Usually about 3 minutes, how long does it take to check your wheels are still there
I’ve never seen anything in any VOSA publication that says you have to spend a certain amount of time on checks, just you must do pre driving checks.
In fact the guy in the VOSA video says once you get into a routine it should only take a couple of minutes.
I don’t have any set time to do the checks, I do the checks and it takes what it takes.
I’d love to see how a DHL trainer can make a walk round check last 20 minutes, 
muckles:
I’ve never seen anything in any VOSA publication that says you have to spend a certain amount of time on checks, just you must do pre driving checks.
In fact the guy in the VOSA video says once you get into a routine it should only take a couple of minutes.
I don’t have any set time to do the checks, I do the checks and it takes what it takes.I’d love to see how a DHL trainer can make a walk round check last 20 minutes,
by Dhl rules every day in card must started from manual entries for last shift ,and after must entry correct start time for present day.because drivers finish time for last working day can t finished when card taked out.must entry some 5-10 minut extra.
and start time can t be when put card in
robinhood_1984:
truckman020:
I heard it was a grey area and not legal,but another driver was stopped by VOSA and they said because he showed 10 min on the card prior to moving he saved himself a £60 fixed penalty,so I do exactly that now usually 10 to 15 min every morningDepends what they mean though. I doubt its a case of “We haven’t issued you a £60 fixed penalty because you’ve shown 10 minutes instead of 8 minutes” but rather a “We haven’t issued you a £60 fixed penalty because you’ve shown 10 minutes instead of driving off with no time showing at all for a check”.
Unless you work for a big jobsworth outfit where you have to falsify your tacho to show a duty status contrary to what you’re actually doing, ie show 20 minutes for a daily check when 12 minutes of that are sat in the drivers seat eating a sandwich then it will depend entirely upon the circumstances and common sense. If you’ve turned up to the yard that morning and being issued with a random truck then you’ll quite possibly spend 20 minutes or so checking the truck and trailer over. If however you’ve woken up in the truck you’ve being driving for the past two years, and keep a constant check on throughout your working days and weeks then 5 minutes or so in the morning will be enough, 10 if you really want to push it to extremes but there’s no reason why a tramper would spend 20-30 minutes every morning.
true, in theory it does only take 5 min,but I would not give VOSA the satisfaction of nicking me for that,so 10 min is fine for me,plus as you say I get a different vehicle every day so its best to have a good check
Andrejs:
muckles:
I’ve never seen anything in any VOSA publication that says you have to spend a certain amount of time on checks, just you must do pre driving checks.
In fact the guy in the VOSA video says once you get into a routine it should only take a couple of minutes.
I don’t have any set time to do the checks, I do the checks and it takes what it takes.I’d love to see how a DHL trainer can make a walk round check last 20 minutes,
by Dhl rules every day in card must started from manual entries for last shift ,and after must entry correct start time for present day.because drivers finish time for last working day can t finished when card taked out.must entry some 5-10 minut extra.
and start time can t be when put card in
I should state before this goes any further that I am agency. I dont know if DHL employees are subject to the same rules or if it is just agency drivers. I think they are but I have no proof either way
I use the same truck every day and usually the same trailer too.
My keys come home with me so I am straight to my truck, card in, other work, roll a ■■■, let the computer tell me if lights are ok, oil ok, few gulps of the brew while filling in defect book.
15 mins later drive off. Roll another ■■■.
Job done and if you don’t know of any defects when you park up, there won’t be any when you start up. (Tyres get a look over on way to truck)
H.
When i was at DHL they were very funny about the 15min rule (Their rule), I was only there a few months and they had an audit in the last week i was there and i had to sign a few cover notes for the 64 times during the previous 3mths where i left the yard before 15mins 
mrginge:
When i was at DHL they were very funny about the 15min rule (Their rule), I was only there a few months and they had an audit in the last week i was there and i had to sign a few cover notes for the 64 times during the previous 3mths where i left the yard before 15mins
I’ve got no problems with companies saying you need to show x amount of time as other work before you start driving, it their company, it’s not unreasonable and it’s not illegal.
What does annoy me is when they say it’s because VOSA say you must do so any minutes of walk round checks.
Here’s a wacky thought. Put your card in, just do a manual entry to reflect when you actually showed up to work, have a check then off you go without worrying about it.
Some places have Standard operating procedures that you should show a min 10/15 mins checking but that’s just a company thing, nothing in law time wise.
