Might’ve made a mistake here so would like to check;
I took a truck to a garage yesterday, thinking I’d be borrowing a van or getting a lift back to base I took my tacho out and filled it in. Trouble is, they fixed the truck there and then while I waited. So, to my mind, taking the truck back to base wasn’t for the company’s good (directly) and I took it back without a chart in (only 10-15mins). When I got back I put the other work (waiting for truck to be repaired) and driving time on the rear of the chart as a manual entry with a brief explanation.
Was I right to think the return trip was o.k. without a chart? Did I have to make the manual entries?
You were not correct in driving the vehicle back without a chart in. You could have used the same chart and written the reason why you had removed the chart in the first place on the reverse of the chart, then entered the odometer readings for the start and end of the trip back to base.
What you did goes some way to mitigating the issue but you have actually ‘failed to keep a record’ in that you have not used the tacho as required.
As geebee 45 said … use the reverse of the chart, enter the details as if you had “changed” trucks ie:- reg / mileage etc … but also note the reason for missing duty period.
If at anytime you make a mistake (or think you have), write on the reverse of the chart to explain … you’ve covered your arse
As geebee 45 said … use the reverse of the chart, enter the details as if you had “changed” trucks ie:- reg / mileage etc … but also note the reason for missing duty period.
If at anytime you make a mistake (or think you have), write on the reverse of the chart to explain … you’ve covered your arse
had a feeling I’d coqued up, I did write an explaination on the reverse as well as a manual trace for the hour or so of other work and the little bit of driving so hopefuly goes some way towards putting it right. I didn’t think you were supposed to use a chart in a vehicle that it had already been used in and was under the impression that to/from a garage didn’t need a chart but fair do’s, at least I can learn from it.
darkseeker:
had a feeling I’d coqued up, I did write an explaination on the reverse as well as a manual trace for the hour or so of other work and the little bit of driving so hopefuly goes some way towards putting it right. I didn’t think you were supposed to use a chart in a vehicle that it had already been used in and was under the impression that to/from a garage didn’t need a chart but fair do’s, at least I can learn from it.
As far as I know whenever you drive a vehicle fitted with a tacho you MUST use a chart/card in it whatever the reason your driving the vehicle for.
londonerupnorth:
As far as I know whenever you drive a vehicle fitted with a tacho you MUST use a chart/card in it whatever the reason your driving the vehicle for.
Myth. If you are exempt for a valid reason there’s no need.
That’s where I thought I was o.k - I thought to / from a place of repair was considered “not for hire or reward” or whatever the wording is and no disc required, still haven’t looked it up to be honest but from what’s already been said I can see I’d’ve been better off putting the chart back in.
darkseeker:
That’s where I thought I was o.k - I thought to / from a place of repair was considered “not for hire or reward” or whatever the wording is and no disc required,
I’ll use the VOSA GUIDE for EXEMPTIONS as it goes into specifics -
Vehicles undergoing road tests for technical development, repair or maintenance purposes, and new or rebuilt vehicles which have not yet been put into service.
This would not apply to vehicles normally falling in the scope of the EU rules on journeys to test stations for the purposes of annual test
darkseeker:
That’s where I thought I was o.k - I thought to / from a place of repair was considered “not for hire or reward” or whatever the wording is and no disc required, still haven’t looked it up to be honest but from what’s already been said I can see I’d’ve been better off putting the chart back in.
I am not sure why you thought you should have a disc in the head to take it to the garage and not to bring it back from there. Even putting a new card in would have been better than what you did, but the rear of the disc allows you to use 2 more vehicles.
As Geebee45 has already said, don’t lose any sleep over it, just don’t make a habit out of it
Drivers used to believe you could drive to La Jonquera or Irun and run around all weekend to the Super Mercardo with private use written on the card!!!
Just remember to complete the rear of the chart with this information.
Place of Start and Finish
Registration Number
Time of Change
Date
Kilometre Start and Finish
Total (optional)
I would probably mark the matrix grid, write a short explanation and even initial the card.
I believe any small infringements will be overlooked if you have attempted to explain them as long as they are not a daily occurrence, whether that be on digital or analogue. I also believe and have proven, that if you are going to do some “overtime” leave the card in, show what you have done rather than pulling fuses, winding clocks back or using the science of opposing forces
Just a mistake wheelnut, the chart was already in from the day’s work so it stayed in until I got to the garage (took it out as I was sure the truck would be staying there). When it came time to take the truck back I was sure I’d read somewhere that the disc could be filled in on the reverse for another truck but shouldn’t be used in the same truck twice, I didn’t happen to have any spare charts (another mistake) but I also thought disc wasn’t required to take the truck to be repaired because it wasn’t actually “working”.
I did fill the back of the chart in, including the grid (driving, other work etc) and wrote my excuse on it just in case. Still, we learn something each day…
I did a very similar thing about a month back, had a problem with the gearbox on the way back from London, couldn’t get into top gear, so I just ran it into our local service centre and parked it up and took my card out thinking that it wouldn’t be fixed until the following morning Anyways a fitter got on the job straight away and had it sorted within the hour so I put my card back in and then carried on to our factory and wrote on the back of the card that I had taken the card out by mistake with a short explanation of the circumstances, times and corresponding start and finish mileages. Since then I have been stopped by VOSA and the card for this incident was one that was within the check period that they required and it wasn’t commented on by them, so I’m sure I did the right thing by writing what happened on the back of the chart.
Don’t lose sleep over it and as WN has said it’s better to try and give an explanation of things rather than try to hide it by other means
Regards
Dave Penn;
I didn’t particularly want to give a very long answer (that’ll be a change then ) but there is a little more that perhaps I should add.
As far as the vast majority of drivers are concerned, if you are under EU drivers hours rules (or AETR rules if you’re going further) you must make a record of your activity for the whole day and that means using the Tacho. If you are exempt EU rules then you may use a Tacho, but if you do you must use it according to the EU rules, but your drivers hours will be different. Under these circumstances I’d recommend writing on the chart (using ‘out of scope’ on digital) to alert Police / VOSA to the fact that you’re obeying Domestic and not EU rules. The alternative with domestic rules is to use a Log Book, which I have often found to be as accurate as a SCUD missile.
There is nothing to stop you using the same chart in a vehicle ‘twice’ in a day. Quite often happens that you get back to base, think you’ve finished the day, complete the chart and get sent out again in the same vehicle. Note what happened on the back of the chart and make a manual entry to cover any time that the chart was out of the tacho.
If you swap vehicles during a day you should use the same chart for all vehicles, provided it is compatible. If it is not compatible and you don’t have any suitable charts with you, that will be the end of your driving for the day. You commit an offence if you use an incompatible chart. You cannot make a manual record in these circumstances. Blame the Boss, they should have supplied you with the appropriate charts.
OK, onto mechanics driving vehicles. There was something called a Commission decision back in June 2008 which said that drivers of unladen vehicles going to or from a local repairer or to statutory annual test were exempt EU rules. Before everybody gets excited the decision went onto say that these drivers should NEVER drive laden vehicles, so the exemption doesn’t apply to a ‘normal’ driver taking their vehicle to the garage or to test.
Finally if you do drive a non tacho vehicle from the garage back to home or base, remember to record that as ‘other work’ on the chart.
