How many of you work for a company that abuse the current reference period system? Week after week you work 55-60 hours only to be given it back in a hefty lump sum when they hit panic stations near the end of the period. This is an abuse of the system in my view as the 48 hour average was brought in to reduce accidents brought on by driver fatigue, making the roads a safer place for everyone.
I just wish there was a way for drivers to fight back against such system abuse, but under the current system and to my knowledge we can’t. The Unions are largely powerless and the shop stewards are a corrupt bunch in the pockets of the gaffers.
The 48 hour working week was actually bought in by Europe to protect factory workers. It was so that there bosses could not force them to work on a Sunday, as by working a full day saturday there 48hr week was up. Strange isn`t it that ours is the only industry which sees a 48hr week as part time working.
Malky80:
How many of you work for a company that abuse the current reference period system? Week after week you work 55-60 hours
Once you’ve deducted breaks and if you use PoA correctly its quite hard to do 55-60hrs work week in, week out especially if you’re doing something with a lot of waiting such as fridges or containers.
i don’t really see how that is abusing the reference period, so long as you average up to 48 at the end of the reference period and don’t go over 60 in a week, what’s the problem?
I love it personally. 8 days at home on full pay at the end of the last period!
Happy days. Last year I had 14 extra days off on top of my 33 holidays… get those hours in!
Malky80:
How many of you work for a company that abuse the current reference period system? Week after week you work 55-60 hours only to be given it back in a hefty lump sum when they hit panic stations near the end of the period. This is an abuse of the system in my view as the 48 hour average was brought in to reduce accidents brought on by driver fatigue, making the roads a safer place for everyone.
I just wish there was a way for drivers to fight back against such system abuse, but under the current system and to my knowledge we can’t. The Unions are largely powerless and the shop stewards are a corrupt bunch in the pockets of the gaffers.
Don’t think the firms abuse the system,it’s more the drivers to be fair,if you want to do 70/80 hrs per week you have to bung it on break/ poa at every opportunity,if you only want to do 30/40 hrs per week then it’s on break/poa the bare minimum.
Malky80:
How many of you work for a company that abuse the current reference period system? Week after week you work 55-60 hours
Once you’ve deducted breaks and if you use PoA correctly its quite hard to do 55-60hrs work week in, week out especially if you’re doing something with a lot of waiting such as fridges or containers.
That is after breaks and as a multi drop driver, we don’t use PoA. If I aint driving, I’m working.
stevieboy308:
i don’t really see how that is abusing the reference period, so long as you average up to 48 at the end of the reference period and don’t go over 60 in a week, what’s the problem?
They’re saying we should be working 48 hours a week for safety reasons as well as protecting the drivers who have a life. They allow companies a long reference period to allow for busy times, etc, to balance up the hours. Working 60 hours a week for 13 weeks in a row, only to give you 3 weeks off at the end of it might sound good to some, but during those 13 weeks (depending on wether you actually graft or not) the driver is likely to be fatigued. Therefore, I see it as an abuse of the system, as the company isn’t dealing with the balancing of drivers hours in a responsible manner.
I can understand why some of you don’t see the problem with this as you may just be driving, but I’m coming at it from a multi drop point of view, handballing stuff all day long, up and down stairs, etc, still driving my 8-9 hours on top of that, through city centres though.
Drivers being abused don’t get a lump back at the end of the reference period. They are expected to work 75-84 hour weeks, using POA to get the “on duty” time down to an average 48.
Never mind they’ve been at work nearly double that for half the work hour’s pay.
If your employer isn’t compliant (ie doesn’t pay it back/pay for POA period) then don’t use POA, and knock off thursday morning if need be.
“How can anyone be contracted to work over a 48 hour week when you cannot average over this”? - has to be the big question.
If you are contracted for 55 hours, and get the standard 4 weeks holiday per year, then you’re still averaging over 50 hours per working week are you not? Makes no difffernce as to using a 13,17,or 26 week reference period neither.