I’ve never done a manual entry on a digital tacho before so can someone please clarify something. If you’ve being overnighting somewhere and left the card in ticking over on rest mode and for whatever reason wake up a bit late and don’t have time to show 20, 30, 60 minutes or whatever the time is that Muppets Transport Ltd stipulate that they want you to show for daily checks, can you do a manual entry over what has being recorded as rest or can you only do a manual entry for time the card wasn’t present in the tacho unit? ie can you overwrite the last part of your rest period with a manual entry for ‘other work’ so long as the rest time before that exceeds 9 or 11 hours?
robinhood_1984:
I’ve never done a manual entry on a digital tacho before so can someone please clarify something. If you’ve being overnighting somewhere and left the card in ticking over on rest mode and for whatever reason wake up a bit late and don’t have time to show 20, 30, 60 minutes or whatever the time is that Muppets Transport Ltd stipulate that they want you to show for daily checks, can you do a manual entry over what has being recorded as rest or can you only do a manual entry for time the card wasn’t present in the tacho unit? ie can you overwrite the last part of your rest period with a manual entry for ‘other work’ so long as the rest time before that exceeds 9 or 11 hours?
I thought you had to pull your card to get it to change to a new shift.
Radar19:
robinhood_1984:
I’ve never done a manual entry on a digital tacho before so can someone please clarify something. If you’ve being overnighting somewhere and left the card in ticking over on rest mode and for whatever reason wake up a bit late and don’t have time to show 20, 30, 60 minutes or whatever the time is that Muppets Transport Ltd stipulate that they want you to show for daily checks, can you do a manual entry over what has being recorded as rest or can you only do a manual entry for time the card wasn’t present in the tacho unit? ie can you overwrite the last part of your rest period with a manual entry for ‘other work’ so long as the rest time before that exceeds 9 or 11 hours?I thought you had to pull your card to get it to change to a new shift.
RobinHood no you can’t do a manual entry if you left you card in.
Radar19 you can leave you card in all the time. All you do to show the start and end of your shift, is go into the menu, entry driver1, begin country, at the start of the shift and end country, at the end.
robinhood_1984:
I’ve never done a manual entry on a digital tacho before so can someone please clarify something. If you’ve being overnighting somewhere and left the card in ticking over on rest mode and for whatever reason wake up a bit late and don’t have time to show 20, 30, 60 minutes or whatever the time is that Muppets Transport Ltd stipulate that they want you to show for daily checks, can you do a manual entry over what has being recorded as rest or can you only do a manual entry for time the card wasn’t present in the tacho unit? ie can you overwrite the last part of your rest period with a manual entry for ‘other work’ so long as the rest time before that exceeds 9 or 11 hours?
You can only do a manual entry for the time the card was not in the tachograph, you cannot overwrite activities that have already been recorded, in fact the only time you get the option of doing a manual entry is when the card is inserted.
Robinhood
Re, laying in and leaving it on rest whilst doing walk round by mistake. Do a print out. Write on it you accidentally left it on rest during walk around, that you actually started at X time and should show 8/9/10/11 mins other work at start. Then hand in to company to shut them up.
Of course your min rest in 24 hours should now be referenced to new start time.
Many thanks for the answers.
Isn’t the job just getting more and more of a joy each and every day.
Start truck and turn on all lights. Quick walk around, no rust trails off wheel nuts, no flat tyres, all lights working, coupling still pinned, no visible damage, nothing falling off, good to go. 2 minutes.
It’s a bloody walk around check, I’m not employed as a mechanic, I’m a truck driver and there’s only so much I can check. Incidentally, I am a mechanic but not employed as one.
So I’ll continue doing 10 minutes other work before I leave but to be honest, most of that ten minutes will be drinking coffee and doing an 8 minute daily check on the net
I get to work - clock in and note the time. Then to office to collect paperwork and check the figures for the night.
When I get in the truck I make a manual entry for the start of shift as my clock in time, and end of shift the previous night. Usually the end is the time I pulled the card as I leave the truck in the yard at the end of the shift and jump straight in the car; I don’t do a walk round check unless I think there may be a new fault.
Once my card is in and running I check the vehicle, trailer and load, strap the load and close the curtains, fuel up and leave.
I know of drivers who sit in the cab for 10 minutes doing nothing because they don’t know how to make a manual entry
Anyone who doesn’t do a proper walk round check at the start of a shift is a fool.
What brought it home to me was going on 15 years ago now. Parked up at Sara Lee on the night time, got to my wagon in the morning. Nobody else had it and like you I took the keys home. Doing my walk round check which you don’t see the point of doing I noticed a lump of tread missing from a drive axle tyre. When the tyre fitter came and removed it, the tread I had seen around this missing lump was actually the only tread on the tyre. All of it was missing barring about a 1ft square patch. And there had been no indication of a problem on the drive back to the yard the day before.
If I were some of you I’d not have bothered checking and would have gone out on that tyre and knowing my luck it would have been on the S bends at the bottom of Garrowby Hill where it decided to let you.
Here’s a great idea. How about get to work, put your card in as soon as you take over the vehicle and then record how long it actually takes you to check your vehicle?
I can’t believe the stupid question or some of the stupid responses.
Is there an echo in here ?