why oo why r so many drivers soo obbsessed with the tacho and its modes these days? no wonder there are so many accidents as drivers are more interested in the tacho than the actual driving of the lorry. this is going hand in hand with the evelvation of the VOSA man to some kind of bogeyman ready to find you for each wind of the legs.
Because if you get caught out it’s another thing to worry about that’s why.
As I was told a few years ago, if you end up in a serious accident and the tacho is not correct you be ■■■■■■ 
Don’t think people obsessed with the tacho but a lot of people don’t know how to use it correct and this a good place to ask the questions
Why should there be an accident? - driving gets automatically recorded when driving so the only time a driver needs to bother with it is when they are stopped - a driver knows by looking at the driving time how long they have before needing to stop so a clock is all they need to glance at when nearing the time to stop
Unless I have missed something?
One of the reasons why 40 should be observed on SC’s an accident involving a fatality whether at fault or not, worth some thought.
My employer allows 2 infringements every quarter go over that and you have to go on a refresher course, keep it up and it will lead to disciplinary action.
If your not sure this is the place to ask, better to ask what you may think is a daft question rather than pay out on fines, there’s no reason why it should cause an accident it’s part of your toolkit as it where, a tool with which we should all be experts with.
£2000 fine last year brings it home that vosa aren’t a muppet outfit anymore…
mike68:
My employer allows 2 infringements every quarter go over that and you have to go on a refresher course, keep it up and it will lead to disciplinary action.
I think that has become quite common with some employers, and probably the reason more and more are copying JOHNY, and parking on the hard shoulder to avoid them.
Can’t really blame them really, a £30 fine or loss of job for to many infringements is a no brainer choice.
weeto:
I think that has become quite common with some employers, and probably the reason more and more are copying JOHNY, and parking on the hard shoulder to avoid them.
Can’t really blame them really, a £30 fine or loss of job for to many infringements is a no brainer choice.
Exactly. Its a ridiculous position we’ve all sleep walked in to. Once upon a time the job was about driving a truck and delivering goods. Now all that comes secondary to the constant thought, stress and pratting about to appease Brussels spy in the cab. To think that you could lose your job because of two “infringements” is ridiculous when they could be in the nature of a few minutes. Its just taken me longer than that to microwave my tea in the truck, yet in the UK such small times could ruin peoples lives. I agree with having drivers hours rules but I’m 100% against them in their current form and how they’re applied and enforced. Its complete over kill and making the job ten times more stressful than it ever needs to be.
I’ve just driven 6 and a half hours straight, in the UK I’d risk losing my job for such a thing, here its perfectly fine, I’m much less stressed, less tired and actually do more work. In the UK/EU drivers are forced to do this, that and the other, do much less work as a result, are more stressed and are often to be seen on here worried sick about what will happen to them if the tacho ■■■■’s find out they’ve done 4:36 driving or something as equally stupid and unimportant.
I know a bloke who is long retired now he’d do 6 drops London or south coast everyday ,switch on the dash for the tacho turned it off at staples corner did all his drops turned on to drive back , big spread overs ect he was never stressed as he didnt worry about the clock,he stopped when he felt the need,I guess he’d be criminal now !
robinhood_1984:
weeto:
I think that has become quite common with some employers, and probably the reason more and more are copying JOHNY, and parking on the hard shoulder to avoid them.
Can’t really blame them really, a £30 fine or loss of job for to many infringements is a no brainer choice.Exactly. Its a ridiculous position we’ve all sleep walked in to. Once upon a time the job was about driving a truck and delivering goods. Now all that comes secondary to the constant thought, stress and pratting about to appease Brussels spy in the cab. To think that you could lose your job because of two “infringements” is ridiculous when they could be in the nature of a few minutes. Its just taken me longer than that to microwave my tea in the truck, yet in the UK such small times could ruin peoples lives. I agree with having drivers hours rules but I’m 100% against them in their current form and how they’re applied and enforced. Its complete over kill and making the job ten times more stressful than it ever needs to be.
