After having a wee discussion with my mate about driving he says that he’s running bent a lot of the time otherwise the work just wouldn’t get done. He said he’s under pressure to just get the job done regaerdless. Is this common practice?
I know none of you will come on and admit it but having just passed my Class 2 and going for my Class 1 the last thing I want to do IF I gain employment is start bending the rules.
Seems that not everyone is squeaky clean.
not this old chesnut again!!! yep everyone on here is whiter than white, so the reply is in your answer, you have a tounge in your head and it can speak to say NO, one thing there is all ways tomorrow to finish the job,
Everyone runs bent at some time, be it unloading on break or using the “safe place to stop/layby full” excuse to run half hour over to get back to base on a weekend. There is a world of difference between these things and totally ignoring the regs, making false records, pulling fuses magnets on the gearbox etc. It sounds like your ‘mate’ is working for someone who is blatantly schedueling work that cannot be completed legally and taking the mick out of his drivers by putting the pressure on them to run bent to do it.
J35_T3R:
After having a wee discussion with my mate about driving he says that he’s running bent a lot of the time otherwise the work just wouldn’t get done. He said he’s under pressure to just get the job done regaerdless. Is this common practice?I know none of you will come on and admit it but having just passed my Class 2 and going for my Class 1 the last thing I want to do IF I gain employment is start bending the rules.
Seems that not everyone is squeaky clean.
if the driver is having to do that then, is company are not planing there drivers right in completing there run within the EU driving regs
One employer indicated that if we stuck to all the 40mph limits,we would not get the work done.
Forgive me for being a bit wet behind the ears but I’m new to this industry and it came as a surprise to me when he was telling me what goes on.
He works for a small firm that’s contracted to a big haulage company. Said it happens a lot but didn’t seem to flinch about it. He also gave me a look at his over-speeds on the tacho print out which was an even bigger surprise! Didn’t know trucks could do the speeds shown!
running bent - in what respects? - not conforming to the RTD (WTD) is doing that but so is fiddling the tacho or knowingly driving a dangerous truck - how is he running bent?
Irish haulage manager offered me a euro driving job,said did i mind not taking 45 weekly rests,due to fact that due to amount of trucks in the fleet they would lose money if everyone was parked up.For getting ferries,i may have had to exceed daily driving limits.That was just on the phone,imagine what it would have been like on the road.VOSA at the M4,Bath exit weighbridge would be waiting for me.
ROG:
running bent - in what respects? - not conforming to the RTD (WTD) is doing that but so is fiddling the tacho or knowingly driving a dangerous truck - how is he running bent?
Going over his hours and tacho-fiddle (which I didn’t think was possible anymore?).
Say what you want about Irish companies at least they are upfront about it, and at least most of the ones ive known they would pay your fines.
A lot of UK companies on the other hand, if the crap hits the fan its the employers blaming the drivers because they knew nothing about it.
Maybe i’ve been lucky who i have worked for, but i’ve never been “told” or forced to run bent, see that bit when you have a job interview and they ask you have you got any questions, one of my questions is do you expect me to run bent.
If i’m working for a UK company and i don’t wish to run bent i will make it clear at that point in the interview, if the companies wants someone who runs bent they won’t be employing me because i’ve made it clear i won’t. If they then tell me later on i’ve got to run bent i’d tell them where to go.
In all honesty though i have never been “told” or “forced” to run bent, i have been asked to run bent before but it was down to me if i wanted to or not, never been forced.
Employers and managers are like predators, they pounce on the weak thats why they are in such positions.
Noticed it before working places, we only work Monday-Friday they need someone in the Saturday night, boss asks me i say no sorry would help you out if i could but got my daughter this weekend, another weekend i’d help you out. Go to another guy the weak one, tell him he is working Saturday night, he meekly says ok, then outside he it moaning at everyone he has been forced to work Saturday night and he already had plans was going to a party, his weekend is ruined etc… but he won’t stand up to the boss is always “forced” when in reality he isn’t he just needs to grow a set and say no.
Bosses pounce on people like that, seen it loads of places ive worked, doing a job for ages then asked to go onto a different shift and i say no, so they go tell the guy they know who won’t say no. These are the people supposedly “forced” to run bent.
When it comes down to it in most cases J35_T3R its up to you to decide to run bent or not, but if you are daft enough to run bent you really want to make sure your getting paid extra for it because if your breaking the law and not getting any extra pay then you arent the cleverest.
^^^^ Money is not an issue for me, if it was I’d stay doing the job I’m in just now. I need a change of career and HGV driving kinda runs in the family.
Hopefully if I manage my Class 1 in the next few weeks and get employment I’ll put your advise to use. Wouldn’t want to break the rules, doesn’t seem worth it to me.
