Off road driving and tachograph regulations

ASK THE EXPERTS SAFETY, LAW AND WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE FORUM (INTE
1

Someone recently told me that as far as the tachograph is concerned off road driving is driving and should always be recorded on the tacho as such, but I interpret the following rules differently, for instance would you agree that driving on an enclosed industrial estate where there are barriers or a gate is offroad driving and can be entered on the tacho as other work.

FAQ.55) What counts as off-road driving?

The EC rules apply to vehicles used for the carriage of goods made on roads open to the public. Off-road driving therefore relates to journeys on any roads that are not open to the public, or to which access by the general public is restricted - such as army barracks, for instance.

FAQ.56) How do I record off-road driving?

Off-road driving should be recorded as “other work”.

If using the type of tachograph which automatically records any time the vehicle is in motion, a manual entry must be made on the reverse of the chart to indicate time spent driving “off-road” - ie. OW 09.00-12.00.

If using a non-automatic tachograph, the mode switch should be left on the other work symbol, and a manual entry made on the reverse of the chart, ie. OW 0900-12.00 (off-road driving) to help account for the missing mileage.

2

Ken,
the possible problem here is how ‘out of bounds’ is the area to the general public? There is plenty of case law regarding driving on docks which says that such driving comes under EC Regs. There is a stated case, although at the moment the Stella has caused my memory to fail as to which one, regarding whether driving on a private caravan site was ‘off road’ simply because there was a barrier present. Usually the best examples of driving off road are; quarries and such like and MOD bases. Here it is better to record the ‘out of scope driving’ as a note on the reverse of the chart as the ‘answer’ you quote suggests. Don’t think it’s a good idea to take the chart out as you go off road. make a manual entry and then put it back in as you go back on the road.
Alternatively, buy a digital tacho. When you go ‘off road’ you can select the ‘out of scope’ mode on the tacho, it then doesn’t count any driving towards your break / daily / fortnightly limits. When you get back on the road you simply cancel the ‘out of scope’ mode.