I want to work on Saturday,I need the money ,they need me,I cant work because Im up to my hours on the wtd.Its a pain in the ■■■■!.
What do you think?
Scrap it but add the 6 hour rule to the tacho regs
Sploom:
I want to work on Saturday,I need the money ,they need me,I cant work because Im up to my hours on the wtd.Its a pain in the ■■■■!.
What do you think?
I think you seriously need to get a grip of your finances if you’re struggling for money in any job you’re doing 60hrs a week, especially with the recent wage rises in lorry driving. The problem isn’t the working time directive, the problem is the hole you’ve dug for yourself. Part of the increased demand for more drivers is existing drivers using the recent wage rises to cut the number of hours they do, they’ve taken the opportunity to use the extra money to buy some of their life back. They can do that because they’ve not dug themselves a hole using a spade made from buying stuff they couldn’t afford with other peoples money, effectively borrowing from and shafting their future selves and the bill being due as yours now is.
If you’re having to put in 60+hrs a week to meet your expenses you’re seriously in debt crisis. Instead of going on forums and asking people if we should scrap the WTD to allow people to work even more insane hours perhaps your time would be better spent ringing Stepchange on 0800 138 1111 and sorting out the mess you’ve got yourself in. It’s only going to get worse if you do nothing.
The WTD exists to benefit you. It addresses one of the biggest failings of the drivers hours regs that you could do a 15hr shift with no break as long as you didn’t exceed 4.5hrs driving which is ridiculous. Nobody but nobody should be working more than 6hrs without a break and I know of no other job outside lorry driving where such a thing would be accepted, WTD or not. Same with the max 84hr week, only lorry drivers are stupid enough to think that’s something that’s acceptable. The vast majority of the population would balk at doing 48hrs, the WTD average, let alone the 55hr average working week we have in this job.
Sploom:
I want to work on Saturday,I need the money ,they need me,I cant work because Im up to my hours on the wtd.Its a pain in the ■■■■!.
What do you think?
You must be kidding. They should reduce the working week to 40 hours with the option to work up to 60. Everything over 40 hours should be paid at time and a half, double time on Sundays. The 48 hour maximum should remain and the reference period should be a maximum of 17 weeks.
Stop working yourself to death and concentrate on getting better terms and conditions implemented, you may just live long enough to retire.
The Working Time Directive is there to protect the workforce and the public, without it we could be forced to work any number of hours, causing exhaustion and fatigue, leading to accidents.
The goal should never be to work more hours, but to be better compensated for those hours.
Find a new job, one with better pay. In the current market that shouldn’t be too hard.
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ROG:
Scrap it but add the 6 hour rule to the tacho regs
This “six hour rule” - is the reason I still get the occasional infringement
I try to plan a break for around 5hr45 into the duty, but if I then get stuck in traffic on the last leg towards the intended break venue - I’ll go over, end up parking up at 6hrs5mins into the duty, and duly get the infringement.
Trouble is, if I took an “opportunistic” break earlier on - I’d then run into my second block of 6hrs continuous duty (where I’d need to take another break…) SOONER - and some firms don’t like it when you take more than 1hrs worth of breaks total in the same shift - even if legally obliged to do so…
Eg. Take 15 minute break 3 hrs in, then spend the next 4 hours at a depot doing “other work”, before setting off on a run that is going to be longer than 2hrs… You’ve reset your 4.5hr driving clock - but not the 6hrs continuous work clock… Try putting it on an impromptu break “on the derv pumps” or something similar - and see what happens to you - when you’re already being watched like a hawk…
The OP voiced an opinion he didn’t ask for the holier than thou brigade to jump on him, do any of you know his personal circumstances? He could have had several things go wrong in a short space of time, repair to house or car, partner losing their job or partner leaving him and now having to fund two households, just because someone needs a quick injection of cash does not make them a finacial imbecile, better to get it through a bit of graft than borrowing it.
Overall, the WTD should be FOR drivers, rather than a stick to beat them with.
"The Sabbath was made for Man - Not “Man for the Sabbath”.
J.Christ, AD 30.
g.
Yes,but in my case Ive had to sheild for 9 months last year,then replace the boiler,fridge ,washing machine and cooker.Honest,they all packed up in a short time.Ive only just started earning the big bucks but talking generally,if you havent got money,theres not much to do on a weekend,you may as well work,I think,as long as you are well rested the night before
Mazzer2:
The OP voiced an opinion he didn’t ask for the holier than thou brigade to jump on him, do any of you know his personal circumstances?