J35_T3R:
Forgive me for being a bit wet behind the ears but I’m new to this industry and it came as a surprise to me when he was telling me what goes on.
He works for a small firm that’s contracted to a big haulage company. Said it happens a lot but didn’t seem to flinch about it. He also gave me a look at his over-speeds on the tacho print out which was an even bigger surprise! Didn’t know trucks could do the speeds shown!
If your mate is running bent and allowing it to show on his digi card, he shouldn’t expect to get his card renewed. Once or twice he can get away with a rollicking. If it’s showing up regular, he’s finished.
Why won’t they give him another card, i moved house and had to hand my old digi card in, no one ever got back to me about overspeeds or anything else.
Kenny1975:
Why won’t they give him another card, i moved house and had to hand my old digi card in, no one ever got back to me about overspeeds or anything else.
If he’s regularly running over hours and speed, I don’t see the point of recording it if they aren’t going to do anything about it. From what the original poster is saying, it’s a daily thing and the over-speeds suggest more than just not paying attention.
I used to work in 4 different places.
1st - after about 2 years planners were started to bent my work time - I just left this place.
2nd - nice work long haul but after one my daughter born and I had to be at home more frequently.
3rd - daily job but money a bit low, unfortunatelly too low to keep mortgage
4th - 5 days out but allways when I have to back home saturday morning I know it in advance and boss knows how much rest I need and almost never asked me to bent tacho.
someone told the truth - bosses are looking for the weak people to do it.
J35_T3R:
He also gave me a look at his over-speeds on the tacho print out which was an even bigger surprise! Didn’t know trucks could do the speeds shown!
Speed was on this printout you seen was it? Thats an even bigger suprise to me than it was to you.
Mike-C:
J35_T3R:
He also gave me a look at his over-speeds on the tacho print out which was an even bigger surprise! Didn’t know trucks could do the speeds shown!Speed was on this printout you seen was it? Thats an even bigger suprise to me than it was to you.
true 
i did a week for a guy who expected you to work through your 45 minute breaks and every day was maxed out. yes, we all work through part or all of a driving break now and again but that was excessive. working solid for 15 hours is beyond a joke and is far more serious than some cases with regards to road safety. drivers are ultimately responsible there and then and they have to make a judgement call in both legal and practical terms. safety should be the number 1 priority for every driver. if you are tired, stop! you wont get any thanks for nodding off at the wheel and not making it to your destination at all. if they sack you, take them to a tribunal. it is common knowledge that some employers put pressure on drivers to break the law. better to close them down than lose your licence. its your livlihood that you need to worry about so think about long term rather than short term. its better to lose a job than lose your licence
Running bent is more wide spread than people like to admit, in some sectors of road transport the job wouldn’t be possible without running bent.
Take fridge work to and from scotland for instance, most of the fridge trucks from up here do fish to northern france and Spain and bring back whatever they can from where ever. to make it profitable owners make the running schedule very tight and put pressure on drivers to get the loads delivered asap, don’t get me wrong some drivers do it of their own back, I think it’s a macho thing.
I know a guy who sets off from Harthill to Boulogne at arounnd 19.00, he tips his load then goes to reload usually to a place a couple or 4 hours away from his tip and then can be back as far as Warrington by 00.00 the next night, tip there then reload and be back up to tesco livingston with a reload 6 or 7 hours later. This doesn’t just happen occaisionally, this happens on a weekly basis.
I’ve even been sitting on a loading bay and watched another driver remove his magnet, from the gear box right next to me.
I also know of an Irish firm that has had 7 vehicles stopped by the police in ■■■■■■■ and every one of them had a wire on, the ■■■■ will hit the fan when that goes to court.
The way things are going, either more drivers will have to run bent or every small to medium sized haulage company will go bust because of the tight profit margins and the pressure put on hauliers by the big supermarkets to get fresh food on the shelves as early as they can.
define running bent, well a driver running with the fuse out or tampering with the tacho thats running bent.
bending the law using poa or rest while supposed to on other work.
I agree with a comment on here the work wouldnt be done if we travelled at 40mph on single carriageway because there are transport managers/planners who dont take that into account and have never been in a lorry. My TM hes a funny character and has been a truck driver in the past but he still lives in the past when it comes to planning somedays.
Drivers hours should be more relaxed aswell, maybe if they where people wouldnt have to break the law to the extent of that its dangerous.
Big difference between ‘running bent’ and 'bending the rules.
‘Running bent’ is blatent disregard for the rules, whereas ‘bending the rules’ could mean running a couple of minutes over your time, slightly over the speed limit. Most of us have done this at one time or another, not necessarily on purpose, I would not call this blatent disregard of the rules.
I have a little experience of being coerced into running bent… 
Tiger