I’ve just driven 6 and a half hours straight, in the UK I’d risk losing my job for such a thing, here its perfectly fine, I’m much less stressed, less tired and actually do more work. In the UK/EU drivers are forced to do this, that and the other, do much less work as a result, are more stressed and are often to be seen on here worried sick about what will happen to them if the tacho ■■■■’s find out they’ve done 4:36 driving or something as equally stupid and unimportant.
Well said.
Brussels interference has ruined what was once a great job…
How many hours are you allowed to drive without having a break ? Just interested to know…
I think the 4.5 hours rule is fine. I’ve been driving on tachos since 1985 and it works for me. I know the rules, and try not to bend them. Occasionally I have to infringe, but I’m ok with that as is my TM and VOSA because they both accept that ■■■■ happens. Why would anyone want to drive 6 hours without a coffee/toilet/stretch yer legs break anyway?
Robinhood’s point about us all getting stressed about going two minutes over our driving time is a good one though. When you remember that the whole point of the driver’s hours rules was to ensure drivers were well rested and less stressed, it makes you laugh. How that aim is achieved by relentlessly hunting down and destroying any driver who goes so much as twelve seconds over his fortnightly hours (I’m exaggerating here) I’m at a loss to imagine.
Ramon123:
Well said.
Brussels interference has ruined what was once a great job…
How many hours are you allowed to drive without having a break ? Just interested to know…
In Canada we can drive 13 hours per day with no requirement for a break within that. We can do a 14 hour spread over and if we do stop during the day for 30 minute increments or more, we can then extend our spread over by the same margin up to two hours to make up to a 16 hour spread.
In the US its 11 hours driving per day in a 14 hour window. In July this year they changed the law so that you cannot do more than 8 hours driving/on duty before taking a 30 minute break.
I’ve always worked on the basis of doing 5 or 6 hours drive, then an hour off and then the other 5 or 6 hours any way.
Like I say, we certainly do need rules in place to prevent running day and night but the current rules in my opinion are absolutely insane, for people to worry about fines for infringements of minutes is a joke in a so called free society. Even on many trucks here that have electronic logs, you can move the truck “off card” for a certain amount of distance so that when you get kept hostage on a loading dock and run out of time, you’re not criminalised for pulling off and parking up a few miles down the road. EU regs demand absolute robotic perfection and unfortunately that’s just not realistic in the world of road transport when ordinary working men and women who drive trucks are at the mercy of so many variables that can greatly affect their ability to complete their jobs or get parked up in the demanded time frames.
Regulating human beings to the minute or second is what causes this fear and paranoia, it causes drivers to take risks by parking on hard shoulders because the fear of being prosecuted or losing their job with an over zealous company is greater than the risk of being told off by the police for parking there and more than anything its a major cause of trucks having to put up and make do with peeing and ■■■■■■■■ in carrier bags and hedges because they’re out of time and Brussels says stop.
Born Idle:
I think the 4.5 hours rule is fine. I’ve been driving on tachos since 1985 and it works for me. I know the rules, and try not to bend them. Occasionally I have to infringe, but I’m ok with that as is my TM and VOSA because they both accept that [zb] happens. Why would anyone want to drive 6 hours without a coffee/toilet/stretch yer legs break anyway?
The point is that I can stop exactly when I want, for as long as I want. I choose. If I want a tea (dont drink coffee) I’ll stop for one, if I want to go to the toilet, I’ll stop, if I want to crack on because I have a 1100km drive like I did today, I’ll do 6 hours of driving, an hour off and another 6 hours. If I wanted to to have an hour off 3 times a day I would, and could, I’d just have got home two hours later thats all. Unlike you, my working life is not pre-ordained with a legislation shaped gun to my head, I’m treated like a grown up and allowed to make my own choices and having driven in both Europe and North America I can say that despite doing more hours and many more miles per week here, I’m less tired and stressed than was the case in the UK and Europe.
mrx:
why oo why r so many drivers soo obbsessed with the tacho and its modes these days? no wonder there are so many accidents as drivers are more interested in the tacho than the actual driving of the lorry. this is going hand in hand with the evelvation of the VOSA man to some kind of bogeyman ready to find you for each wind of the legs.