Of course we know his personal circumstances, he needs to bang in more than 60hrs a week to meet the bills. Perhaps if more people had others jumping on them we’d not have the number of people using foodbanks despite getting enough money to feed themselves that we have because they’d be spending their money on food and heat and light first instead of crap and PCP payments on the 1-3 year old Audi/BMW/Mercedes sat in front of their house and the other credit card and loan payments they have from their plastic millionaire lifestyle.
He could have had several things go wrong in a short space of time, repair to house or car, partner losing their job or partner leaving him and now having to fund two households, just because someone needs a quick injection of cash does not make them a finacial imbecile, better to get it through a bit of graft than borrowing it.
That’s what emergency funds are for. You should have at least 3-6 months living costs in an emergency fund and ideally 6-12 months. Fortunately I had one when I ended up having emergency spinal surgery in 2019 and had to take 12 weeks off seeing my wages drop to £95 SSP. Carried on spending as normal, never had to worry about money. I was also fortunate enough to have one in October last year when my 14 year old central heating boiler seriously failed it’s annual check so I was able to instantly pay out £2000 to have a new one fitted the following week without needing to borrow any money. Last week wife’s van sprung a water leak and because of where it was the whole front end of the van has to come off. £500 bill, paid for out of the emergency fund. And because we don’t live pay day to pay day even with what happened in 2019 and 2020 it was built back up within a few months.
Estoic:
You must be kidding. They should reduce the working week to 40 hours with the option to work up to 60. Everything over 40 hours should be paid at time and a half, double time on Sundays. The 48 hour maximum should remain and the reference period should be a maximum of 17 weeks.Stop working yourself to death and concentrate on getting better terms and conditions implemented, you may just live long enough to retire.
Amen to that!
Conor:
Mazzer2:
The OP voiced an opinion he didn’t ask for the holier than thou brigade to jump on him, do any of you know his personal circumstances?Of course we know his personal circumstances, he needs to bang in more than 60hrs a week to meet the bills. Perhaps if more people had others jumping on them we’d not have the number of people using foodbanks despite getting enough money to feed themselves that we have because they’d be spending their money on food and heat and light first instead of crap and PCP payments on the 1-3 year old Audi/BMW/Mercedes sat in front of their house and the other credit card and loan payments they have from their plastic millionaire lifestyle.
He could have had several things go wrong in a short space of time, repair to house or car, partner losing their job or partner leaving him and now having to fund two households, just because someone needs a quick injection of cash does not make them a finacial imbecile, better to get it through a bit of graft than borrowing it.
That’s what emergency funds are for. You should have at least 3-6 months living costs in an emergency fund and ideally 6-12 months. Fortunately I had one when I ended up having emergency spinal surgery in 2019 and had to take 12 weeks off seeing my wages drop to £95 SSP. Carried on spending as normal, never had to worry about money. I was also fortunate enough to have one in October last year when my 14 year old central heating boiler seriously failed it’s annual check so I was able to instantly pay out £2000 to have a new one fitted the following week without needing to borrow any money. Last week wife’s van sprung a water leak and because of where it was the whole front end of the van has to come off. £500 bill, paid for out of the emergency fund. And because we don’t live pay day to pay day even with what happened in 2019 and 2020 it was built back up within a few months.
Well arn’t you a well organised chap.
Estoic:
You must be kidding. They should reduce the working week to 40 hours with the option to work up to 60. Everything over 40 hours should be paid at time and a half, double time on Sundays. The 48 hour maximum should remain and the reference period should be a maximum of 17 weeks.Stop working yourself to death and concentrate on getting better terms and conditions implemented, you may just live long enough to retire.
This ^^^^^^
Id like to see the WTD average kept at 48 but get rid of POA. 48 should mean 48.
No problem with the WTD, however, the tacho regs allowing drivers to be on duty for 15 hours is another matter
Sploom:
I What do you think?
Our lot are a perfect example. For years they didn’t look at WTD at all, then someone in head office started panicing about it. But the order from the office wasn’t we need to reduce hours, it was “you need to use POA constantly”. That conversation went well…
As long as you can get round it by tweaking tacho modes, its a useless waste of legislation which has no useful effect on the driver and is purely there to make the office bods look compliment. Even more daft its not DVSA who enforce it.
