Hi All
Does anybody know what the ruling is for hire firm drivers and tacho’s??
Do they have to insert a tacho/digi card and conform to the drivers hours regs whilst delivering trucks and trailers to customers??
Thanks
short answer… yes
As i really don’t know why you be exempt from the rules as your still getting paid to drive a waggon.
full list of exemptions can be found at
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/road/workingtime/drivershoursgoods.pdf
Cheers for that… 
I only asked as i was chatting to a driver who said that they were now exempt… This intrigued me so much that i decided to investigate and found this - roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … ivers.html
This looks like an invitation for abuse. How can a rental truck be any different to a recovery truck,?
The Government has announced that rental company drivers are now exempt from tachograph responsibilities.
The result comes after campaigning by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA.) Minibuses and HGVs over 3.5 tonnes will be free from tacho legislation as long as the vehicles are being delivered, collected or moved by rental company drivers.
The BVRLA claims that tacho use for internal rental drop-offs, necessary until now, was costly and complex.
Tom Abernethy, director at Bell Trailer Rental, Lancashire, highlights the strain prior to the decision: “We have all been legally and financially under pressure to comply with this.”
John Lewis, director-general at BVRLA, comments: “We have obtained a fair result for our members. Their staff should have to abide by drivers’ hours rules like everyone else, but the extra burden of locking in and out of a tachograph after delivering or collecting a vehicle was unnecessary.”
Under the relaxed law, drivers will still need to abide by the domestic drivers’ hours rules, set at a maximum of 10 hours per day and 90 per fortnight. To comply, leasing company drivers must not carry freight or passengers during their employment.
The BVRLA represents a fleet of 12,000 minibuses and 170,000 CVs of over 3.5 tonnes. Abernethy cites fuel costs as the next issue to be addressed: “It’s crippling our customers, from the big ones to the small ones.”
I remember a lot of owner drivers had Trailer Recovery signwritten on the unit, now it will just need a magnetic International Truck Hire sign 
Sorry, but I guess that I didn’t explain my question clear enough.
Rental company drivers now come within the scope of the ‘relaxed’ laws as described in
roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … rivers.htm
Do Agency Drivers working for Rental companies also come within the scope of the ‘relaxed’ law, or do they still have to use theirTacho cards if there are no passengers and they are unladen?
Thank you.
Eagle15:
Do Agency Drivers working for Rental companies also come within the scope of the ‘relaxed’ law,
YES - the law refers to the actual job being done by the driver - the employment status of the driver is not a factor