you for being 5 or 1o min over your 4.30 i mean with the best will in the world you might ok ill make it to clackets but you dont quiet do it come on surley the vosa mans not that ■■■■ well the ones ive come across havent been once they look at your records and see that generally your ok imm sure they realise that these things happen on ocasions long as your not taking the riseIt all depends on what mood their in I guess mate. Some people get a proper kick out of being a ■■■■■■.
And how often you’ve done it. If they check your card and in the last 2 or 3 months you’ve gone 10 minutes over twice, you’ll probably be OK. If you’ve done it every other day you’ll likely get into trouble.
Paul
I did a 10 hr 24min drive this year, my only offence all year.
My boss HAD to discipline me, and he did, HOWEVER he said he was more worried about the lads going 5 mins over 2 or 3 times a month.
VOSA are human, and if u hold ur hands up and be man enough to admit that you cocked up they should be ok!
Pull your card out if getting messed about on RDC and you are gunna be parked up outside when finished.
However if I was you Id send the digicard back as faulty (ill leave it to you as to why or how its faulty)
msgyorkie:
Pull your card out if getting messed about on RDC and you are gunna be parked up outside when finished.
However if I was you Id send the digicard back as faulty (ill leave it to you as to why or how its faulty)
Excellent advice!!!
msgyorkie:
Pull your card out if getting messed about on RDC and you are gunna be parked up outside when finished.
However if I was you Id send the digicard back as faulty (ill leave it to you as to why or how its faulty)
Good idea, it’s not like the data is stored on the VU is it?
spoke to my sister today shes in the plod told her about my crappy day she asked a traffic plod at work and he said it’ll be ok so long as i get the print out signed by my gaffer.
what good would this do? 