Scrap it and let us get on with the job in a “professional” manner.
Conor:
Mazzer2:
The OP voiced an opinion he didn’t ask for the holier than thou brigade to jump on him, do any of you know his personal circumstances?Of course we know his personal circumstances, he needs to bang in more than 60hrs a week to meet the bills. Perhaps if more people had others jumping on them we’d not have the number of people using foodbanks despite getting enough money to feed themselves that we have because they’d be spending their money on food and heat and light first instead of crap and PCP payments on the 1-3 year old Audi/BMW/Mercedes sat in front of their house and the other credit card and loan payments they have from their plastic millionaire lifestyle.
He could have had several things go wrong in a short space of time, repair to house or car, partner losing their job or partner leaving him and now having to fund two households, just because someone needs a quick injection of cash does not make them a finacial imbecile, better to get it through a bit of graft than borrowing it.
That’s what emergency funds are for. You should have at least 3-6 months living costs in an emergency fund and ideally 6-12 months. Fortunately I had one when I ended up having emergency spinal surgery in 2019 and had to take 12 weeks off seeing my wages drop to £95 SSP. Carried on spending as normal, never had to worry about money. I was also fortunate enough to have one in October last year when my 14 year old central heating boiler seriously failed it’s annual check so I was able to instantly pay out £2000 to have a new one fitted the following week without needing to borrow any money. Last week wife’s van sprung a water leak and because of where it was the whole front end of the van has to come off. £500 bill, paid for out of the emergency fund. And because we don’t live pay day to pay day even with what happened in 2019 and 2020 it was built back up within a few months.
In an ideal world yes we would all have 10 grand in the bank for all eventualities but here’s a thing if your wife leaves you that 10 is now 5 grand due to her owning half of it, 5 grand will get a you an average settlement if she wishes to argue it 5 grand is peanuts and will leave you penniless. Misfortune can strike anyone and even the best made plans can be laid to ruins.
By the time she realises theres 10 grand in the bank and decides to pack her bags, Ill have transferred the cash to my holiday bank account in Portugal that she doesn`t know about and leave her looking at an empty bank balance 
Conor:
Mazzer2:
The OP voiced an opinion he didn’t ask for the holier than thou brigade to jump on him, do any of you know his personal circumstances?Of course we know his personal circumstances, he needs to bang in more than 60hrs a week to meet the bills. Perhaps if more people had others jumping on them we’d not have the number of people using foodbanks despite getting enough money to feed themselves that we have because they’d be spending their money on food and heat and light first instead of crap and PCP payments on the 1-3 year old Audi/BMW/Mercedes sat in front of their house and the other credit card and loan payments they have from their plastic millionaire lifestyle.
He could have had several things go wrong in a short space of time, repair to house or car, partner losing their job or partner leaving him and now having to fund two households, just because someone needs a quick injection of cash does not make them a finacial imbecile, better to get it through a bit of graft than borrowing it.
That’s what emergency funds are for. You should have at least 3-6 months living costs in an emergency fund and ideally 6-12 months. Fortunately I had one when I ended up having emergency spinal surgery in 2019 and had to take 12 weeks off seeing my wages drop to £95 SSP. Carried on spending as normal, never had to worry about money. I was also fortunate enough to have one in October last year when my 14 year old central heating boiler seriously failed it’s annual check so I was able to instantly pay out £2000 to have a new one fitted the following week without needing to borrow any money. Last week wife’s van sprung a water leak and because of where it was the whole front end of the van has to come off. £500 bill, paid for out of the emergency fund. And because we don’t live pay day to pay day even with what happened in 2019 and 2020 it was built back up within a few months.
Good stuff Martin ‘Conor’ Lewis.
Sadly few people are as savvy as your goodself on this one, but what you say is bang on the money.
While Conor’s advice might be sound, for me it smacks of I’m-all-right-Jack.
I don’t know a single person who has a that kind of stash of money as an emergency fund, certainly not me, a single dad with two kids.
Zac_A:
While Conor’s advice might be sound, for me it smacks of I’m-all-right-Jack.
I don’t know a single person who has a that kind of stash of money as an emergency fund, certainly not me, a single dad with two kids.
I bet hes someone who bought a house for e times salary as well,something younger people can only dream of