I’ve said this on other threads and i’ll say it again ,the worst thing that ever happened to transport was the tacograph.
In my day we didn’t have tacho’s and we just got on with the job. NOW! there are that many rules and regs. you spend more time worrying about whether you are breaking one stupid law or another than concentrating on driving.
robinhood_1984:
Ramon123:
Well said.
Brussels interference has ruined what was once a great job…
How many hours are you allowed to drive without having a break ? Just interested to know…In Canada we can drive 13 hours per day with no requirement for a break within that. We can do a 14 hour spread over and if we do stop during the day for 30 minute increments or more, we can then extend our spread over by the same margin up to two hours to make up to a 16 hour spread.
In the US its 11 hours driving per day in a 14 hour window. In July this year they changed the law so that you cannot do more than 8 hours driving/on duty before taking a 30 minute break.
I’ve always worked on the basis of doing 5 or 6 hours drive, then an hour off and then the other 5 or 6 hours any way.
Like I say, we certainly do need rules in place to prevent running day and night but the current rules in my opinion are absolutely insane, for people to worry about fines for infringements of minutes is a joke in a so called free society. Even on many trucks here that have electronic logs, you can move the truck “off card” for a certain amount of distance so that when you get kept hostage on a loading dock and run out of time, you’re not criminalised for pulling off and parking up a few miles down the road. EU regs demand absolute robotic perfection and unfortunately that’s just not realistic in the world of road transport when ordinary working men and women who drive trucks are at the mercy of so many variables that can greatly affect their ability to complete their jobs or get parked up in the demanded time frames.
Regulating human beings to the minute or second is what causes this fear and paranoia, it causes drivers to take risks by parking on hard shoulders because the fear of being prosecuted or losing their job with an over zealous company is greater than the risk of being told off by the police for parking there and more than anything its a major cause of trucks having to put up and make do with peeing and ■■■■■■■■ in carrier bags and hedges because they’re out of time and Brussels says stop.
Good to see that common sense prevails in Canada.Sounds like it’s geared to help the driver,unlike here,where well you know the rest…
4aaaa4dd:
£2000 fine last year brings it home that vosa aren’t a muppet outfit anymore…
What happened there then mate?
It is your duty as a professional driver to ensure that you, in the same way that you use your truck, use your tacho in the way in which it was designed and are in compliance of the regulations. POA, along with the other functions are there for a reason, so use it!!
mrx:
why oo why r so many drivers soo obbsessed with the tacho and its modes these days? no wonder there are so many accidents as drivers are more interested in the tacho than the actual driving of the lorry. this is going hand in hand with the evelvation of the VOSA man to some kind of bogeyman ready to find you for each wind of the legs.
If you’re incapable of keeping track and using a tacho correctly whilst doing the job then are you really fit to be a lorry driver? Why are you touching it at all when on the move?
It is a mandatory statutory requirement to use one and to use it correctly. Personally I’d sack any driver who couldn’t.
Rhythm Thief:
Robinhood’s point about us all getting stressed about going two minutes over our driving time is a good one though. When you remember that the whole point of the driver’s hours rules was to ensure drivers were well rested and less stressed, it makes you laugh. .
Do you know how to avoid getting stressed? Stop earlier. Nothing in law says you have to drive right up to the wire. If you think it might be tight, pull over when you get close to the time even if that’s 15-20 minutes before you run out. If the load doesn’t get there on time then so be it. The sky will not fall down, the world will not come to an end just because you didn’t make the delivery time.
If drivers are getting stressed out about it it is only because they themselves are creating the situation by getting stressed out over a number printed on a delivery note.
You cannot be legally sacked for being late for a delivery because you had to take a statutory break no matter what the TM says.
Yes, I know. As it goes, I never go anywhere near my hours. I was just pointing out that the hours rules and all the hoo hah surrounding them seem to create a lot of stress for something whose express purpose is to reduce stress.