Starting new job next week as flatbed recovery driver for well known national breakdown company. Will this type of work be exempt from tachographs and the wtd regulations, as I am hearing different stories on this. Start 2 week training coarse on Monday, so will find out full details then, but just curious of the laws on this before I go. Any info much appreciated .
Bloke who came out from Lantern’s to drag me home last year reckoned that he was exempt from tacho regs.
Don’t know about the RTD though.
Tacho exempt, yes.
But you still have to comply with Domestic regs and WTD, WTD applies to everyone regardless of what work they do, stacking shelves or what ever.
Cheers Fenman. After training ill post the relevant details. Coming off class 1 work after 19 years so a little in the dark. I know certain recovery drivers have specific exemptions. I ll be driving a 10 ton slide and tilt flatbed to collect vehicles that cant be repaired en route. Don`t know if this comes under recovery drivers within the forementioned legislation. Thanks for reply any way.
Cheers Dennis. Is it true every one can sign out off the WTD apart from mobile workers.
Andy smg:
Starting new job next week as flatbed recovery driver for well known national breakdown company. Will this type of work be exempt from tachographs and the wtd regulations, as I am hearing different stories on this. Start 2 week training coarse on Monday, so will find out full details then, but just curious of the laws on this before I go. Any info much appreciated .
Hi Andy, being flatbeds I’d guess it’s the AA your going to ? Good Luck !! Have a look into these sites which is where the AA patrols hang out - www.aapeople.co.uk
You’ll get all the info you need in those but you’ll have to register I’m afraid. There was a couple of Rent A Clown ones but it loks like they’ve been shut down .
I did a week for a recovery company and that was enough for me, apart from the pay, attitude and lack of proper training we were told that no tacho regs applied. But as mentioned above domestic and WTD rules do apply, also if you are transporting a vehicle from A to B (i.e. not recovering the vehicle) tacho must be used. Drivers were told this was untrue. I know of one driver there who did a 25 hour shift!
Nightmare job
Phil
Thanks guys. Bossjock its actually with the RAC. I think they mostly use subbies, but have decided to put some of their own wagons back on the road. Im just leaving for Birmingham now for 2 weeks training (YIPPEE), so ill let you know how things go.
I just applied for a job with a national breakdown company ( not sure about mentioning company names on here). Any way it was driving a ten ton recovery truck and advertised as £25,000 for forty hours OTE atinterview and got down to the last three and I think I was doing alright. Then they explained the working hours and pay, it was four twelve hour shifts so that was forty eight hours minus breaks. then there were banked hours. This brought the money up to £20,000 then you had to cover for your mate who was doing the other four days and then you could work extra shifts if you wanted. It was at this piont I saids no thanks and left. They are tacho excempt and I didn’t didn’t ask about WTD etc.
personally I work to live, not live to work but i think you could make good money if you want
Under Article 4 of EC Regulations 3820/85; specialised breakdown vehicles are exempted from requirement to use tachographs. The relevant case law is; Hamilton v Whitelock 1988, which defined a breakdown vehicle and the use to which it was put. The exemption from EC Regs brings the driver back into Domestic legislation; 10 hours driving and 11 hours duty. There is no requirement for HGV drivers under Domestic to have a mid-shift break or continuous rest. Vehicles that are exempt O-licensing (breakdown and recovery) are exempt record keeping. However, if a repaired vehicle is being returned to the owner, then that journey will not be exempt O-licence or tacho. Similarly, if vehicle are being moved from one garage to another then, again, not exempt tacho or o-licence.
When under domestic regs the driver is (currently) exempt RTR (the 48hrs average, 60 hrs maximum per week etc). If however, the driver then works under EC rules more than a set number of times in a reference period, he / she will come back under RTR. Drivers doing Domestic work come under WTD, which does give a 48 hour limit to the working week, but you can ‘opt out’ of this limit if you wish. You cannot ‘opt out’ of the limits imposed by RTR, except for the 10 hour night time worker limit.
i dont think you can be ‘forced’ to opt out of WTD, but of course there are always ways fore employers to do this
Replacement of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 on drivers’ hours
The Council adopted a Common Position on this proposal in December 2004. If the Common Position is agreed by the European Parliament, the following categories of vehicle would no longer be exempt
…specialised breakdown vehicles operating beyond a 100 km radius from base;…