It might get long, complicated & boring but here goes…
- As some of you will know I’m driving mixers & because of what we carry we don’t ever go far, 20-25 miles tops so we don’t usually have a lot of driving time but it’s possible to drive for 4.5 hours or more in a working day. So after 4.5 hours we should have a break. Now the drivers are paid a bonus on loads delivered so few, if any, have a break & they set their tacho’s on the “jam butty” so that while they are unloading it shows as POA & not “other work”. They then count this POA as a break, even though they are unloading.
Is this legal? Can POA be counted as a break? Some deliveries are only 5-10 minutes so how can that count as a break, I thought it was 15 mins before it counted? During the delivery the truck may have to be repositioned a little so doesn’t it register on the tacho & count as other work, as we are off road it’s not counted as driving time but it’s obviously not a break as the truck has moved?
- Is it a legal requirement to draw a line on the tacho indicating start/finish times? If so where do you draw it? I’ve never done this before & had no complaints.
I hope this makes sense. I thought they had opted out of the WTD but they haven’t… my mistake.
A tacho break is only a break when the mode switch is on bed, it is at least 15 minutes duration and no work of any kind is carried out during the break so from what you have said what they are doing fails to be a break on about 3 counts. Also moving the vehicle even just a little bit will register on the disc.
It isn’t a legal requirement to draw a line indicating start and finish times but some companies, and traffic areas, prefer it. Just don’t do it if you are ever going to be delivering some of your mixer contents in France as it will attract a hefty fine there. 
Thanks for the reply.
I’ve only been there a week & already had a “disagreement” with a driver because I said he’d broken the tacho rules.
I’m in a funny position, a 12 week probationary period, so I don’t want to say to much else I will lose the job if I upset the cart but I know the fines for abusing the regs are quite heavy, so if I stick to what is right I could be finished anyway because my performance isn’t up to scratch.
Im not 100% but Im sure I read somewhere that mixer lorries are exempt from tacho, because they are primarily for mixing the products they carry. They cannot carry goods as such. But I might be mistaken and that the exemptions only apply to concrete pumps 
Also is there some kind of exemption if you are within 25miles of the depot?
I dont know that any of this is true, but I have something lurking in my brain ringing bells 
Even so, Everyone is entitled to a break after 6 hours whatever the mode
wheel Nut said;
Im not 100% but Im sure I read somewhere that mixer lorries are exempt from tacho, because they are primarily for mixing the products they carry. They cannot carry goods as such. But I might be mistaken and that the exemptions only apply to concrete pumps
Not quite right. EC 3820/85 covers motor vehicles with a permitted gross weight (including that of any trailer drawn) exceeding 3 500kg. In free circulation and carrying goods. The ‘free circulation’ bit means; on a road. There is no definition of goods, but pretty much anything = goods. Note, unlike O-Licensing legislation there is no mention of ‘hire or reward’ or ‘in connection with a trade or business’. A mixer operating entirely off the public road system would be EC exempt, but if the vehicle crosses a public road to get from one part of the site to another, it then comes back under EC regs. Article 4.6 does allow vehicles which are involved with Highways Maintenance and Control to be exempt EC regs. However, the case of Bruce Cook Road Planing showed that the vehicle has got to be directly involved in the maintenance work, not merely delivering goods, in this case a road planing machine. The concerte pump would most likely fall into the exemption from EC regs as it carries no goods, as such, however, Domestic hours and record keeping requirements will probably apply.
Wheel Nut also said;
Also is there some kind of exemption if you are within 25miles of the depot?
Not quite, Article 13.1 (g) exempts vehicles from EC regs providing they are carrying materials or equipment for the drivers use in the course of his work. Also the vehicle should remain within 50km (30 miles) of base and driving does not constitute the drivers main function. Paragraph 7(1) of Schedule I, Part 1 of Community Drivers Hours and Recording Equipment (Exemptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regs 1986 (SI 1456 /1986) imposes a 7.5 tonne limit on such a vehicle. So a scaffolder driving a 7490kg Daf taking scaffolding that he is going to erect on a site 20 miles from his base would be exempt. However, if he dropped half the load at a site on the way for a colleague to erect then he would not be exempt and would come back into EC regs.
The word Minefield springs rapidly to mind!
Regarding the driving and breaks, Coffeeholic has summed it up nicely, if you have a burning desire to have the regulation numbers then I’ll quote them. That said I probably need to get out more, or at least stop wearing this anorack!
don’t forget, no drivers can ‘opt-out’ as ‘mobile-workers’ (i.e. drivers (and screwdrivers)) are exempt from the opt-out caveat.