In fact, even those 4 weeks holiday count as 48 hours each against your aggregate, with only the holiday beyond 4 weeks counting as zero hours.
Don’t let £3 per hour on 168 hour weeks become a reality.
“OOh I get £500 shiny pounds wages for living at work!”
Malky80:
How many of you work for a company that abuse the current reference period system? Week after week you work 55-60 hours only to be given it back in a hefty lump sum when they hit panic stations near the end of the period. This is an abuse of the system in my view as the 48 hour average was brought in to reduce accidents brought on by driver fatigue, making the roads a safer place for everyone.
I just wish there was a way for drivers to fight back against such system abuse, but under the current system and to my knowledge we can’t. The Unions are largely powerless and the shop stewards are a corrupt bunch in the pockets of the gaffers.
I really cannot believe a driver who does 55/60 hrs a week is fatigued,that’s max of 12 hrs a day,plenty of trades who do those hours not just truck drivers,when I was on 3/4 a.m starts and doing 12 hrs ( finish 3/4 pm) I never really felt tired/fatigued,it’s only since I’ve been on midnight/1 am starts and finish 3 / 4 p.m I feel tired /fatigued,it’s not to me the hours it’s more the times you do them that defines if you’ll be come tired or not.
But in saying that I often do max or close over 5 days and still do a o/t shift,even on midnight / 1 a.m starts,so I can’t be that tired or I’d have 2 days in bed.
You need to get over this hurdle of your tired /fatigued/company is killing you,I just put everything to the back of my mind and JUST THINK OF THE MONEY ,you’ll be fine.
That’s the thing. Drivers are not working long hours with stupid O’clock starts to get £1000 a week - they’re doing it just to pay the bills with what other industries get for a 35 hour week. eg. £350-£480pw
It’s all about professional driving being a “service sector” job now, instead of a “industrial sector” career.
Should never have been applied to truck drivers in the first place. All it’s done is complicate things for those who can be arsed to comply with it (the minority).
The drivers hours rules are more than adequate to ensure road safety isn’t put at risk.
Silver_Surfer:
Should never have been applied to truck drivers in the first place. All it’s done is complicate things for those who can be arsed to comply with it (the minority).
The drivers hours rules are more than adequate to ensure road safety isn’t put at risk.
I think the 6 hour break rule is the only good idea because it means a driver who does a 15 hour shift with less than 4.5 hours driving now has a legal right to breaks but that rule could have easily been incorporated into the existing driver regs
stevieboy308:
i don’t really see how that is abusing the reference period, so long as you average up to 48 at the end of the reference period and don’t go over 60 in a week, what’s the problem?
They’re saying we should be working 48 hours a week for safety reasons as well as protecting the drivers who have a life. They allow companies a long reference period to allow for busy times, etc, to balance up the hours. Working 60 hours a week for 13 weeks in a row, only to give you 3 weeks off at the end of it might sound good to some, but during those 13 weeks (depending on wether you actually graft or not) the driver is likely to be fatigued. Therefore, I see it as an abuse of the system, as the company isn’t dealing with the balancing of drivers hours in a responsible manner.
I can understand why some of you don’t see the problem with this as you may just be driving, but I’m coming at it from a multi drop point of view, handballing stuff all day long, up and down stairs, etc, still driving my 8-9 hours on top of that, through city centres though.
I
Can nobody see where I’m coming from?
I drive through city centres,I often tip 40+ cages of beer/wine etc,etc,I do multi drops,shops etc etc,I go in warehouses and strip down pallets,I drag 26 pallets of orange juice off the back of a fridge as it should of been on a taut etc etc,I get up at midnight,finish 4 pm,I’m up at midnight tonight,going to bed at 6 pm ,6 hrs kip,but I’ll still do 70 / 80 hrs by the end of the week,it’s just part of the job long hours,
Listen it’s not all about just you like me I guess you have a mrs at home who wants new cars,tanning sessions,holidays abroad,new clothes every two mins,new suites every 6 months,block paved drives,hot tubs etc etc,you need to think of your mrs needs as well as yours
,you’ll be fine.